Ysgyryd Fawr

Ysgyryd Fawr is an easterly outlier of the Black Mountains in Wales, and forms the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The name is often anglicised to The Skirrid or Skirrid Fawr, and the mountain is also known as Holy Mountain or Sacred Hill. The spelling Skyrrid is also encountered in older literature. The lower hill of Ysgyryd Fach or 'Little Skirrid' (270m) lies about 4.5 km / 2.5 mi to the south.

It is 486 m or 1594 feet high and lies just to the north-east of Abergavenny , Monmouthshire, about 10 miles from the English border. The Beacons Way passes along the ridge .

Geology

The distinctive shape of this Old Red Sandstone hill comprises a long ridge oriented nearly north–south, with a jagged western side resulting from ice age landslips . The upper slopes of the hill are composed of Devonian age sandstones assigned to the Senni Formation (formerly known as the 'Senni Beds'). These overlie weaker mudstones of the St Maughans Formation - a situation which has contributed to the instability of the hill's steep flanks, resulting in a very large landslip at the northern end of the mountain, although the British Geological Survey map of the area (Abergavenny sheet) shows the landslide extending along the whole of the west side of the mountain. There are numerous other landslips of a similar nature on the nearby hills, although that on the Skirrid is perhaps the most well known owing to its visibility from several directions. There are also numerous rock tables on the hill, some of which were formed by the landslide, and have attracted names such as the "Devil's table". The ridge is very similar in its rocky edge to that found on the Black Hill (Herefordshire) to the north in Herefordshire.

Skirrid (board game)

Skirrid is a board game designed for 2–6 players. It is played on a 19×19 square board which is divided into two areas: a central diamond (coloured white) and the four corner triangles (coloured black) that remain. One player has 18 translucent tiles made of clear plastic, the other of smoked plastic. These tiles come in six different shapes, each with their own name:

Two-player game

White begins by placing any of his tiles across the centre square. The players then take turns placing their pieces on the board, which is covered with numbers. Players must play within the white squares until they have achieved a score of 75 or more.The aim is to get as high a score as possible. Of the three pieces of each variety, one has an inscribed '2' above one square, and one has an inscribed '3' (the other is unmarked). When these pieces are played, the square on the board covered by the number written on the tile is multiplied by that number when it is added to the relevant player's score. Pieces may only be placed in positions where they are adjacent to (not just diagonally touching) a piece of either colour that has already been placed. The game ends when all 36 pieces have been placed on the board, and the highest score wins.