UKH

I plan on doing walking up Tryfan then Glyder Fach then Glyder Fawr.

I'm not very clear on how challenging Glyder Fach is compared to Tryfan, could someone advise? 

I've done Tryfan and Crib Goch twice and had no problems, if that offers some perspective. 

Your choice going from Tryfan to Glyder Fach is essentially a godawful loose scree slope or the bristly ridge.  Bristly isn't that hard technically but is quite exposed in places and committing, certainly relative to Tryfan N ridge.

The scree slope is unpleasant to descend but is just a bit of a tedious slog on the way up.

The scree slope up by Bristly ridge is a bit loose and energy sapping but once you're up there Glyder Fach is like a small pile of rocks compared to Tryfan, it's then a fairly flat plateau walk to Glyder Fawr which is an even smaller pile of rocks.

If you've done Tryfan and CG then the Glyders are fine.

You can avoid Bristly Ridge and the screes altogether by using the Miners Track that contours the east side of the Glyders from Bwlch Tryfan to near a small lake then up a grassy slope onto the top. The most difficult part on top is climbing (rather than avoiding) Castell y Gwynt, which is about as easy as a scramble can get

If you're happy across Tryfan and Crib Goch, Bristly Ridge isn't an unreasonable choice (unless it's irreperably fallen down in my absence). Although the start in particular looks intimidating it's a very interesting way to get up to the Glyderau. Might be best with a companion if you haven't been up there before.

b

Pedants corner: Glyder Fawr is actually a bigger pile of rocks

Well technically it is 7m higher but I think the plateau it's on is higher. There's no scrambling involved on Glyder Fawr and the summit is just a tiny clump of rocks.

Also the descent from the Glyderau down the Gribin, past the football pitch and down to Idwal is more pleasant than the scree above Llyn y Cwn.

b 

Football Pitch?

The big flat area a bit like a football pitch,  IIRC. I live a fair way away these days, but pretty sure that was how everyone referred to it. Just above where the Cneifion arête comes out, and a handy landmark in bad weather. 

B

There's no scrambling on either of them once you reach the plateau. I was being a pedant over the names - the fawr and fach (actually a soft mutation of mawr and bach...) mean big and little. Like I said, I was being a pedant. 

Ah I never knew that! That explains Elidir Fawr, cos that's a f*cker to walk up!

Just to confuse you further, the Fawr in Elidir Fawr is a fairly recent OS addition. It used to be called Carnedd Elidir after a 6th century warrior who was driven out of what is now Lancashire by the Saxons, married the daughter of the king of Gwynedd then after the latter's death had a succession dispute with his wife's illegitimate half brother. Elidir lost and is reputedly buried on the summit. (agree it's a right slog from Nant Peris though). 

Interesting that you have this Elidyr as being from Lancashire.  I’m interested in this one as someone with a keen interest in post Roman history, especially where it relates to Cumbria, and Lancashire would have been part of Rheged then which was the post Roman kingdom centred on Carlisle. I didn’t know Elidyr was meant to be buried up there.

I’ve heard of him as Elidyr of Strathclyde who was married to the daughter of King Maelgwyn of Gwynedd and launched a naval invasion against her brother, Rhun of Gwynedd, in the 550’s after Maelgwyn had died., Rhun seems to have been a pretty powerful king with strong support so I was surprised to see the name of his enemy celebrated so prominently in his heartland.

Neither Lancashire or Strathclyde would have had a lot to worry about from the Saxons until after 600AD. If he was exiled it would have been because of infighting between fellow Britons.

I did this at 6am this morning. V foggy and visibility was next to none, having already done Tryfan twice I thought it would be a doddle even in the wet and fog - but it was actually rather harrowing! I think more so because I was on my own so felt quite isolated, in the end I decided not to do the bristly ridge scramble and just Went up the scree instead. Won’t be scrambling  in heavy fog any time soon I can tell you that!

We're probably hijacking this thread a bit but I'm interested in that period too. The version of the story I know is similar to yours, except that Elidir was kicked out of southern Rheged (by fellow Britons makes more sense, as you say) while Maelgwyn was still alive, and served as his general as well as marrying his daughter. Then after Maelgwyn's death there was a succession dispute between Elidir (as being married to a legitimate daughter) and Rhun (as an illegitimate son).  There is also a story that Elidir arrived in Gwynedd on a horse big enough to carry his whole family. The big Roman cavalry horses died out in Britain around then, so maybe he had one of the last ones, which would have been huge relative to Welsh hill ponies, and a few centuries of  exaggeration did the rest? If Elidir had a history of fighting for Maelgwyn it would explain why he is still remembered in a Welsh place name.

Hopefully be seen as an interesting sidetrack rather than a hijack. I’ve got my eye on doing Tryfan and Bristly Ridge in the near future as it’s reportedly one of the classic scrambles.

Your version of those events does seem to tally better with the few snippets of facts you can find from that period and possibly explains why King Rhun of Gwynedd seems to have fallen out with all the British kings of the Old North except for Rheged.

Maelgwyn would have been a veteran of the British coalition against the Saxons at Mount Badon and it seems to me that he then spent his following years leading a coalition against the Irish in Wales with Elidyr and Urien of Rheged among his generals before they became kings. Later on, North and South Rheged are united with Urien as king which might explain the expulsion of Elidyr or maybe there was no expulsion and Rheged was united because of the vacuum caused by his death campaigning against his brother in law in Gwynedd?

Either of those latter scenarios sounds okplausible to me. Fascinating period isn't it, with so many possibilities. And the N Ridge of Tryfan and Bristly Ridge (and usually down the Gribin) is definitely one of the best scramble link ups in the UK. Go do it!

Definitely on all counts. Cheers for the insight.