Esgair y Maesnant NW Top

Sitting within the rolling, grassy wilderness of the Pumlumon range, this 504-metre height is a place of solitude and soft moorland. Often overlooked in favour of the higher peaks, it offers a starkly beautiful perspective of the Nant-y-moch Reservoir and the broad, peat-hued shoulders of the main Pumlumon massif to the east.

• •The name is derived from the Welsh 'Esgair', meaning a long ridge or mountain spur, and 'Maesnant', which combines 'maes' (field) and 'nant' (stream), describing the watercourse draining the slopes below.
• •The summit provides an excellent vantage point for viewing the vast Nant-y-moch Reservoir to the west, a central feature of the 1960s Rheidol hydropower scheme.
• •This top is located in one of the quietest corners of the Cambrian Mountains; while Pumlumon Fawr attracts the crowds, these western ridges are often left entirely to the local sheep and red kites.
• •In this part of Mid Wales, a 'mapped path' is often more of a conceptual suggestion than a physical reality, requiring walkers to navigate by the consistency of the peat and the angle of the slope.