Bwlch y Ddeufaen: Standing Stones, Cairns, and a Legend

This was a very brief evening walk along a short stretch of the road over Bwlch y Ddeufaen (Pass of the Two Stones), on the edge of the Conwy Valley. I've written about this place before, and will again, but that was more of a scenic winter tour along the road from Cae Coch, rather than a walk along the track where the standing stones are. After driving up, this was a very easy stroll with one of the dogs and a hyperactive ten year old who never stops talking. We parked in the small gravel car park (Ordnance Survey Grid Reference SH 7207 7154) and walked from there to the gate at the top of the pass, partway along the long track that leads down to Abergwyngregyn or Llanfairfechan, depending on your whim, from where you can see views of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) and the Menai Straits in the distance.

This route is replete with history, being a natural pass over the mountains which does away with the need to follow the convoluted route around the coast. In winter the weather can be severe, though. It's more suited to feet and hooves than cars. The track runs directly from Rowen, down in the valley, and leads up over the pass to a crossroads where you can continue to Aber, hike up onto the mountain of Drum, or go right down into Llanfairfechan. It has been used from before the neolithic, by the invading Romans on their way to Caernarfon and Ynys Môn, by drovers bringing animals to market, by the farmers who still work the land, as a route for pylons, and by people taking their leisure in the mountains. The pylons are much lamented, but if we use electricity, pylons are one of the prices we pay for the luxury. When the A55 Expressway was planned, to improve the North Welsh connection to the port of Holyhead, the pass was considered as a route. Thank god they decided against it.

The whole route has antiquities, but the standing stones on this part of the pass are some of the most obvious. Further on, the map shows more cairns and burnt mounds, as well as an incised stone - a gaming board which is variously believed to have been carved by the Romans or the eighteenth century drovers. Back on the part of the road that leads down to Rowen are two more standing stones, and two rather lovely burial chambers, as well as hut platforms. This walk only took in the small stretch from the car park to the high point of the pass, though.

The track is an easy one of gravel and small stones, although parts do become small lakes when it's been wet. The track is used frequently by walkers and farmers, sometimes by mountain bikers. A few weeks ago a small convoy of quad bikes appeared after crossing the pass. The traditionalist and environmentalist in me would rather the only motor vehicles using it belonged to the farmers.

One of the small lakes. Easy enough to walk around.

From here you can just make out the standing stones, and, in the distance, the gate at the high point of the pass, from where you can see Ynys Môn. 

I wanted to spend my time, this time, on trying to identify some of the prehistoric monuments on the pass. I don't know if this row of stones is associated with the Bronze Age inhabitants, but it's a very definite line. I didn't take a grid reference, but you can see the most obvious of the stone cairns just above and to the left.

What seemed like another line of stones pretty much at right angles to the smaller line. Looking from the end, it doesn't look so well lined up, though. 

This cairn is one of four marked on the map in this area, but it's the only one that's so obvious. This one is called Barclodiad y Gawres (the same name as a burial chamber on Ynys Môn, and meaning 'The Giantess's Apronful. The reasoning behind this will become apparent later.) The two standing stones are just visible on the far right.

 

Coflein's description runs as follows: 'A rather irregular, somewhat oval cairn, c.20m E-W by 13.5m and 1.2m high, presenting an exposed cist, c.2.8m NE-SW by 1.3m, at its N fringe, possibly much disturbed/robbed.
(source: RCAHMW 1956 (Caernarvon I), 36 No.167, fig53)
RCAHMW AP45113/46-7
J.Wiles 03.06.04

2) A large cairn at about 1300ft above sea level in a natural depression falling gently to the S and joining the head of the valley of the Afon Tafolog. The cairn is much ruined but seems originally to have been oval or rectangular with a large cist on its N side. The cist is 58ft long and seems to have been about 4ft wide, but the side stones are much displaced. Many of the surface stones have the appearance of having been disturbed.

A wider shot of the cairn, with the high point of the pass in the distance. The cairn's Ordnance Survey Grid Reference is SH 7164 7165.

The cairn is surrounded by gorse bushes, with rushes at its centre.

There seems to be a little structure to the cairn, although I don't know how this reflects how it was originally. The stones seem to form something of a fat ring, with a hollow in the centre, where the rushes are. When there in person it's possible to make out something of a bank ringing the cairn, but, again, I don't know if this is original, built up later, or even just a flight of fancy on my part. 

The cairn with the late sun shining down in the west over one of the lower humps of Drum. 

I have no real reason for including this shot, except that I like it. 

The cairn from the other side, looking roughly south east. 

The first, and largest, of the standing stones. I see this stone as the female one; the other, smaller and squarer, as the male. Coflein says little about the stones that isn't already evident.

The local legend, as I've heard it and as my memory goes, is that two giants were walking over the pass; a woman and her husband. They were on their way across the pass, the woman carrying an apron full of stones and the man carrying two door posts, to build their house on Ynys Môn. But they had been walking so long that they were becoming tired, carrying this heavy weight of stones. As they approached the high point of the pass they met a cobbler coming the other way, with a sack full of worn shoes. They asked the cobbler how far it was to Ynys Môn, and he told them that the shoes in his sack were all the ones he'd worn out, walking from Ynys Môn. The giants stopped, refusing to go further. The female giant threw down her apron of stones, which became the cairn. The male threw down the door posts, which became the standing stones.

I've also heard the variation that it was only the female giant carrying stones, which she threw down. The two giants stood on the pass, arguing, as the night passed by. They were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't notice the coming dawn. When the sun came up, they were turned to stone, and there they've stood ever since.

I prefer the second version. Either way, if only they'd made it a few more yards to the top of the pass, they would have been able to see Ynys Môn, and they would have known they were almost there. Perhaps this is a morality tale about perseverance? 

The largest of the stones, what I see as the female of the two. The other can be seen on higher ground, just to the left in this photo.

The sun lowering behind the female stone.

Looking back along the bwlch, the farmers' track leads across the left of the photo. A scar in the land between the track and the large pylon is probably the path of the Roman road. The peak in the distance is Pen y Gadair.

While I was busy taking photos of standing stones, my husband called me over to the track. In the lowering light he'd noticed something curious. 

This stone, embedded in the track, seems to be carved.

It was easier to make out in person, but I've gone over the lines we saw in red. Something like a square, parallel lines in the centre, and three rings at the top. Is this ancient? Neolithic, Roman, something scratched by the drovers? Or something completely modern? I don't know enough about these things to make a guess.

Looking back along the track to the east, with the scar of the Roman road going to the left of the newer track. The other side of the valley is just visible in the distance. 

The 'male' standing stone on the left, and a much smaller stone just to the right of it. This stands on the other side of the track from the female stone. 

In this photograph, the small standing stone looks much larger. In reality, it's only about knee high.

 

 

The small standing stone. Perhaps the giants had a child? 

The larger standing stone, although this is still smaller than the female one on the other side of the track. 

The male stone, with the smaller stone to the left. A little further away, beyond the two, is another, smaller, upright stone.

 

 

The view from the top of the pass. If only the giants had made it a little further, this is what they would have seen. Ynys Môn, with Ynys Seriol (Puffin Island) to the right.

A wider view, with the track leading off to the left. To be fair to the giants, it's still quite a way to go. 

Turning round to go home, this is the first of the cairns marked on the map. At least, I think it is. This rise in the heather and gorse corresponds with the Ordnance Survey mark at SH 7137 7184. Worth wading knee high through gorse to reach? Maybe not, but I did it anyway.

 

Coflein has this to say: A 60ft diameter cairn with traces of a kerb on East. One side of a cist, 5' long with axis NW-SE is exposed in the centre. The cairn is situated on a ridge formed by an artificial hollow on the SW and a natural scarp on the NE, which makes it difficult to provide a realistic diameter or height. RCAHMW recorded a cist exposed in the centre and two vertical stones may be the remains of this, although they are now on the SE edge of the surviving mound. The cairn is situated between the track (Roman road) and a dry gully on a naturally raised area. It is an oval mound of turf covered stone 6m by 4m. The cairn has probably been truncated by the gully on the SW side. On the ESE side are two low stones laid on edge. 

Either side of the cairn are grooves in the land which I've always taken to be associated with the Roman road. Presumably if the cairn sits between them, they're not Roman.

One of the grooves, lining up with the track of Roman road in the distance. 

The second of the less obvious cairns, at SH 7172 7157.

 

Coflein's description is as follows:  1) A round cairn, c.10.8m in diameter and 0.3m high, showing traces of a kerb of upright stones.
(source: RCAHMW 1956 (Caernarvon I), 36 No.169)
RCAHMW AP945113/47
J.Wiles 03.06.05

2) A cairn about 110m SE of Barclodiad y Gawres which survives as a ring of turf covered stone 2m wide. There is a large boulder on the N side with evidence of a recent fire against it. Based on information from the GAT SMR. Site as described. 2004.03.30/OAN/PJS

At first it's hard to make anything out, but there's a definite scatter of stones on the ground here. 

Something of a circular shape can be made out, a little higher at the edges. 

The third of the marked but hard to see cairns, on the other side of the track at SH 7183 7159. This one is the hardest of them to make out, and I can find nothing on Coflein about it, although it's not the easiest site to search. There is a scatter of stones here but I wasn't directly on the map marker according to my phone's GPS. I was very close to the power lines, which might have affected things. 

 

Really, it's hard to see anything certain here, as with a lot of cairns, apart from these few stones. Sometimes I wonder if Ordnance Survey map makers throw darts at the map and vicariously note down cairns, burnt mounds, and settlements. I might be getting at bit better at spotting them, though, with the help of the GPS on my phone.

 

With the last of the cairns tentatively identified, it was time to go home for a cup of tea.

The Lost Cottages - Ty'n Llyn, Llyn Alwen, Pentrefoelas

Up on the Denbigh Moors, not far from Pentrefoelas, is the idyllic little moorland lake of Llyn Alwen. Alwen is one of a cluster of lakes and reservoirs in the area, the largest of which is the 1970s creation Llyn Brenig, an artificial reservoir which drowned a valley and is surrounded by prehistoric monuments. Near Llyn Brenig sit the Aled Isaf Reservoir, Llyn Aled, the tiny Llyn Bran, and the large Alwen Reservoir (so called, presumably, because it was created from the Afon Alwen.) Afon Alwen flows from the tear-drop shaped Llyn Alwen, and this is where Ty'n Llyn (House in the Lake) sits, on the broad northern end of the 'tear.'

Little is mentioned about Ty'n Llyn (Ordnance Survey Grid Reference SH 8978 5685) online, except for a few photographs taken by others who have passed this way. The house exists on the 1888-1913 map, complete with boathouse and jetty, but it's likely many years older than this. The jetty is no longer visible, although a line can be seen underwater on aerial views. It doesn't seem quite like a farm to me, though. The place has very few outbuildings, including the boathouse, a small outbuilding at the back, and a small shed off to the side. There are no big barns. The boathouse itself seems to indicate a certain degree of luxury and privilege. On the other hand, the house is relatively small. It's a good house, and would be large for a hafod (a small house for farming during the summer months), but it's no luxury mansion.

I walked over to Ty'n Llyn from Llyn Aled, and this was a very rough walk over unforgiving moorland of knee-high tussocks of grass and occasionally thigh high rushes. Falls were frequent, but luckily onto very soft, often wet, ground. I was a little lower than the footpath marked. Perhaps the land would have been better if I'd been on the path. The walk of about two kilometres from Llyn Aled and the same back, with a swift look around the house, took me two hours in all. I was pleased to make it, with a bad back, sore knees, and sore shoulder, although I was almost at the point of turning back when I finally got my first glimpse of the lake over the undulating ground. There appears to be a track to the lake leading from the west side, joining the B5113, which is a long walk, but might be an easier one. All the land for either walk is Right to Roam land, with the track being marked as public access.

See a short video of the house here. 

My first sight of Llyn Alwen, after panting and stumbling through very rough terrain. The house can be seen in the cluster of trees to the right.

The house almost seems to have been situated just to make a perfect photograph.

The house set back from the lake, with the boathouse close to the shore.

 

The only other outbuilding in front of the house is this small shed, off to one side.

 

 

 The house itself is of a rather beautiful construction, typical of two-storey farmhouses in this area.

 The front wall of the boathouse has quite a slant to it. This appears to be by design, unless it's a peculiar form of subsidence.

 

 The boathouse, with slit windows in the walls and a door at the end facing the house.

 

 Inside the boathouse, one of the beams over the door is still in good shape. It's been suggested that the ring in the beam might have been for use with a pully, to haul the boat in.

 Not much remains of the roof but a few timbers.

 

This photograph by John S. Turner, taken in 2006 (shared under this Creative Commons license), shows a lot more of the boathouse roof intact, with some slates and ridge tiles remaining.

 

 The front of the boathouse opens up with a wide doorway onto the lake. Fallen roof timbers can be seen to the side. You can see in this photo how the wall seems to widen out towards the base, which perhaps accounts for the slant.

 

 Fallen slates and roof timbers inside the boathouse.

 

 One of the small slit windows, from inside the boathouse.

 

 Inside the boathouse, looking through the wide door to the lake.

 

 Some of the remaining roof timbers against the sky.

 

 The doorway into the boathouse, from outside.

 

 

 The boathouse, surrounded by rushes, looking out over the lake.

  

The only other mostly-intact outhouse is this small shed, evidently still used in some way by the farmer.

 

The roof of this shed is falling in. Inside there are partitions for farm work.

 

 The front of the house, looking towards the smaller rooms away from the main room.

 

Some of the house roof is in relatively good condition, but deteriorating over the windows.

 

 Looking through the porch into the house.

 

 

 

 Inside the porch, a small nook in the wall.

 

 

Looking past the front door into the house. The remains of joists, and of the plaster and lath partition between hallway and main room, can be seen on the ground.

 

 

This interior door to the main room lies open, but the plaster and lath wall separating main room from hallway has gone now. More modern repair work has obviously been done at some point, considering the breeze block wall at the end of the hallway. No sign of the staircase remains.

 

 A close-up of some of the rotten and fallen joists from the first floor.

 

This photograph by John S Turner (shared under this Creative Commons license) was taken in 2006, and shows the uprights and some of the lath and plaster from the old partition wall still in place.

 

 The view from the main room to outside. The wall is in bad condition both above and below the window.

 

 Perhaps this was something of an understairs space, but it appears to be relatively modern, considering the materials used.

 

 A little of the ceiling remains for this main room downstairs, and the walls still have some of their whitewash. The fireplace has a rather lovely beam, the beam and the sides of the fireplace all being painted black.

 

 A glimpse of the ceiling above, with some of the original joists.

 Much of the kitchen range still survives, with the brick surround built into the fireplace.

 

This photograph, again taken by John S Turner in 2006 (and shared under this Creative Commons license), shows beautiful doors still on the kitchen range. With there being no sign of these doors on the ground now, it's possible they've been stolen, or perhaps taken away by the owner. It's sad to think of people treating these places with anything less than respect.

 

A dead sheep lay in front of the fireplace, a gruesome and bizarre sight, because it looks as though it lay down in front of the fire for warmth. The smell wasn't exactly inviting.

 

 Presumably once this would have been a big open fire, and was later adapted to a more efficient fire with stoves for cooking.

A crushed - something - on the floor. I'm not sure what this once was.

A view of some of the larger beams making up the first floor, now rotting away.

The roof above, partly repaired with corrugated iron. Perhaps if more of these houses were treated in this way, they could be preserved for longer.

 

 It's easy to see how much better the interior has survived to the left, under the corrugated iron, compared with on the right, where the slates have fallen.

Looking up at the roof, and the door upstairs into one of the bedrooms.

 

 

The doorway looks tall and narrow. Fallen roof timbers can be seen beyond.

The doorway downstairs into the front room, perhaps a small parlour.

 

 

On the first floor, above the door to the parlour, it's hard to be sure what this was. Perhaps a nook to hold a lamp to light the stairs?

The parlour window, with its view over the lake.

 

 

 The parlour fireplace, still with its grate.

 

Looking back out of the parlour, through into the main room. Originally, of course, the partition wall would have blocked the view - although the partition might not be original to the house.

 Looking up at the roof above the parlour.

 

 

An attempt to see more of the first floor room by holding my phone up high above my head. Considering the single door, there was probably only one room over this section of the house, or else more partitions that have gone.

 

 

Next to the doorway into the parlour is a door into a back room, perhaps a scullery.

 

The wall has actually had to be thinned out towards the door to make room for the entry.

A doorway leads from the possible scullery out of the back of the house. Fallen slates from the roof are piled up on their sides in the doorway.

 

The window in the scullery has been blocked up, and the beam is rotting.

 

Under a rubble of rocks, slates, and joists, a slate flag floor can be seen.

  

 

An upstairs fireplace, visible from the room below.

 

 

 One of the ridge tiles on the scullery floor.

 

 Behind the house are trees, and a small outbuilding, mostly ruined. 

The small outbuilding behind the house. Not much is left. 

The wall at the back of the house is mostly in good condition. 

Above the scullery, the wall has suffered more, probably due to the poor condition of the roof.

In this photograph by John S. Turner, in 2006, there appears to be something of a porch on the back of the house, over the scullery door. No sign of this appeared in 2020. (Photo shared under this Creative Commons license.)

 

Looking past the side of the house to the boathouse and lake. 

 

The end of the house and main chimney. 

Not far from the house is a solitary osprey nest, put up to help the species breed. 

Leaving the house behind. It's sad that no one wakes up with the view over the lake any more.

The situation could hardly be more idyllic in summer. In winter, on the other hand, the house is probably quite inaccessible.

Imagine this place being your summer retreat.

The moorland on the long walk back to Llyn Aled, looking in the direction of Llyn Alwen. 

The path ahead. For a while on this walk, neither lake can be seen, there's no phone signal, and the moor seems endless.