Bwlch y Groes (translates from Welsh as ''pass of the cross'') is the second highest public road

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, with a summit altitude of .

Gospel Pass The Gospel Pass (Welsh: ''Bwlch yr Efengyl'') is the highest road pass in Wales. It is at the head of the Vale of Ewyas in the Black Mountains of southeast Wales. Starting from Hay-on-Wye the narrow mountain road climbs steeply to a height of ...

in south Wales is slightly higher. It lies on minor roads linking

Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470, and consequently many visitors pass the village by. Its population ...

(via Llanymawddwy), Llanuwchllyn and Lake Vyrnwy. The view from the pass encompasses the plain of the

Dyfi valley Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI identifies itself to be an i ...

Cadair Idris Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hik ...

and a close view of

Aran Fawddwy Aran Fawddwy is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, Wales, United Kingdom. It is the highest point (county top) of the historic county of Merionethshire (for local government purposes, it lies within the current council area of Gwynedd). ...

. The cross, just below the summit at the junction of the roads from Vyrnwy and from Dinas Mawddwy, commemorates the place of the pass on a pilgrim route from north Wales. Bwlch y Groes, known by some as ''Hellfire Pass'', was used between and after the wars by the

Austin Motor Company The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Li ...

and the Standard

Triumph Motor Company The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company in the 19th and 20th centuries. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg formed S. Bettmann & Co. and started importing bicycles from E ...

to test prototype cars and their performance during

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...

. The British Motorcycle industry which was world beating before the wars also used the pass for testing. In 1926 BSA undertook a continual test resulting in the company being awarded by the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding Northern Ireland.

the

Maudes Trophy The Maudes Trophy is a motorcycle award established in 1923 by George Pettyt, owner of Maudes Motor Mart based in Great Portland Street, London who promoted an impartially-observed endurance test for motorcycles and provided a challenge award to t ...

for 60 ascents of the pass. BSA won the award again in 1938 in relation to rides that took place including the Bwlch y Groes. Between 1933 and 1954 the International Six Days Trial passed over the Bwlch y Groes and its neighbouring roads along the Eunant and Cwm Hirnant. The southern ascent of the Bwlch y Groes, which is approximately long with severe gradients throughout (steepest 1 in 4), was renowned throughout the 1970s and 80s as the most challenging climb used in the

Milk Race The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

round-Britain cycle race. The ascent is included among the hundred greatest cycling climbs in Britain, being a remorseless ascent of about over a distance of about . There are several other locations in Wales with the same name, including

Bwlchygroes Bwlchygroes (; sometimes spelled Bwlch-y-groes) is a small upland rural village in the community and parish of Clydau, north Pembrokeshire, Wales, SW of Newcastle Emlyn and the same distance east of Crymych. Community Bwlchygroes Community ...

, a village in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...

near

Boncath Boncath is a village, community and postal district in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about west of Newcastle Emlyn. The village stands at a cross-roads linking the nearby settlements of Newchapel (''Capelnewydd''), Eglwyswrw, Blaenffos and Bwlch ...

References

{{Coord, 52, 47, 45, N, 3, 36, 47, W, display=title Mountain passes of Gwynedd Roads in Gwynedd Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Snowdonia

See also

References