{"id":1737,"date":"2021-05-28T19:50:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T19:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/?p=1737"},"modified":"2021-05-28T19:50:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T19:50:16","slug":"pen-march-merthyr-common","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/05\/28\/pen-march-merthyr-common\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen March &#038; Merthyr Common"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"min-width: 260px; max-width: 100%\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.outdooractive.com\/en\/embed\/211058238\/js?mw=false&#038;usr=2koj85&#038;key=USR-K9QPMS32-EMWGMGU9-4OSSTPFT\"><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Pen March (535m) and Merthyr Common (531m) are boundary high points for Caerphilly, with Merthryr Common also being a boundary high point for Merthyr Tydfil as well. That means completing these two high points ticks off three hills on the list.\u00a0<\/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\/51209320418\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51209320418_7c44b15d20.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The track onto open moorland actually leads you a long way towards both tops. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>They are accessible from every direction via open moorland \/ grassland that is home to one of the Southernmost mountains in the Brecon Beacons range, Cefn yr Ystrad. I parked next to the road up, on a small, rough layby. <\/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\/51209118876\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51209118876_75e38133f5.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Cefn yr Ystrad, a true mountain. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 48mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You could head up the road a little way and park next to the cattle grid as well, in fact this is probably a better parking place than the one I used.<\/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\/51209119591\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51209119591_5a5a16486a.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The communication tower makes a great point of reference when walking on fairly indistinct moorland. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You follow the road until it ends, and then you open the gate and you&#8217;re in the wilderness. You can follow a wide, at times very wet and muddy (I did this walk after a couple of weeks of heavy rain though) track that leads you towards a communication tower. You can follow smaller tracks from here and sheep tracks until you find an overgrown pond, that is now really nothing more than a deeper patch of grass.<\/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\/51209318588\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51209318588_2983233a6a.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The pond that is not really a pond. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Pen March is a bit to the right of this, Merthyr Common high point a little to the left. There is no indication for either of them, so I just walked a quick loop and snapped some photos and headed back to the car. It was a pleasant enough walk, with some sheep and horses for company and views of Cefn yr Ystrad to the North and many hills to the South &#8211; most of which I&#8217;ve now walked, so always good to have a moment contemplating that.<\/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\/51208403432\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51208403432_644648e861.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The view West from Merthyr Common \/ Pen March. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Probably not a place I&#8217;ll return to, unless I ever decide to walk Cefn yr Ystrad again, but if you are nearby and want a peaceful walk there are certainly worse places to have a and a wander and a ponder.<\/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\/51209316283\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51209316283_e5fee75aeb.jpg\" alt=\"Pen March &amp; Merthyr Common\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The non-pond. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pen March (535m) and Merthyr Common (531m) are boundary high points for Caerphilly, with Merthryr Common also being a boundary high point for Merthyr Tydfil as well. That&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38,6,43],"tags":[57,62,125,115,124,36,39,56,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1739,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions\/1739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}