Pumlumon (historically anglicised in various ways including ''Plynlimon,'' Plinlimon and Plinlimmon) is the highest point of the
Cambrian Mountains
The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales.
The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
(taking a restricted definition of the Cambrian Mountains, excluding
Snowdonia
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...
, the Berwyns and the
Brecon Beacons), and the highest point in
Mid Wales
Mid Wales ( cy, Canolbarth Cymru or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands") or Central Wales refers to a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd ...
. It is a
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
that dominates the surrounding countryside and is the highest point (
county top
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt ...
) of
Ceredigion
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
(both the modern council area, and the historic county, also known as
Cardiganshire
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
).
The highest point of the massif itself is Pen Pumlumon Fawr, which is above
ordnance datum
In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used fo ...
. Its other important peaks are
Pen Pumlumon Arwystli
Pen Pumlumon Arwystli is the second highest summit on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales.
The summit is grassy, and is marked by 3 large ancient cairns. The views include Rhos Fawr, Drygarn ...
,
Y Garn,
Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan
Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan is a subsidiary summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr and the third highest summit on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. It is not named on Ordnance Survey walking maps.
Th ...
and
Pumlumon Fach
Pumlumon Fach is a top of Pen Pumlumon Fawr on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. It lies on small ridge heading north-west from the summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr
A pen is a common writin ...
.
The longest
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in Britain, the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
, has
its source on the mountain, as do the rivers
Wye and
Rheidol.
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
says there is a sleeping giant in Pumlumon.
Etymology
''Plynlimon'' is anglicized from the Welsh name ''Pumlumon'',
which is thought to mean "five tops" or "five beacons".
The first element is
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
''pimp'', meaning "five" (
Modern Welsh
The history of the Welsh language (Welsh: ''Hanes yr iaith Gymraeg'') spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh.
Origins
Welsh evolved from British, the C ...
''pump''),
and the second is , "beacon",
an element whose
Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
equivalent underlies the Scottish hill-names
Lomond Hills
The Lomond Hills (meaning either beacon hills or bare hills), also known outside the locality as the Paps of Fife, are a range of hills in central Scotland. They lie in western central Fife and Perth and Kinross, Scotland. At West Lomond is the ...
and
Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...
.
Habitat
The Pumlumon area is the source of the rivers Wye, Severn and Rheidol.
Since 2007 the
Wildlife Trusts of Wales have been working to improve the habitat as a "living landscape" project. This watershed area has been affected by
loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...
, erosion of the peaty soils' structure, and accelerated drainage.
[The Pumlumon Project]
'A pioneering, science-based project to revive the ecology and economy of the Welsh uplands', Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (Welsh: ''Ymddiriedolaeth Natur Maldwyn'') is one of six wildlife trusts in Wales. It covers the vice-county of Montgomeryshire. and is based in Welshpool.
As at 2013 the trust had 20 reserves.
They include:
* Cors ...
''www.montwt.co.uk'', accessed 14 April 2022 Some believe the drainage issues have contributed significantly to flooding in areas some distance downstream, though this cannot be clearly proved.
Like most of the
uplands across Wales, intensive land use activities have resulted in many habitats being either lost or degraded. Over-grazing of sheep has induced soil compaction, which has resulted in increased flooding of the lowland areas.
The principal land cover within the project area is dominated by a complex mosaic of locally, nationally and internationally important habitats and species, such as dry and wet dwarf-shrub
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
, blanket
bog, unimproved acid
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
and a number of
oligotroph
An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...
ic
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s. Agriculturally improved grassland, broadleaved
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s and
forestry plantation
A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...
are also characteristic features of the area.
The Pumlumon area is also important for breeding, wintering and feeding bird fauna particularly
hen harrier
The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl.
It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Eur ...
,
merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
,
short-eared owl
The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...
and
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and
black grouse
The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...
, and a number of
Red Data Book
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...
and UK
BAP
BAP or bap may refer to:
Food
* Bap (bread), a type of bread roll
* Bap (rice dish), a Korean food
Music
* BAP (Basque band), a hardcore punk group (formed 1984)
* BAP (German band), a Colognian rock group (formed 1976)
* B.A.P (South Korean ban ...
invertebrates.
[Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Mountains of England & Wales - Volume 1: Wales (2nd edition ed). ]Milnthorpe
Milnthorpe is a small market town on the southern border of Cumbria, 7 miles south of Kendal, civil parish and electoral ward are in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in the county of Westmorland and on the A6, the ...
, Cumbria: Cicerone Press
Cicerone Press is an English publisher, founded in 1969, specialising in guidebooks for walkers, climbers, trekkers and cyclists.
The company's first publication was a climbing guide to the English Lake District, and over the past 50 years they ...
. . The
red kite
The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds in the Western Palearctic region o ...
also frequents the area.
Golden plover
'' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere.
In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. The ...
s have declined by 92% since 1992.
[Crisis in the hills]
22 June 2012 Birdguides ''www.birdguides.com'', accessed 3 July 2021
Severn Way
The
Severn Way
The Severn Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in the United Kingdom, which follows the course of the River Severn through Mid Wales and western England.
According to the Long Distance Walkers Association the Severn Way is .
The route
...
runs for 210 miles (337 km) along the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
between the mouth of the Severn at
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England, and its source at Plynlimon, Wales.
References
External links
* Computer generated summit panorama
Plynlimon
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (Welsh: ''Ymddiriedolaeth Natur Maldwyn'') is one of six wildlife trusts in Wales. It covers the vice-county of Montgomeryshire. and is based in Welshpool.
As at 2013 the trust had 20 reserves.
They include:
* Cors ...
www.geograph.co.uk ; photos of Plynlimon and surrounding area
{{Authority control
Mountains and hills of Ceredigion
Hewitts of Wales
Marilyns of Wales
Nuttalls
Elenydd
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Ceredigion