Savour special views from the top of Swansea
THERE’S a spot from which you can admire the rolling hills of Carmarthenshire, gaze up at the distant Bannau Brycheiniog, see the Gower coast, and even catch a cheeky glimpse of Port Talbot docks. It’s quite a view. But then it’s quite a spot.
Mynydd y Gwair looms up to the north of Swansea and though it’s pretty modest compared to some mountains, rewhen you are up on its ridges you feel like you are on top of the world with its wide open spaces and big skies.
It’s peaceful too – just you and sheep and wind turbines and the occasional red kite overhead. You get all this but you are only 20 minutes from a cup of really good coffee in Ammanford.
At the highest point of the mountain – in fact the highest point in the county of Swansea at 1,224ft – is a remarkable piece of history. Penlle’r Castell was built in the 13th Century likely by the Norman lords of Gower to defend their territory from the Welsh princes.
As you trek up to the crown of the mountain you are left wondering why such a remote site was chosen to build a fortification but when you get to the summit you realise exactly why. That view. From the lonely castle the garrison would have been able to see trouble coming from many miles away.
The location makes even more sense when you remember this was once borderland country. Though today we think of Gower as the peninsula, with its world-famous beaches, the historic Lordship of Gower covers a large swathe of what is now the western and northern parts of the county of Swansea including Mynydd y Gwair where it collided with the start of lands of the Welsh princes across the Amman river.
The castle may have consisted of a stout blockhouse with an observation tower but all that is left now are some impressive ditches and earthworks as well as scattered stones and pieces of masonry from the walls. A plaque informs you it is a scheduled monument.
The garrison would have had the same commanding views a visitor gets today though it seems unlikely they would have appreciated it in quite the same way we do now.
Not only was this lofty point about seeing but it must also have been about being seen – an expression of power. If you visit now, though, you are likely to have the place to yourself.
Unlike some of the more flashy Welsh peaks you won’t find queues of people heading for the summit here. Indeed you are unlikely to find anyone else at all save for the odd hiker. When I was there recently I had the place to myself except for a couple of skylarks.
If you are planning to head to the summit you have got a couple of options. There’s a car park on the Amman side of the mountain – Ammanford Observation Point – which involves a not-too-long but in parts quite stiff walk up to the summit or there’s the St Iltyd’s footpath route which will take you straight there.
I decided to make a day of it, starting at the Lower Lliw reservoir and making my way up the valley to the upper reservoir before skirting around the side of the reservoir and picking up the mountain road which runs arrow-straight over the common land all the way to the summit.
However you do it, a trip to the top of Swansea always rewards.