Carnedd Llewelyn 3491ft (1064m) Llewelyn's Cairn SH 6836 6438

The third highest of the fourteen peaks, only one metre lower than Garnedd Ugain on Snowdon, Carnedd Llewelyn is the dominant feature and focal point of the Carneddau, with ridges radiating to north, south, east and west. In mist it can be a confusing place and the ridges are not all easy to pick up.

It is possible that the name refers to Llewelyn Fawr, Llewelyn the Great, who had a manor house at Abergwyngregin to the west, and whose sarcophagus can still be seen in Llanrwst church to the east. However it is more probable that it refers to his grandson Llewelyn the Last, who fell foul of Edward 1st , and ended up with his head displayed on a pike at the Tower of London.

The cairn referred to almost certainly dates back to the bronze age, and the name Carneddau, refers to the many prehistoric burial cairns found high up in these mountains. Today, the Carneddau can still feel empty and remote, compared with Snowdon, but it could have been very different. There was a serious proposal in the nineteen-twenties to build a railway from the Conwy Valley to the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn and for a 9 hole golf course somewhere on the plateau to the north…….