Travelling East on the A55, I’ve always looked at the curving arete of ‘Penmaen Ridge’, and wanted to scramble/climb it. Below and around the line, there is lots of scree which has always put me off thinking it would be chossy and loose. I checked it out on ukclimbing, as the route is not in any of the guidebooks I own, and many people recommend it, saying the rock is solid.
Well, on my way to Oxford yesterday, Jacqui and I did the route, and it was fantastic. Here is a bunch of photos showing the way and the ridge itself. Enjoy. T
We parked on Old Mill Road, opposite Ger-Y-Glyn SH741769. There you cross a small river and head to the end of the houses to follow a footpath into the forest.
Go up some steps, probably hidden by the summer overgrowth, and follow the path to an awesome rope swing in a tree that’s been rigged up with fairy lights.
Don’t gain too much height, as the route starts at SH743780, which is pretty much sea level, at the end corner of the camping field, through a gate and about 150m on the right.
After 10m of scrambling, you are on the ridge proper and can enjoy the exposure of both side falling away from you.
There are a couple of tricky steps along the way. You definitely need 3 points of contact for these, and it’s worth checking each of the important holds to see if they’re loose before committing all of your weight to them. I didn’t find anything too loose, but I’m sure there is if you search around, or are just very unlucky.
The views in both directions are excellent. The noise from the road is a bit annoying, but with such a short walk in, you can’t have the solitude of a full on mountain day.
From the top of the scramble, you can continue up grass, heather and gorse until on the top plateau, heading South-West there is a stone walled area that forms part of the farm… Travelling South along this wall, you will find yourself on the North Wales Path, which leads back to Dwygyfylchi.
If you’re interested in guided grade 1 Scrambles, or want to get involved and learn the ropes for higher graded ones, then check out my website at Terry James Walker
TerryJamesWalker 
Terry, its pretty good that ridge, I loved the fresh scree run down even more though!