This is one of my favourite local walks, the route has a nice variety of scenery, some steep parts and some gentle flat parts and the views from the top are some of the best in the area.
Starting at Gelligroes Mill – home of radio pioneer Arthur (Artie) Ernest Moore who, in the early hours of 15 April 1912, using crude radio apparatus received a faint signal in Morse Code:
“CQD CQD SOS de MGY Position 41.44N 50.24W. Require immediate assistance. Come at once. We have struck an iceberg. Sinking….We are putting the women off in the boats…..”
He was the first person in Britain to learn that the Titanic had struck an iceberg and was sinking. He transcribed all of the SOS messages from the Titanic until it sank a couple of hours after that first message.
From Gelligroes Mill you head steeply uphill – as Artie Moore would have done during his life – on an old track, before a stretch of country lane takes you to the peaceful St Tudor’s Church and The Church Inn, Mynyddislwyn.
Past this you head up again to the three towers, by which point you’ll be able to see Cardiff and the sea.
From there you head right following a small path towards the stone marker marking the top of Mynydd y Lan. Beware that towards the end of summer this track can be quite overgrown so any rain or dew will leave you with very damp legs as you near enough wade through it.
You can then follow the track towards the edge of the hill, where you can then see all of Machen Mountain, Newport and Cardiff as well as views over the Bristol Channel to England.
The path loops around back to the three towers and you can then head back a different way to take in the disused reservoir before returning to Gelligroes Mill.