Lowfly.net - WALES 2

Cad pass, Cadair, Cad East/West/Tally llyn Pass

The Infamous Mach Loop

Picture above courtesy of Chaz Mc Hugh

Below, the Cad Pass from The Dinas exit

The Cad Pass, the Tally llyn pass, Cadair pass, Cad east and west are all names this location is known as.

Below, a civilian regisered L39. Warbirds are becoming quite common visitors.

Location: Situated between Welshpool and Dolgellau .The most popular pass with photographers and aircrew alike. Aircrew refer to the location on Cad West where the photographers lay in wait as the "fence line".

Point 1 is the Cadair pass(in the shadow of Cader Idris) which has east and west sides of this very narrow valley . Point 2 is the Bwlch or Dinas, these are the best known locations in Wales. The Wales low level training area is known as low fly 7 and consists of arteries of valleys joining together and forming a large roundabout north of Machalynyth hence the name Mach loop. The loop strictly speaking is not part of low fly area 7.

Click the map below for the larger version with locations

Directions: Starting point is the little chef services east of Dolgellau. From here head east on the A470 until you meet the A487 which is on your right side. Once on the A487 you will pass the Cross foxes Pub, keep going for a couple of miles and you will see before you the narrow entrance to the valley, this is the best location for photography, keep driving until you reach a big lay-by on your right hand side. Park in here, as of December 06 it is still free parking. If you look down the road to the south you will see the Tall y llyn lake.

The west side

Hercules C130, by Thomas Steenhour

To reach the western viewing positions you need to be back along the road you have just driven, be warned it is extremely dangerous. The safest route to take is by going over the fence at the back of the car park and following the footpath north-westwards until you reach a fence line which goes from the road right up to the top of the hill. Head straight up the footpath until you come to a right-hand bend where you can see the a step over the fence, This is a good position to be at. The aircraft will appear from the direction of the cross foxes either from The hillside near Dolgellau or by turning left as the head out of the Bwlch/Dinas valley or the may come straight over the hill from Bala. You will often get a little warning which will give you time to prepare yourself. An advantage in seeing hawks is the light on the aircraft's nose, be aware not to look in the sky as the aircraft are often hidden in the background clutter. A 300mm lens is more than ample at this location with a Jaguar filling the frame at around 150mm as they pass you.

Location photograph 1 Location photograph 2 click to view

A Maverick armed Harrier gr9 attacks the pass, 300mm focal length.

The car park in the cad pass looking towards Bala (north) The aircraft are head on and straight above you from here.

A Hawk entering the pass slightly higher than usual, giving a nice side on shot.

And a more typical entry into the pass.

An Army Air Corps Apachi on a mountain training mission by Dave Hall

Cad East you can either go straight up the footpath opposite the small quarry on the bend to the north of the car park or you can drive around the back of the big hill and have a slightly easier climb. To walk from the roadside locate the path and follow it up the old slate path which curves to the right near the top. Once at the top you should walk south a little further until you can see the end of the Bwlch pass. From this position here you will mainly be getting bottom side shots and the sun will be behind you most of the day. If you walk up the hill to the south up near the tallest part of the valley from here you will get the aircraft as they straighten out again as they continue in level flight down the valley. To go round the back in your car you need to locate the gated track near the entrance to the valley (remembering to close the gates as you pass through them). If you keep going until the third gate you will see a small lay-by for around half a dozen sensibly parked cars, from here you can walk across on fairly even terrain for about 100yrds until you reach the edge of the hill. Or if you follow the fenceline up towards the summit which is a five minute steady climb. Climb is probably not the correct word as it is only a gentle slope.

You can sit in the parking up place and watch the aircraft as they come through the pass unfortunately you will be below them. If you are able to walk and navigate across bumpy grass terrain etc. you might be able to reach the position for cad east. simply walk across the field towards the valleys edge as mentioned previously Cad west is not suitable unless you are in shape to tackle the very steep climb, this is even a test for able bodied people With RAF Valley being so close it wont suprise you to find that hawks make up a large proportion of the traffic.