20 walks/40 pages

Perhaps the finest area for walking in the southern part of the Snowdonia National Park, Tywyn & the Dysynni Valley have attracted many famous people over the years. These include Charles Darwin, the world famous naturalist, the painter Turner and travellers such as Francis Kilvert and Thomas Pennant. Cadair Idris stands at the head of the valley, a dramatic mountain with a fine south-west ridge going across Tyrrau Mawr. The woodlands are second to none with many rare and beautiful plants. Sessile oak trees, with their contorted trunks and branches, add a feeling of eccentricity to many of the walks. There are also some of the most beautiful waterfalls, rivers and streams in Wales. In the 7th century St Cadfan founded a small religious community in Tywyn, when it was a well known staging post for pilgrims on their way to Bardsey Island. The church at Llanegryn houses a magnificent carved wooden rood screen. Castell y Bere is perhaps the grandest historical site in the whole area, and offers superb view of the whole valley from its ramparts. A wonderful and relatively unexplored area.