Foel Dyrch

DISTANCE/DURATION: 7.6 miles (12.2 km) 3 hours 30 minutes.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: None.
CHARACTER: Moderate to steep, moorland, livestock, can be wet in places, 2.8 mile (4.5 km) minor road/track.
LOOK OUT FOR: Panoramic views, buzzards, skylarks and old quarries.

Mynachlog-ddu stands at the southern edge of the Preselis and this route takes you onto the moorland above the village.

Writer and broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-Thomas said of the Preselis: “Everywhere you feel the presence of the megalithic tomb-builders, of the Iron Age warriors who piled the stones for the great hill forts and of kindly and absent-minded old Celtic saints.”

And there’s plenty of evidence of earlier communities to look out for as you walk, including burial cairns and standing stones from both the New Stone and Bronze ages.

To the north of Mynachlog-ddu the path skirts the flank of Carn Meini, once an important source of spotted dolerite, a tough igneous rock flecked with white crystals. This dolerite, or bluestone, was much sought after in the New Stone Age as a raw material for tool-making.

This is the stone that was used around 4,500 years ago to build the inner circle at Stonehenge. How those stones made the journey from Carn Meini to Wiltshire continues to be the subject of intense debate.

The open moorland is rich in wildlife and there is a good chance that you will spot buzzards and ravens and maybe a red kite too. If you are very lucky you may see a merlin, a tough, fast-flying little falcon that is Britain’s smallest bird of prey.

To the west of Mynachlog-ddu is a memorial stone to Waldo Williams, a revered Pembrokeshire poet whose works drew inspiration from the local area. The centenary of Waldo’s birth in 2004 was marked by special events in the community.