Manod Mawr

About Manod Mawr

Quarrying has shaped Manod Mawr more than any other force. This peak in the eastern Moelwynion of North Wales — a group sometimes grouped together as the Ffestiniog hills — has been worked extensively, and the disused Graig Ddu Quarry occupies the hollow at around the 600 m contour between the main summit and Manod Mawr North Top. At one stage there was concern that continued extraction might eat away the North Top altogether.

The Manod tunnels have an unusual wartime history: during the Second World War they served as a secret store for paintings evacuated from the National Gallery in London. Although the hills sit close to Snowdonia, the summit falls inside the national park's exclusion zone around Blaenau Ffestiniog, and the North Top lies only just outside the park boundary.

Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Manod Mawr (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.

Access rights here

General position for Wales — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in Wales ·check another location.

Daylight at this summit today

Sunrise

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Sunset

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Daylight

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Civil twilight ends

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Computed astronomically for 52.984, -3.902. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Finding the summit

The recorded summit point is boulder with shelter. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.

Survey method

Abney level

Record revised

23-Oct-23

Drop measured from

SH797414 · 396 m

Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.

Long-distance paths past this hill

One waymarked long-distance route runs within 2.5 km of the summit — useful if you are linking this hill into a longer walk, or want a made path for the approach.

Route lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); distance from the summit computed by OpenFell.

Reaching Manod Mawr by train

3 National Rail stations sit within 8 km of the summit — close enough to make a car-free day of it. Distances are straight lines, not walking routes.

Each station page lists every hill in its reach, long-distance paths from the door and a live-times link — see all stations with hills in reach. Station positions from NaPTAN (OGL v3.0).

Get food nearby

3 places to eat or drink within 10 km of the summit, rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Scotland runs its own Food Hygiene Information Scheme, a pass/fail equivalent).

Classifications and ratings are the local authority's own and can be coarse — this is a lead, not a guarantee of opening hours or that food is served to non-residents. Follow a name through to the official rating page to check, and confirm before you rely on it.

Food hygiene data from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (Open Government Licence v3.0). Distances and directions computed by OpenFell from the summit.

The Manod Mawr group

15 other listed summits sit in the same prominence group, with Manod Mawr as the independent hill at its head.

Twelve highest shown, of 15 in the group.

Grouping is by prominence alone: a summit belongs to the nearest higher Marilyn it connects to without a deeper intervening col. Over a large massif that can gather hills no one would walk in a single day, and which few would describe as parts of the same mountain — it is a measure of independence, not a suggested route.

Nearest listed peaks