Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen is a mountain pass in Conwy county borough, north Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

, traversable only on foot or horseback, following the former Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 from Caerhun

Caerhun

Caerhun is a village and rural community on the west bank of the River Conwy, to the south of Henryd and to the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, north Wales. The population was 1200 at the 2001 Census.-Features:...

 (Canovium) to Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

 (Segontium). The route may be followed by road to Rowen

Rowen, Conwy

Rowen is a small village on the western slopes of the Conwy valley in Conwy county borough, north Wales. It lies off the B5106 road, between Dolgarrog and Conwy....

 or to Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin is a small village in Conwy county borough, Wales.It lies in the foothills on the western side of the Conwy valley, in North Wales. The river Conwy runs through the valley, running into the sea to the north, at the town of Conwy, which is about five miles north of the village. ...

 and from either, the way, through a mountain gate, is a clearly marked green path to Abergwyngregyn

Abergwyngregyn

Abergwyngregyn is a village of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd....

. The route lies between the peaks of Tal y Fan

Tal y Fan

Tal y Fan is an outlying peak of the Carneddau mountains in North Wales. It is one of the four Marilyns that make up the Carneddau, the others being Carnedd Llywelyn, Pen Llithrig y Wrach and Creigiau Gleision....

 and Drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

, in the Carneddau

Carneddau

The Carneddau , are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. It includes the largest contiguous areas of high ground in Wales and England, as well as six or seven of the highest peaks in the country—the Fourteen Peaks...

 range in north Snowdonia

Snowdonia

Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...

. The distance from Rowen to Abergwyngregyn is about nine miles of mostly high mountain footpath. Near the Abergwyngregyn end, the route forms part of the North Wales Path

North Wales Path

The North Wales Path is a long distance walk of some 60 miles which runs close to the North Wales coast between Prestatyn in the east and Bangor in the west....

.

History

The Two Stones are large pre-historic monoliths of unknown date, which mark the summit at about 1400 feet (426.7 m). The south-eastern stone measures 3m in height, the smaller north-western stone is 2m high. Also, near the mountain gate, on the south side of the track, is a stone circle

Stone circle

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

 and a cromlech

Cromlech

Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...

 called Maen-y-bardd (the bard's stone) nearer Rowen.

The path was in fact a drovers'

Drover (Britain)

A drovers' road, drove or droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture...

 road leading via the Lavan Sands to Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

. On the mainland side, the route was part of the network of drovers' roads that reached all the major centres of population in Wales and England and, of course, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Cattle, sheep and even geese were regularly driven that way on foot down the ages to 1850 or even later, quite often as far as London, which was the largest market in Britain.

Several Roman milestones have been discovered on this route or in the area, including one giving the distance to Kanovium (sic).

Near the Abergwyngregyn end of the green path is a green mound, the relic of a motte-and-bailey

Motte-and-bailey

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 castle of Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

.

In the eighteenth century, when turnpike road construction was in vogue, the Caernarvonshire Turnpike trust

Turnpike trust

Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...

 was authorised by an Act of 1777 to reconstruct this ancient Roman road from Tal-y-Cafn

Tal-y-Cafn

Tal-y-Cafn is a small settlement in Conwy county borough, north Wales.It lies in the Conwy valley close to the Roman settlement of Canovium at Caerhun, and was the site of a Roman river-crossing point of the River Conwy...

via Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen over the high pass to Abergwyngregyn but they failed to carry out the work.