Foel Drygarn (with one of its cairns on the left) at the end of the Preseli range of mountains
Image credit and © Littlestone

It’s worth recording that what is now so taken for granted (access to the Preseli Mountains and their prehistoric remains) was once nearly denied to the public if plans by the War Office in 1946 had gone ahead.

These mountains would not be accessible to walkers today if it were not for the brave stand by local inhabitants at the end of the 1940s. Soon after the Second World war, in November 1946, the War Office declared its intention to turn the Preselau into a permanent military training area.
 
That would mean turning more than 200 farmers from their homes. However, under the leadership of Nonconformist ministers and local headmasters, a spirited campaign was organised to withstand the threat. A barrister was employed to represent the Prescelly Preservation Committee and it was made abundantly clear that not an inch of land would be surrendered.
 
‘We nurture souls in these areas,’ was the precise comment of the Rev R. Parri Roberta when confronted by military officers. The ‘sanctity’ of the mountains was emphasized with their 38 bluestones transported to Stonehenge, over two thousand years ago, to become part of English heritage.
 
By spring 1948 the Government had give in to the determination of the people of Preselau. All present day farmers and walkers are indebted to those heros of yesterday. The full story can be read in the book ‘Battle of the Presaelau – the campaign to safeguard the ‘sacred’ Pembrokeshire Hills’ by Hefin Wyn.
 
 
This stone was unveiled on May 16, 2009 by Dyfed Davies on behalf of the mountain shepherds Organised by Clychau Clochlog