Chwarel y Fan

Rising as the high point of the Ffwyddog Ridge, this Black Mountains Hewitt separates the Vale of Ewyas from the Olchon Valley. It is a place of grand, sweeping scales and soft turf, offering a more secluded alternative to the popular paths around Hay Bluff and Twmpa.

• •The name is Welsh for 'Quarry of the Peak', a reference to the historical sandstone workings found on its eastern slopes which provided building material for local farms and walling.
• •Its summit plateau serves as a dramatic vantage point for looking down into the Vale of Ewyas, where the skeletal ruins of the 12th-century Llanthony Priory are clearly visible on the valley floor below.
• •Positioned on the eastern edge of the range, the summit offers a clear line of sight across the Olchon Valley to the narrow 'Cat's Back' ridge of Black Hill, with the distant Malvern Hills often visible on the horizon.
• •The hill is frequently bagged as part of a long high-level ridge walk starting from the village of Capel-y-ffin, avoiding the boggy ground often found in the lower valley troughs.
• •While officially classified as a Hewitt and a Nuttall, the summit is so notoriously flat and expansive that walkers often find themselves consulting a GPS just to identify which particular clump of grass represents the actual high point.