{"id":1586,"date":"2021-05-08T11:48:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T11:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2022-03-11T10:37:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T10:37:16","slug":"pen-castell-y-van","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/05\/08\/pen-castell-y-van\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen Castell y Van"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"min-width: 260px; max-width: 100%\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.outdooractive.com\/en\/embed\/208547213\/js?mw=false\"><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The smallest hill on the list for Caerphilly at just 140m in height. Whilst the map indicates that the top is on private land, I was surprised to find access open from multiple directions and the whole area riddled with well-walked and well-worn footpaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51165712814\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51165712814_e8a6fcf3cf_b.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Castell y Van\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Pen Castell y Van viewed from Mynydd Rudry. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 80mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I completed this hill using the route above, starting in a car park near Mynydd Rudry and walking down via the forest across open fields to the top of Pen Castell y Van.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51165166023\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51165166023_55d115b5c2_b.jpg\" alt=\"Woodland\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Winding woodland paths could be very muddy after rain. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 35mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51164930406\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51164930406_7e871efe77_c.jpg\" alt=\"Woodland\" width=\"534\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The woodland path levels out towards a small stream before you reach the open fields. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 35mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The highest point is now fully accessible, contrary to what hill-bagging sites might tell you. Just walk around and you will find clear access with no need to climb any walls. There is bracken and trees at the highest point, views are limited because of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51165711679\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51165711679_d24d63bcc1_b.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Castell y Van\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The open fields towards Pen Castell y Van. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 35mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51165711059\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51165711059_8701f0d1db_c.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Castell y Van\" width=\"534\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The top is pretty much marked by this tree. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 35mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Minor tumps such as this are not as satisfying to walk as larger hills, largely because they don&#8217;t really have a defined top. However, the walk there and back was good and as I live in Caerphilly I felt I had to do the full list of hills, including all the minor tumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/uponnothing\/51164928486\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51164928486_37a8b6c710_b.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Castell y Van\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Looking East from Pen Castell y Van. | Tamron Adaptall 2 35-135 (40A) @ 35mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The smallest hill on the list for Caerphilly at just 140m in height. Whilst the map indicates that the top is on private land, I was surprised to find access open from multiple directions and the whole area riddled with well-walked and well-worn footpaths. I completed this hill using the route above, starting in a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[268,262,267,259,17],"tags":[48,112,113,126,169,197,200,203,237,239],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caerphilly","category-moderate","category-walks-by-county","category-walk-rating","category-welsh-hills","tag-caerphilly","tag-hiking","tag-hill-walking","tag-minor-tumps","tag-pen-castell-y-van","tag-sony-a7rii","tag-south-wales","tag-tamron-adaptall-2-35-135-40a","tag-welsh-hills","tag-welsh-valleys"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2898,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions\/2898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalkingkev.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}