Eleven - Bridgend - Werfa (Mynydd Llangeinwyr) (568m)

Third walk of the day, and our fifth and last high point as the winter sun started to set low in the sky.

Transmitters and the damaged trig point at the
 top of Werfa.

This is a real quick win – 10 minute sprint up and 10 minute sprint down again in the fading light. We share the yomp to the top (568 m) with a few sheep but see no one. At the summit there are a couple of masts bristling with transmitters and the rather sorry looking remains of a trig point which has seen better days. The pink bits in the sky are vanishing as dusk starts to descend, and we are now definitely looking forward to getting home for tea.

As we walk amongst the ubiquitous turbines are treated to the sight of a person being winched up inside one. A trap door clangs behind him and we never see him emerge – I wonder if he’s going to camp up there overnight with a sleeping bag and a bottle of something warming.
 

Another recently constructed wind farm. (Spot
the cable hoist at the rear of the turbine,
 used to lift workers into the generator.

Nine & Ten - Neath Port Talbot / Rhondda Cynon Taf - Craig y Llyn (600m / 589m)

Another two highest points to add to the earlier two already climbed today. The summit of Craig y Llyn is the highest point in Neath Port Talbot, and the nearby county line between Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf marks the high point in that borough.

Moss covered trig point at summit of Craig y Lyn

Mightily impressed just by the viewpoint at the carpark here - you can see the peaks of the Beacons Way undulating across the landscape, including Pen Y Fan and Corn Du to the right. Perfect spot for a quick lunch, though its much too cold to eat al fresco. Our path west along the top of Craig y Llyn quickly joins with the Coed Morgannwyg Way and up a rocky path to the pine trees at the top.

No longer a prominent feature. Now surrounded
by conifers.

We find the trig point at 600m quite easily, despite a sign diverting the path for no apparent reason, and then emerge from the trees to find another forest of turbines, looking regal in the sunshine, with more being hastily erected below.

Paths closed due to erection of giant wind farm

Cast-iron boundary post between RCT & NPT (&
the historic counties of West & Mid Glamorgan).

When work is finished at Pen y Cymoedd Wind Energy Project there’ll be seventy six turbines and they should provide the entire domestic power supply for Neath and RCT. There is a notice up asking us to wave at the plant and vehicle drivers as they pass us, so they can wave back to indicate that they’ve seen us and won’t run us over – this keeps me entertained for a while. We follow the cycle track back down the hill east for a little way, and then retrace our steps back along the footpath to the car.

Felled trees and some of the dozens of turbines
already erected, with more in construction.

Seven & Eight - Caerphilly / Merthyr Tydfil - Pen March (535m) / Merthyr Common (531m)

Getting 2017 off to a good start, three separate walks and a total of five highest points reached today. The first walk across Merthyr Common claimed the high spot in both Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly Unitary Authorities.

Joolz & Taffy at (about) the highest point in
Caerphilly - (no marker, cairn or trig point).

Big smiley sunshines for the weather forecast today find us managing three walks and five peaks today – not bad considering the limited daylight hours available. It was very cold, but this turned out to be a blessing because the hard ground made crossing some of the boggy bits much easier. Never far away is the Heads of the Valleys Road ; a revelation to find all these new peaks so close to the highway which we regularly whizz along by car.

Below freezing - frozen water trickling off
the moor

The first walk, starting very close to the Asda supermarket at Dowlais Top, takes us up from the middle of a housing estate, through a few gates ( past some highly excitable but penned - in dogs) and striding out up onto Merthyr Common via some old quarry roads. We don’t see a soul – just a few ponies who stare us out but don’t approach us. There’s a path of sorts which zigzags in a North Easterly direction until we reach our destination(s) - a couple of points by Pwll Mere ( a dryish lake / sink hole ) where the counties of Caerphilly, Merthyr and Powys all meet . With the help of W’s GPS we think we’ve got pretty close to the two highest peaks – Waun Lysiog in Merthyr ( 515 m) (which isn’t even marked on the Ordnance Survey map) and Twyn Pwll Morlais in Caerphilly ( 535m). 

Pwll Mere - boggy rather than actually full of
water - with a smattering of snow

It’s quite bleak, despite the sunshine, but it’s a shame there isn’t anything to mark the sites. We anticipate wind turbines will be sprouting up here shortly. There isn’t a circular walk to be done, so we retrace our steps back to the car and drive the short distance to our second climb of the day.

Start and finish of the walk is surprisingly
from a smart housing estate