Moel y Llyn

At 521 meters, Moel y Llyn is the kind of Mid-Wales summit locals cherish while tourists overlook it for Pumlumon. It offers sweeping views of the Dyfi Estuary, assuming the Welsh weather hasn't decided to replace the horizon with a wet, grey blanket.

• •The summit is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its fragile blanket bog and dry heath, which provide essential nesting grounds for rare upland birds.
• •The hill features a Bronze Age burial mound at its peak, suggesting that the local preference for 'scenery with a breeze' dates back at least three thousand years.
• •Its name translates literally to 'Bald Hill of the Lake,' a reference to the nearby Llyn Conach and the hill's rather sparse, windswept vegetation.
• •The underlying Silurian mudstone creates a terrain that is remarkably efficient at turning a pleasant stroll into a masterclass in mud-avoidance acrobatics.
• •The local sheep have developed a specialized talent for standing exactly where you think the path should be, only to lead you into a knee-deep bog with an expression of pure, unadulterated contempt.