Gwent Mountaineering Club

Walk: Caerphilly Mountain to Machen via the ridgeway. 20km/13m, 600m/2000ft ascent (Moderate)
2024-12-01 09:30 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Join Mark for this hard graded walk from Caerphilly Mountain to Machen via the ridgeway, taking in Cefn Onn and Craig Llysfaen. Distance of 20km/13m, 600m/2000ft ascent.
Start 9.30am. OS Explorer Map 151, grid reference ST 157853, The Caerphilly Mountain shack.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Indoor climb: Every Wednesday (October - March)
2024-11-27 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-11-20 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-11-13 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-11-06 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-10-30 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-10-23 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-10-16 18:00 - 21:30, 2024-10-09 18:00 - 21:30 and 1 more date | Summit Centre, Trelewis, The Old Drift Mine Trelewis, Treharris, CF46 6RD
Join us every Wednesday from 6pm for indoor climbing over the winter months from October through to the end of March 2025. There is a choice of 2 climbing venues so we hope to see you at one of them!
Boulders Cardiff, St. Catherines Park, Cardiff, CF24 2RZ
The Summit Centre, The Old Drift Mine Trelewis, Treharris South Wales, CF46 6RD

Walk: A Circuit either side of the A470. 21km/13miles, 1130m/3700ft ascent (Hard)
2024-11-24 09:00 - 17:00
Join Dave for this circuit either side of the A470 covering 21km/13miles with 1130m/3700ft ascent.
Head torch essential.
9am start. Craig Cerrig Gleisiad picnic site. OS Explorer Map OL12, grid reference SN 971222.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Talk: Nepal 2023- Island Peak & Others
2024-11-21 20:00 - 21:30 | Goytre Village Hall (GVH), Newtown Road, Penperlleni, Pontypool, NP4 0AW, United Kingdom
Our member Dave Bingham is one of the Club’s most experienced high-altitude mountaineers with successful ascents of 6, 7 and 8000 metre peaks in Pakistan, Nepal and Tajikistan to his name.
At this coming Thursday talk (21st November, 8pm, Goytre Village Hall) he will tell us about his trip to Nepal last year to climb Imja Tse (better known as Island Peak, 6,165m) and Labouche East (6,119m). Of the latter, with it’s difficult slabs from the start and a six-hour ascent from high camp, Dave says “it’s one of the hardest climbs I’ve ever done”.
Please do come along to hear Dave tell his story.

Walk: Dyffryn Crawnon Round. 19.5km/12m, 680m/2240ft ascent (Moderate)
2024-11-17 09:30 - 17:00
Join Jon for a moderately graded walk titled ‘Dyffryn Crawnon Round’. We leave Llangynidyr across fields to open land at Carreg Wen Fawr y Rugos. Then follow the top of the escarpment to meet the Trevil Quarries road, picking up the old tramway contouring around the head of Dyffryn Crawnon, before the final ascent of Tor y Foel. Return to the start.
19.5km/12m, 680m/2240feet ascent.
Start 9.30am. OS Explorer Map OL13 , grid reference SO155196. Free public car park.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Evening walk: The Sugar Loaf. 3.17m/5km, 725ft/220m ascent
2024-11-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Top car park Mynydd Llanwenarth
Join Sian for this 3.17 mile walk up The Sugarloaf on very good paths. All being well you’ll have lovely night time views of the lights across the heads of the valleys and Abergavenny.
Start at 7pm from the top car park Mynydd Llanwenarth. Grid reference SO268167.
Head torches ESSENTIAL.
Drinks at the Kings Head, Abergavenny afterwards.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Walk: Pen Gloch y Pibwr, Pen Allt Mawr, Mynyddau Llysiau a Llangorse. 21km/13 miles, 1004m/3293ft ascent (Moderate)
2024-11-10 09:30 - 17:00
Join Ralph for this moderately graded walk starting from Cwmdu. The circuit includes Pen Gloch y Pibwr, Pen Allt Mawr and Mynydd Llysiau before descending to cross the A479 and returning to the start via Mynydd Llangorse.
Starting 9.30am. OS Explorer 13, grid reference SO180239.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Talk: Exploring the Pennine Way
2024-11-07 20:00 - 21:30 | Goytre Village Hall (GVH), Newtown Road, Penperlleni, Pontypool, NP4 0AW, United Kingdom
Despite a lifetime of outdoor walking and climbing activities I’m not a natural backpacker. Making a journey on foot with my home on my back is almost alien to me. That’s not to say I’ve never done it but the occasions have been few, far between and of short duration. Thus, it was with trepidation that I embarked upon my Pennine Way adventure in May 2022. What would this 255 mile 17 day journey bring? Would I be capable? Would I cope? Would I finish it? Come along to this talk to hear my story.

Walk: A day out in the Black Mountains. 12.48m/19.9km, 3030ft ascent (Moderate)
2024-11-03 09:00 - 17:00
Please join us for a day out in the Black Mountains taking in Capel Y Ffin, Rhos Dirion, Twmpa and Waun Fach (not necessarily in that order!).
Start time is currently 9am however this could change so please check the email and Whatsapp once circulated.
Start location is the Mynydd Du car park.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Talk: Down Under Adventures
2024-10-31 20:00 - 21:30 | Goytre Village Hall (GVH), Newtown Road, Penperlleni, Pontypool, NP4 0AW, United Kingdom

Walk: Mynydd Llangattock 17km/10.5miles (Moderate)
2024-10-27 09:30 - 17:00 | Crickhowell, High School / Leisure Centre Car Park
Bleak, desolate and lonely, you may think, but Mynydd Llangattock is home to more than 400 sites of archaeological interest – testament to the busy place it must have been in the past.
Join Alex for this moderately graded walk (17km/10.5 miles with 510m/1675ft of ascent) to explore. From our starting point in Crickhowell we will cross the River Usk and meander gently uphill to reach the Darren Cilau quarries. Here, the intrepid may embark on 6 miles of the country’s hardest underground caving. We will give that a miss though and instead carry on overground to the bleak plateau and trig point of Tŵr Pen-cyrn [Mynydd Llangatwg]. Around the summit area we will visit a few of the archaeological sites, being the remains of two square shelters, a hut circle and the site of a battle in 728AD between Ethelred, King of Mercia and Rhodri ap Idwal, Prince of Gwynedd – Saxons slugging it out with Britons.
Heading northwest across open, possibly wet moorland, we will aim to make use of what paths we can find to keep our feet as dry as possible while we navigate to a flooded swallow hole and then onward past the Witch’s Pool (Pwll Gwy-rhoc). Eventually, we will reach the cairn of Eglwys Faen. One hundred metres below sits the well-known cave of the same name. Returning to the base of the Llangattock cliffs (route will depend on conditions) we will pick up an abandoned incline and tramway to make our return to Crickhowell.
Start time: 9:30am. Start point: Crickhowell High School / Leisure Centre car park.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Annual General Meeting (online)
2024-10-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Online
Our Annual General Meeting will be held online on 24th October 2024. Agenda and joining details will be shared via email.

Evening Walk: Taffs Well Quarry 4 miles/6km
2024-10-10 19:00 - 21:30
Join Jon & Kath for this evening walk to Taffs Well quarry. Uphill through Garth Wood & mostly gentle descent or flat after this. Good views of the large quarry and across the estuary. Bring a headtorch.
We’ll start 7pm. OS Explorer Map 151 ST 127 819, Ty Nant pub in Morganstown, Cardiff.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Talk: Members Digital Photos
2024-10-03 20:00 - 21:30 | Goytre Village Hall (GVH), Newtown Road, Penperlleni, Pontypool, NP4 0AW, United Kingdom
A chance to showcase what we all have been up to in the last 12 months!
Pete Salenieks has traditionally opened the Winter evenings programme with an audio-visual display of photographs from the membership taken over the last year (Sept 23- Sept 24). The aim is to capture as many different activities the GMC has been involved in – climbing, scrambles, walking, weekend trips.
This event is happening at the Goytre Village Hall, Goytre on 3rd October at 8pm.
Digital photos to be sent to Pete via email by the 26th September 2024 at the latest.

Walk: Details to follow
2024-09-29 09:30 - 17:00
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Climb: Blaenllechau (Sport)
2024-09-29 09:30 - 17:00
Sunday climbing at Blaenllechau. Sport.
Timings will be advised via climbing group comms. For more details please contact John Jones.
UKC Logbook (ukclimbing.com): Blaenllechau
South Wales Climbing Wiki (SWCW): Blaenllechau
Climbing meets are weather dependent and can change at short notice. Please contact the organiser for more information.

Walk: Penallta to Mynydd Eglwysilan, 27km/17miles, 610m/2000 feet ascent (Hard)
2024-09-29 09:30 - 17:00
Join Mark on this hard walk from Penallta to Mynydd Eglwysilan. Covering 27km/17miles and ascent of 610m/2000 feet. The walk will follow the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway to Llanfabon, Mynydd Eglwysilan, Mynydd Meio to Abertridwr, then follow the railway to Penyrheol. Walking back to the start via the Sengheydd Dyke.
Start 9.30am at Parc Penallta car park, grid reference SO135 956.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Indoor climb
2024-09-25 18:00 - 21:00 | Summit Centre, Trelewis, The Old Drift Mine Trelewis, Treharris, CF46 6RD
Wednesday evening climbing.
Choice of two venues:
Boulders Cardiff, St. Catherines Park, Pengam Road, Cardiff CF24 2RZ
The Summit Centre, The Old Drift Mine Trelewis, Treharris South Wales, CF46 6RD

Climb: Blaise Castle Gorge, Avon (Trad, Sport)
2024-09-21 09:30 - 17:00
Saturday climbing at Blaise Castle Gorge, Avon. Trad and Sport.
Timings will be advised via climbing group comms. For more details please contact John Jones.
UKC Logbook (ukclimbing.com): Blaise Castle Gorge (Avon)
Climbing meets are weather dependent and can change at short notice. Please contact the organiser for more information.

Evening Walk: Upper Wyndcliff and the Eagles Nest, 7.3km/4.5miles
2024-09-19 19:00 - 21:00
Join Sian and Tiago on this 7.3km/5mile evening walk around Upper Wyndcliff and the Eagles Nest.
We’ll start at 7pm from the Upper Wyndcliff car park, postcode NP16 6HG.
Drinks will be at the The Piercefield, NP16 6EJ.
For your safety and the safety of other members, we advise minimum personal equipment requirements for all our walks.

Indoor climb - location TBC
2024-09-18 18:00 - 21:00 | Summit Centre, Trelewis, The Old Drift Mine Trelewis, Treharris, CF46 6RD
Wednesday evening climbing. Location TBC.
Climbing meets are weather dependent and can change at short notice. Please contact the organiser for more information.

Climb: Wintours Leap (trad and sport)
2024-09-15 09:30 - 17:00
Trad and sport climbing at Wintours Leap.
Timings will be advised via climbing group comms for more details please contact John Jones.
UKC Logbook – Wintour’s Leap (ukclimbing.com)
Climbing meets are weather dependent and can change at short notice. Please contact the organiser for more information.
