Vale of Glamorgan

Walk Details:
Date: 3/10/2004
Total ascent: 31m/102ft
Total distance walked: 1.04mi/1.67km
Walk difficulty: 1.5/10
Enjoyment rating: 4/10
Best bits: Surprisingly good views, trig point
Worst bits: First part alongside the busy A48, trig point not on a public footpath
Closest parking: In a lay-by on the A48 a few hundred metres from the top.

Top details:
Name: Tair Onen
Number: 15 of 207
Grid reference: ST 03661 73979 MAP
Height above sea level: 137m/449ft
How nice was it?: 1.5/10 for the ascent, 4.5/10 for the top
Description/Notes: The highest point in Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority.

The Walk:

After the drenching we'd gotten at Penlle-r-Castell, Justin wanted to go straight home. We outvoted him - we wanted to get our money's worth out of the weekend by doing another county top. In view of the atrocious weather we agreed it certainly wasn't worth doing a high one - we would miss the enjoyment and views of better weather. Hopefully the rain and wind would be less severe at lower altitudes, and so we went to the Vale of Glamorgan for the lowest county top in South Wales. Frankly, being just a high point in farmland, we didn't expect too much of it, but feared it might be tricky to access.

We had some difficulty getting there, accidentally paying three visits to the same service station on the way. We'd also stopped there on the way past the previous day, and here's some free advice - don't go to Coity Services at junction 36 of the M4 - they're terrible! We also accidentally drove past a couple of suitable parking spots (there's plenty of lay-bys on the A48) before stopping at one that meant we had to walk half a kilometre back along the verge of the A48.

After coming close at Mynydd y Betws Justin broke our Rule One ("No Quittin'") and refused to get out of the car. I don't think he'll be joining us for future county top trips! It must have been Justin who had been jinxing the weather this trip, for the moment we left the car it stopped raining for the first time today.

Having tromped back up the A48 we came to a bus stop, behind which are two footpaths. The western entrance is the one you need. As soon as you're in the field, you can see the trig point that kindly marks the top on a small rise to the south west.

The trig point is actually off the footpath, and we were therefore a bit nervous - it was our first "illegal" top. Although the crops had already been harvested, we were very careful to stick to the field edges on our way up there (the fields were not fenced or hedged, which made it a lot easier). The trig point itself was thankfully in a field that was being kept fallow, so we were able to get to it (it must annoy farmers no end that the Ordnance Survey chose to put these blocks of concrete smack in the middle of fields, rather than at the edge!)

It was well worth it. For such a small hill the views are surprisingly stunning. We could actually see right out to sea. There was what looked like a big island out there, but on investigating the map on our return the only thing it could have been was either Lundy or the bulk of Exmoor. I thought the latter was more likely and, if that's true, I'm amazed we could see that far!

The minute we got back to the car it started raining again. Justin is definitely jinxed! He refused to believe how good this mini-hill had been, but frankly it was his loss. We'd enjoyed it very much, probably mainly because we'd expected nothing of it.