GW/SW-024 – Mynydd y Lan
A short drive from Mynydd Machen got me to Mynydd y Lan. There are a number of possible approaches to this summit. I opted to come in from the North West as there appeared on the map to be a track most of the way.
There is room on the verge to park one car at ST 194 932. The track is not as well defined as the map would suggest but it is there if you look carefully, at least as far as the farm at Ton-eithin. Beyond this, once onto the access land, the whole area was covered in fern obscuring any track. Fortunately there are sheep there doing a good job of keeping a path open through the ferns so I was able to follow their path around to the summit.
The top is very flat and open with no immediately obvious summit at the point indicated by the SOTA database. This point is some 200m South of the point indicated on the map, it’s all in the activation zone so I guess it doesn’t really matter where you choose. I managed to find a marker stone about 50m E of the SOTA point and 150m SSE from the map summit mark. I don’t know what the stone is there for but it seemed a reasonable spot to operate from and should be easily found again. There are radio towers both to the North and to the South of the summit but they are far enough away to not be a problem. I set up the station, the stone made a good anchor for the antenna pole. I soon had enough contacts in the log including MW6BWA again summit to summit and also MW0JLA summit to summit. I also managed to log Alan GW6VPX again on his way back down Pen y Fan. The return to the car is uneventful, just follow the same route back again.
GW/SW-024 Log
Journey Details
Date – 30th August 2018
Postcode – NP11 7BB
Parking – ST 194 932
Radio – Kenwood TH-D74 + 50W PA
Antenna – 2 ele yagi
Band – 144 FM
Contacts – 5
SOTA points – 1
Group – Myself
Walking Route Summary
