The trail to the cache, following well defined footpaths except
for the last 200 metres, will take you to the top of Penmaenmawr ,
the mountain after which the town to the east is named. Pen
translates as head. Maen (pronounced mine) translates as stone /
stoney. Mawr (say Maw to rhyme with cow then roll an r at the end)
normally translates as big, but in this context translates as
great. Hence the name of the cache, Great Stone Head View.
There has been a quarry of sorts on this mountain for over 5000
years. The bronze age mines over on the Great Orme, Llandudno, have
axe heads that have been traced back to this mountain. The quarry
you see today, was developed from the 1830s and nowadays the
aggregate is exported out by rail and road. It is a hard stone and
is mainly used for the ballast on railways and for mixing into
concrete.
The cache can be approached from many different directions as
there are numerous footpaths in the area which generally go up.
There are limited parking opportunities, I 'dumped' my car at N53
15.165 W3 57.443 as the road seems wide enough to allow people to
park. Parking here though gets a lot of the ascent out of the way
and you only have about 120 metres to gain in height up the
mountain. The area where the cache is located is right to roam, so
feel free to hunt for the cache and drink in that view! When the
cache is being re-hidden, place the container upside down so if
water does gets in, it drains out and the rocks you re-hide the
cache with, try and keep the lichen and moss on the outside. Helps
it make look more natural. Best of luck!!
