Tuesday 28th December 2021 - Moel y Gamelin GW/NW-042, Cyrn-y-Brain GW/NW-043, Foel Fenlli GW/NW-051 & Moel Famau GW/NW-043

I’d tentatively planned to do this central Clwydian pair a couple of days later - but decided I might as well do them now - especially as I would have to drive past the turning up to Bwlch Penbarrass on my return drive to Macclesfield from the Ponderosa Cafe!

At the car park I was surprised to find that the machines were still exclusively cash, with no contactless card option or a “Park and Pay” telephone number or app detailed.  Fortunately, I had the £1.50 in change in my wallet.  I decided to remove my entire top half, replacing my base layer football shirt and sodden fleece with two dry fleeces in my car.  One of them was my 18 year old black SOTA fleece which is quite thin these days, so that went on first, next to my skin, before putting a thicker fleece over the top.  The increase in the comfort factor as I transferred from wet to dry was wonderful!  The coat had dried a bit in the car (heater on full blast on the drive from Ponderosa), and I now donned my third hat of the day!

I followed my favoured “clockwise” route for Foel Fenlli up the zigzag path to the left, then up the steep path with staircases, joining the upper rampart (of the Iron Age hillfot) path before the final short diversion to the summit cairn.  1235 to 1245z - 2m FM - 9 QSOs - S2S: M7BIA/P on Ingleborough G/NP-005

After returning to the rampart path, I stuck with it and ignored the staircases directly back down.  This curved around to meet with Offa’s Dyke Path, which I followed down the slopes back to the car park before heading up to Moel Famau GW/NW-044.