All walks › Llanidloes & the Cambrians
Llanidloes & the CambriansLlyn Clywedog
A long finger of water in the hills above Llanidloes, with the ruins of a lead mine directly below the dam and the tallest concrete dam in Britain holding it all back.
- Distance
- 3.7 mi / 6 km
- Time
- 2 hr 15
- Ascent
- 200 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
Paths and tracks run along the eastern shore from the dam; follow them as far as suits and return, or loop inland through the forestry. The Bryntail mine ruins sit below the dam wall and take twenty minutes to explore.
Worth knowing
- Bryntail lead mine is free, unfenced and genuinely interesting. Do not skip it.
- Water levels drop a long way in dry summers, exposing the old valley floor and stumps of drowned trees.
- The dam is 72 metres high and looking over it is not for everyone.
What you’ll see
Open water, forestry, the mine buildings, and red kites over the ridge.
Background
Clywedog was built in the 1960s to regulate the Severn and stop it flooding downstream at Shrewsbury. Bryntail worked lead through the nineteenth century and was already derelict when the dam was built.