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The NE tip of Fforest Fawr protudes like a dwarf’s head from a neck created by two cwms (Cerrig-gleisiad and Du) that thrust deeply into the hills. Nearby are the two remaining peaks, Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych, though ‘peak’ is scarcely the word, for neither has sufficient presence to justify the title. Yet though these two peaks have little appeal, do not write off the cwms where Fforest Fawr sheds its usual austerity and displays its lofty soaring crags among prettily wooded slopes and timeless pastoral tranquillity.

Austerity is the key to Fforest Fawr’s neglect. The highlands are bare, windswept fells devoid of secrets. Scarcely a wall, hardly a trace of rock, obtrudes upon the smooth uniformity of the moors. Few trees survive, even on the lower slopes, and no tarns reflect the sun’s rays. On a dull day, or in winter with a bustling wind, it is a bleak and cheerless landscape without the slightest semblance of shelter. Even Fan Fawr and Fan Gihirych, imposing as they are, impress more by the stark, simple severity of their lines than by shapeliness.