02.09.23 Clo Cadno (SO 118 162)
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| Clo Cadno (SO 118 162) |
Clo Cadno is an
attractive looking hill with a line of small crags encircling its upper western
fringe. Looking from its opposing ridge
to the north-west it forms one of three hills, with the other two further to
its north-east. These can easily be combined
and included with an ascent of their higher neighbour; Mynydd Llangynidr (SO
123 151). The land hereabouts is open
and consists of moorland, therefore not a place to linger when cloud is upon
the hills.
My priority for the day
was Clo Cadno, this hill is one of five remaining for a completion of the Welsh
Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list. These
are the Welsh hills at and over 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The current total is 630, it was more but
LIDAR has deleted a number over recent times.
I was out with Aled, who
I met in Caersŵs before driving further south to the heads of the valley’s
road and onward heading north on a minor road through what is reputedly Wales’
highest village; Trefil. Approaching the
hill from this direction gives an easy ascent from what is now regarded a
private quarry road, but was once classified as a B road. This road is now rough in its upper section
and eventually leads to the quarry positioned just below the summit of Cefn yr
Ystrad (SO 086 137). The last time I
used this quarry road was in August 2015 when along with Mark Trengove we got
locked in, not realising that the barrier across the road just above the last
house in Trefil was locked later in the afternoon. This was on a weekday and necessitated
getting a key from the quarry to let us out.
Today was a Saturday and I was unsure whether the barrier would be unlocked
during the day. Driving up the road past
the houses of Trefil we approached and there the barrier was; firmly locked
across the road. It had taken two hours
to drive here and it seemed our plans would have to be quickly amended.
We stood beside the barrier
and debated the best course of action, during this a tractor slowly rumbled up
the road and pulled up beside the barrier, the driver obviously had a key and
was heading toward fields at the far side of the quarry to work, and after a
quick discussion the farmer suggested we follow him up the road and as long as
I was back at the barrier within 2½ – 3 hours he would then
let me out as he headed back home. All
was saved, although we did have to alter our plans as Aled had suggested
surveying Garn Caws (SO 129 167), which as its name implies is crowned by the
remains of an ancient cairn and dependent upon what rock is taken as its high
point this may alter its current Welsh Highland Sub status.
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| Aled's assessment of what was deemed the highest natural rock (marked with a yellow cross) compared to a LIDAR image for Garn Caws (Photo: Aled Williams) |
However, a maximum of
three hours to visit Clo Cadno, survey its summit, visit the sub positioned at
SO 122 167 and continue to Garn Caws and survey its summit before Aled headed
over to Mynydd Llangynidr and the Chartist Cave, whilst I headed back to survey
the connecting bwlch of Clo Cadno, would in all probability not be
sufficient. Therefore, as my priority
was Clo Cadno I was more than happy to just visit and survey its summit. This would give me an unrushed day and allow
a slow plod there and back and a sit in the sun waiting for the farmer to come
back down from his fields.
Our plans went beyond
this though as after these hills Aled wanted to head toward Cefn yr Ystrad and
visit a further four subs, including two impressive rocky lumps left in situ in
the quarry and then head down the track leading toward Tor y Foel (SO 114 194),
where I would pick him up.
With our plans amended,
but the day’s walking and surveying saved, we set off walking at 10.00am on a
rough track which was once a part of the classified B road. This soon headed steeply downhill, whilst our
continued route followed a good green track which headed toward Clo Cadno.
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| A convenient place to park |
It was grey with an
oppressive stillness in the air as we ascended.
The forecast gave for warming conditions after the morning murk was
burnt off. The cloud was only just above
the tops we headed for, with more under murk to our east.
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| Heading off on the path toward the summit of Clo Cadno |
From this direction it
was only a short walk to the summit of Clo Cadno, but still very enjoyable as
we continued up the green track passing one or two wet, boggy patches of
land. Just before the crags we left the
main path and were soon standing on the westerly upper part of the hill, just a
few minutes’ walk to our east was its nondescript high point. This consists of low heather and moor
grass. Once we had checked the LIDAR
co-ordinates for the summit position which Aled had produced during the
updating of the Welsh Highland list with new Welsh LIDAR, I soon had the
Trimble positioned on top of my rucksack and as I activated it to gather data,
Aled headed off to visit the two subs and inspect the summit cairn of Garn
Caws.
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| Gathering data from the summit area of Clo Cadno |
As the Trimble gathered
its allotted five minutes of data I stood away from it so as not to interfere
with satellite reception and looked behind me and farther to the east as the
grey mornings murk slowly descended. The
high ridge of Mynydd Llangynidr was now under the murk and the cairn atop Garn
Caws was only just free of the veil of cloud.
I hoped Aled could do what he wanted and not have the prospect of a
couple of hours wandering the wild moors of south Wales under a bed of grey cloud.
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| The onward route for Aled, with the summit of Garn Caws on the right |
Once allotted data were
gathered and stored, I closed the equipment down, took a few photos and then
packed it away and started back toward its western top. Once there I avoided the crags and re-joined
our inward route, only stopping to take a few photos of mountain ponies, with
one or two making cursory approaches before their timidness backed them away.
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| A misty scene in the background with the first glimmers of direct sunlight |
As I approached the
rough track leading back to my car a tractor swung on to it from the quarry
road. As it got nearer I flagged it
down. Its driver; Kevin Morris was more
than happy to talk about the hills, and as I pointed to one he would give me
the name he knew it by. To my knowledge
two of the names he gave have never appeared on an Ordnance Survey map.
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| Mountain Ponies on Clo Cadno |
After thanking Kevin for
his time I waved him off and continued up the slight rise back toward my car,
as I did so I noticed a figure emerging from the green path on to the rough
track, it was Aled. We arrived at the
car at about the same time, as the murk had descended he decided to just visit
the two subs beyond Clo Cadno and also inspect the cairn on Garn Caws, Mynydd
Llangynidr and the Chartist Cave could wait for another day.
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| Kevin Morris |
I then drove further up
the quarry road until it got particularly rough with large watery pot holes
looking as if they could swallow my car.
After dropping Aled off I drove back down the quarry road, stopped the
car to change and then continued down to wait at the barrier, sitting in the
emerging sunshine whilst chatting with the occasional walker. Soon a man with the farmer’s key turned up,
he had passed me as I had driven down the quarry road. I thanked him as he unlocked the barrier and
let me out.
.JPG) |
| The higher of the two quarry subs (Photo: Aled Williams) |
All that remained was to
follow my hand written instructions on how to connect with the Llangynidr road
from Trefil, after this it was up the steep road leading south of Tor y Foel
and further down a track until this merged in to an earthen path. Here I stopped, sat on a convenient stone
bench whilst enjoying the afternoon sun, reading a book and chatting with all
manner of people with runners, dog walkers, cyclists and walkers all heading
this way and that. An hour or so after
arriving, a weary looking Aled wandered down the path with stories of impressive
rocky quarried subs, with one summit that he only touched and not stood on due
to large fissures in the rock.
.JPG) |
| The lower of the two quarry subs (Photo: Aled Williams) |
On our way back we
stopped for a meal, sitting outside the Wheelwright Arms in Erwyd enjoying good
pub grub in the afternoon warmth, it proved a good way to end an excellent
day.
Survey Result:
Clo
Cadno
Summit Height: 530.3m (LIDAR) (significant height revision)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 11849 16247 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 513.6m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 12197 15992 (LIDAR)
Drop: 16.7m (LIDAR) (Welsh Highland P15 addition)
Dominance: 3.15% (LIDAR)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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