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BridgendWalk Details: Top details: The Walk: |
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Due to the adverse weather on our previous jaunt to Wales, we’d missed out on Werfa then, leaving an annoying “hole” in the colouring in on our map. We were keen to visit the hill to rectify the situation, but still couldn’t resist the obvious pun – “do you think it’s actually werfa visit”? Unfortunately it turned out not to be werfa visit at all. Despite its height we guessed it would be a bit of an anticlimax coming so soon after the excellent Fan Brycheiniog, and decided to park as close as we could to the top, rather than walking up to it. The extreme heat was certainly also a factor in this decision. We drove along the A4107 looking for spots to park; each time Jim spotted one, I suggested trying to get closer still. I knew that there was a service track leading up to the radio masts at the top, and while I fully expected there to be a locked gate across the track, I hoped that there may be some parking spaces at the entrance. It turned out that there was a gate, but it was wide open. Jim took advantage and drove us on up the track, thinly paved with two narrow strips of concrete – quite difficult to drive on as at times the ground fell away to the side. Unfortunately many other people had taken advantage of the open gate – the entire hillside was covered with litter and the disgusting refuse left by prolific fly tipping. It was a depressing sight. We were worried about parking amongst the waste heaps near the radio masts; there was an extremely dubious looking individual sitting in a car parked just a little further down the hill. Fortunately we wouldn’t have to leave the car for long, as the summit trig was only just the other side of the mast compound. We wandered around the compound fence, casting worried glances back towards the car and the dodgy bloke. It took a while to spot the trig, for it was a different shape to usual. Some pathetic mindless loser had smashed it to pieces, leaving just a forlorn broken stump. It must have taken a hug amount of effort; not to say forethought in bringing what must have been some fairly sturdy tools up the hill. I can’t understand why anyone would bother. Trying desperately to find a bright side, all I can say is that there was slightly less rubbish on this side of the masts. On the other hand, there were great troughs of mud separating us from the trig. Jim hadn’t bothered to change into his boots and was most irked as he tried to tiptoe round the end of the muck. Even the views didn’t make this top any better, for they were largely blocked out by the distant edge of this flat hilltop. We returned to the car less than 5 minutes after we had left it, deeply depressed by the experience – without a doubt, this is the most ghastly non-urban top we have seen (and there are few urban tops that are any worse). I’ve seen nicer landfill sites. The worst thing was that this was a hill that could have been so much better had it not been ruined by imbeciles. To be quite honest, most of the fly tipping and vandalism would probably have been prevented if only the gate at the bottom had been kept locked to prevent vehicular access, and you have to wonder why the council haven’t taken steps to enforce this. I would have been more than happy to park at the bottom and walk up a clean hill, but in the circumstances I was so glad we were able to drive up this one. People of Bridgend, you should be ashamed.
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