What Are Our Goals?

The Mid Wales uplands of Pumlumon, Elenydd, and Mynydd Mallaen, stretching from Dylife in the north to Pumsaint in the south, make up the Cambrian Mountains. A remote, sparsely populated area, they are one of Wales’ most special places – a peaceful, largely unspoiled moorland landscape intersected with deep glacial valleys, with a rich cultural history and vibrant natural beauty.

The highest point in the northern Cambrian Mountains is Pumlumon Fawr (752m/2468′), whilst further south the profile of Drygarn Fawr (645m/2114’) with its distinctive beehive cairns rises between the reservoirs of the Elan Valley and the drama of Abergwesyn Common. The Mountains form the main watershed of Wales, with the rivers Severn, Wye, Elan, Irfon, Tywi, Cothi, Teifi, Ystwyth, Rheidol, and Twymyn all having their sources here.

From the high plateaux, apparently endless vistas jewelled with small lakes stretch for miles in all directions, home to many rare mosses, ferns and birds, some of international importance. These landscapes are wild, windswept and remote, offering a unique sense of tranquillity and escape from the bustle of Wales’ South Coast cities and inland towns.

The valleys, too, are places where time stands still, with striking waterfalls and gushing mountain streams which gather together to feed the major rivers.

But despite the impression of wildness, the Cambrian Mountains are a living landscape; their beauty the result both of natural forces and millennia of human activity. The landscape is maintained by the local communities, landowners, farmers, miners and estate managers who live in and around them, descendants of the peoples who have helped mould the landscape since the Bronze Age.

There’s more detail about various aspects of the region’s character, history and culture, the issues it faces, and the Society’s work through the tabs at the top of the page.