{"id":2245,"date":"2021-09-19T18:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-19T18:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/?p=2245"},"modified":"2021-09-22T18:31:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T18:31:15","slug":"pen-y-foel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/09\/19\/pen-y-foel\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen y Foel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"min-width: 260px; max-width: 100%\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.outdooractive.com\/en\/embed\/224407371\/js?mw=false&#038;usr=2koj85&#038;key=USR-K9QPMS32-EMWGMGU9-4OSSTPFT\"><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This is a really pleasant circular walk to the top of Pen y Foel, a 331m metre hill complete with painted trig point and extensive views South, West and North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parking is in a free car park in Abercynon &#8211; St Margaret&#8217;s &#8211; and the walk takes you briefly through the narrow streets of Abercynon before you enter forest tracks for most of the walk.<\/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\/51492328337\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51492328337_7aec357e10.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Breaking out of the forest on the way up leads to some great views East. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading up from the car park you&#8217;ll head a diagonal left not long after until you reach the first footpath sign which takes you onto wide gravel forest tracks. You can then zig-zag up on these all the way to the summit which offers a gentle ascent of just over 800ft. You can cut off the corners of the forest paths for a shorter but steeper route, and nearer the top you could take a path that offers some scrambling if you wanted.<\/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\/51493830604\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51493830604_6b933829eb.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>View South takes in the Garth above Cardiff. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 48mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, sticking to the main forest tracks makes for a longer but easier walk and should offer good walking conditions in all weather and after heavy rain.\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\/51493830229\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51493830229_a7256dfaaa.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>When the sky clears you can see some of the Brecon Beacons up the valley. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The trig point offers really great views and is a very photogenic spot, well worth taking it all in and pausing a while &#8211; a good picnic spot in good weather as it is a grassy top.<\/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\/51493341153\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51493341153_6ed6a279b5.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The view East takes in the summit of Cefn Gwyngul. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The walk back down can take many different routes, lots of them avoiding much duplication of the route up, making this a really good circular walk. The end of the track I took was steep in places and you need good walking shoes or boots, if you are not a confident walker stick to the forest trails on the way back for the last section.<\/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\/51492327142\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51492327142_4a336b8d4d.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Looking East. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.   <\/figcaption><\/figure>\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\/51492326962\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51492326962_b160bed9ac.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Looking South. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\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\/51493340583\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51493340583_61c44b48f6.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>You don&#8217;t have to walk mountains to get great views. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\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\/51493339713\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51493339713_9100f2bd6e.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The Brecon Beacons peaking through. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\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\/51492328932\/in\/dateposted-public\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51492328932_a0634cafeb.jpg\" alt=\"Pen y Foel\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The Walk back takes in some nice little paths. |  Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a really pleasant circular walk to the top of Pen y Foel, a 331m metre hill complete with painted trig point and extensive views South, West&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38,6,43],"tags":[51,62,226,84,36,45,39,56,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245"}],"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=2245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2247,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions\/2247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}