South-West Wales
This hill did not detain us long. We parked at the entrance to the forest track, planning to
return thereby but, having gone round on the road, we could see no way into the forest so
we simply returned the same way
Despite its essentially agricultural nature this was quite an enjoyable hill, especially so since
it was a day of sparkling sunshine and crystal clear views. We went up from Talley through
the forest and it was an easy diversion to the cluster of trees on the summit with the trig
point on the other side of the fence. We rejoined the right of way to descend steeply
northwards and wander back on the quiet lane.
This is the highest point of quite a substantial area of high ground so perhaps deserved better
than our peak-bagging approach from the north. Nevertheless it gave us a pleasant climb, up
steep ground rather than bog, once we had found a way onto the open fellside. The summit
has two large cairns as well as a trig point and from it we saw a spectacular stormy sunset
This is perhaps the least satisfying of the Welsh Marilyns. The top is occupied by a covered
reservoir behind a hostile fence. Arguing that this is a man made feature we contented
ourselves with walking up the track to the gate. We should perhaps have walked right
round it since there was possibly higher ground to its west but this would have involved
climbing several well made barbed wire fences.
After the trivial 'ascent' of Rhos Ymryson we decided to make more of an event of this one
so we left the car on the main road . There was no sign of the path to Llyn Eiddwen but as
soon as we emerged on the open fell there were plenty of tracks to choose from and the
summit, although so close to the road, had quite the atmosphere of a mountain. We returned
on the bridleway which did exist, although disappearing in bog at the southern end.
August Bank Holiday Monday was perhaps not a sensible time to visit the Elan valley. It
seemed as if the entire population of Birmingham had come to see the dire state of their
water supply. It doesn't take long though, on foot, to get away from the crowds and I was
probably the only person to visit the summit of Carn Gefallt. Indeed it shows every sign of
being a very rarely visited top although the bridleway across the ridge is quite well trodden.
I went up it from the north and left it on the vaguest of tracks along the little valley between
the summit ridge and a lower one to the south. Soon I was wallowing in deep trackless
heather. The summit is worth a visit for a few steps westward reveal a striking view of the
Caban-coch dam. I struggled back to rejoin the bridleway and complete the circuit of the
hill.
With two hours of daylight left we decided to make an attempt on this very hostile looking
hill. There was nowhere to park on the main road and time was short so we drove up to
Bwlchmawr and asked permission to park on the verge outside the farm, which was granted
subject to an exhortation to shut the gates! The tracks marked on the map do not go very
close to the summit so we decided to attempt the shorter approach from the corner of the
forest. This turned out to be a lucky decision since the boundary of Forestry Comission
land, shown on the map, was marked by a decaying fence and the remnants of a ride through
the trees. At the point where it turned sharply downhill we reckoned the summit should be
less than 200 metres away. The trig point and an enormous pile of stones, which looked
very much like an ancient cairn, stood in a small clearing not reached by any track and
uncannily reminiscent of Mochrum Fell near Dumfries. In terms of sheer masochism this
hill came nowhere near that dreadful fell however and we were soon back in evening
sunshine.
This seems quite a popular hill with a good track up from the south making a very short and
easy ascent. An enticing path continued down the north-west ridge so we could have made
this into a more enterprising expedition.
This is the highest summit of a quite substantial ridge of high ground, Mynydd Preseli. We
should really have made a full day of it and done the complete traverse, however shortage of
time coupled with bad weather persuaded us to peak-bag it from the high col crossed by the
main road. There is a clear track along the ridge with good going today, although there are
obviously some boggy bits when there has not been a summer of drought. A branch track
continues to the top where unfortunately visibility was down to a few feet. The mist was
drifting away by the time we arrived back at the car so we made the short and clearly very
popular climb to the viewfinder on Cerrig Lladron.
We went up this rather fine hill from Newport. Towards the top the track practically
petered out in painful gorse bushes. The summit was crowded but most people, we
discovered, come up from the east. There are several rocky summit tors and some well
preserved bits of wall from the hill fort. There is also a splendid view of the town and
coastline below. We wandered across the open moor to the west top, Carn Briw, and hence
back down on pleasant tracks through a very colourful mix of gorse and heather.
to Welsh Marilyn index . . . . . . 
my homepage
. . . . . . 
GeoCities Yosemite