Wales – Garth Hill, Gwaelod-y-Garth, South Glamorgan

Distance: 8km/5 miles
Time: 2½hrs
Type: Hill and valley
Where: Circular walk from Taffs Well rail station, through the village of Gwaelod-y-Garth and over Garth Hill.
Start/End: Taffs Well rail station (ST124832).
Terrain: Minor roads and unsurfaced paths, with waymarked stiles and some steep or boggy sections.
Maps: OS Explorer 151; Landranger 171.

Easily accessible by public transport from central Cardiff, this short hill-walk makes a perfect excursion for fleeing city-dwellers, and visits the peak that inspired Christopher Monger’s novel The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. From the open access land at the summit of Garth Hill, there are 360-degree views that reach right across the Bristol Channel to Devon on a clear day. Across the Taff Gorge, you can make out Castell Coch, the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff’s other landmarks; and northwards are the Taff Ely wind farm and the Brecon Beacons. At your feet are Bronze Age burial cairns, which are all Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

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