Mynydd y Cwm (304m), Mynydd Rhyd Ddu (389m), and Mwdwl-eithin (532m) 22nd May 2010

The summit area of Mynydd y Cwm

Mynydd y Cwm (304m)

The car was parked at a large lay-by in the village of Rhuallt and I started walking at 9.35 am. It was a hot sunny day and I was thankful that most of this walk was in the forest. The walk initially took me along the road to Cwm and Dyserth before entering the forest. A track climbed the hill, although at SJ070766 I took a path, along which there were lovely bluebells. The forest was alive with bird song and it was a pleasant ascent. A mountain bike trail brought me to another track and by the side of a small cliff a path climbed to the summit. The actual highest point was unmarked but nearby was a large cairn and a memorial cross. There was no view, so I descended straightaway and reached the car at 10.50 am. This was a roundtrip of 1 hour 15 minutes.

 

  The trig on Mynydd Rhyd Ddu

Mynydd Rhyd Ddu (389m)

I parked the car just outside Melin y Wig, on the road to Bettws Gwerfil Goch and started walking at 11.50 am. I walked along the narrow road to Brynhalen farm and made my way up from there. It was an uninspiring hill but the hazy view was nice, taking in the Clwydian Hills and the Denbigh Moors. I arrived at the summit trig at 12.30 pm, took a few photos and descended by my route of ascent. I arrived back at the car at 1.10 pm, a walk time of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

Mwdwl-eithin

Mwdwl-eithin (532m)

I parked the car in a lay-by in the village of Glasfryn, on the A5. I took the track to Ty’n y Waen but before I reached the house I came across a lamb that was stuck in a fence. I managed to free it but it was very weak so I went to the nearby farmhouse to tell the farmer but there was no answer. I walked back to the A5 and knocked on the nearest house but the guy wasn’t interested. He just said the farmer went round his flock every day and would see it. I walked back to the lamb and carried to nearer the track and under the shade of some trees so that it wasn’t under the hot sun. I thought it would die though.

I resumed my walk feeling sad for the lamb. The track petered out and an intermittent path took me towards Mwdwl-eithin. It still seemed a long way off but the moor was quite wild and it felt off the beaten track. I came to a wall and on the other side was a clearer path. I soon left this and took to the pathless moor in order to maintain height. It was hard going in the deep heather and the boggy ground but the hill got steadily nearer. Near the summit a barbed wire fence blocked the way but someone had made a makeshift stile. The summit was marked by a trig and a large cairn and I sat there for 25 minutes admiring the hazy view to the Denbigh Moors, the Clwydian Hills, Carnedd y Filiast and Moel Siabod. I descended via a different route, following a path over a gate. I headed for some trees that lay near the clear path I had followed on the ascent. Once I was on the lower farmland a track led to Glasfryn, although it was a different track to the one I had followed on the ascent. I reached the car at 5.30 pm, a roundtrip of 3 hours. I was hot and thirsty and the air conditioning in the car on the journey home was very welcome.

 

The trig on Mwdwl-eithin

 

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Fell Hill (417m), Bogrie Hill (432m) and Wauk Hill (357m) 8th May 2010

 

Fell Hill (417m)

Fell Hill

The car was parked by the side of the road near the start of the track to Fell Farm, which is the gateway to this hill. Mark and I started walking along this track at 1 pm on a lovely sunny day. There was a bit of a chilly wind but when the sun shone it felt warm and spring-like. Skylarks sang and hovered over the grassland, whilst lapwings and cuckoos called. It felt as though spring had arrived. It was an easy and pleasant walk along the track, with views behind us to Bogrie Hill and Castramon Hill. We reached he ruined farm, where we heard the cuckoo, and climbed the slopes to the top of the hill. This was marked by a trig and a large cairn/monument and although it was windy it was a fantastic place to be. The view was amazing and took in the Galloway Hills, the Cairnsmore of Carsphairn group of hills, the Lowther Hills, Criffel and across the Solway Firth to the mountains of the northern Lake District. We had lunch just below the summit and admired the beautiful and extensive vista. I could hardly bring myself to leave but we had two other hills to climb, so we retraced our steps down the hill to the farm and along the track back to the car. This we reached at 3.25 pm, a round trip of nearly 2 and a half hours.

Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (797m) from Fell Hill

 

Bogrie Hill (432m)

Bogrie Hill from Fell Hill

I parked the car below Bogrie Hill on a large grass verge, at NX786846. The climbing started as soon as we left the car at 3.45 pm, but it was only a 200m climb. The ground was not difficult underfoot and so it was an easy ascent. The top was marked by a trig and the view, whilst beautiful and extensive, was not as fine as that from Fell Hill. The Lowthers were much closer here, whilst the Galloway and Cairnsmore hills were further away. We could also see Criffel, the Lakeland hills, the Northern Pennines and the Isle of Man. After a short stay to admire the view we descended the short distance to the car, arriving at 5.05 pm. The walk took us a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Bishop Forest Hill (392m) from Bogrie Hill

 

Wauk Hill (357m)

Cairnkinna Hill (554m) from Wauk Hill

It took a while to find a parking spot for this hill but eventually I decided to park the car at the first spot we had seen, which was a lay-by on the A702, at NX823905. Mark and I started walking at 5.45 pm, initially through the fields at the bottom of the hill. A rickety stile led to the open hillside and the route lay alongside the wall that ran up the hillside. A trig marked the summit and we sat nearby admiring the view. The Lowthers and Cairnkinna Hill looked particularly beautiful in the evening light. After a bite to eat we descended by the side of the wall and then took a more direct route across the fields to the A702. A short walk along the side of the road brought us to the car at 7.35 pm, a total of 1 hour 50 minutes for eh walk. Ten minutes later we were on our way home.

The Lowther Hills from Wauk Hill

 

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High Raise (762m) 25th April 2010

The trig on High Raise

 

Mark and I started walking from the United Utilities car park at Steel End at 11.40 am. It was wet, with persistent rain that was heavy at times. A footpath took us up the valley of the Wyth Burn, with a mist shrouded Steel Fell to our left and Nab Crags and Castle Crags to our right. The path passed by some attractive waterfalls that were the highlight of the damp walk-in and the path disappeared in the flat, marshy upper part of the valley. We had lunch by a slope that gave some shelter from the wind but conditions did not encourage us to savour our food. After lunch we climbed up on to Greenup Edge, with views to a misty Ullscarf and down the valley we had just walked up. The rain was more intermittent by this stage, although conditions were hardly pleasant, and we reached the top of High Raise at 3.45 pm. This was marked by a trig and a stone shelter and we sat here and had a quick bite to eat. There was no view and we had hardly set any world records in our ascent. The conditions and the lateness of the hour sapped our resolve to continue over Calf Crag and Steel Fell and we descended by our route of ascent. This was more pleasant than the ascent as the rain stopped from time to time and the mist had lifted to a higher level. The valley of the Wyth Burn is wild and unfrequented by Lakeland standards and I felt regretful that the weather had spoilt a good walk. It was with some relief that we reached the car at 6.25 pm, 6.75 hours after setting out. I vowed to myself to return one day on a better day.

 

Ullscarf

 

The valley of the Wyth Burn

 

 

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