Mynydd Twyn-glas - GW/SW-019 SOTA (2025)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Sunday 21st September, 2025.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Mynydd Twyn-glas, South Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/SW-019 (1 point).
Summit Height: 472m elevation, 253m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 51.67448, -3.07158. Maidenhead Grid IO81lq.
Distance: 5.1km travelled with 110m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1h 40m (including operating).
Weather: 12°C, sunny, 15kph NE wind, 71% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Elecraft KX2, Elecraft AX1, Yaesu FT65E, Slim J.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 9 (2m FM, 20m SSB).

Trip Notes

Mynydd Twyn-glas stands at 472 metres on the southeastern edge of the South Wales Coalfield, where Pennant Sandstones from the late Carboniferous Period form rolling plateau country. The Welsh name translates to “mountain of the blue-green hillock” - mynydd meaning mountain, twyn a hillock, and glas the distinctive blue-green colour of hillside vegetation. This summit ranks as the highest point in both Torfaen and Caerphilly county boroughs, with 253 metres of prominence confirming its status as a Marilyn.

Of the three hills I activated on this mild September day, this was my favourite. At the end of the tarmac road there is a large parking area which was busy with other walkers coming and going. The narrow road to get to the car park proved quite busy and I had to wait to yield to oncoming traffic both when arriving and leaving. Parking is free.

The walking route heads east along an obvious access track, gently climbing about 100 metres over 2.5 kilometres of distance. There were a large number of scrambler bikes riding up and down the path - a recurring issue on smaller South Wales hills that detracts from the walking experience. Shortly after passing by the radio mast station, a footpath continues up to the trig point.

At the summit I was pleased to find a small but robust wooden bench next to the trig point which made for an ideal operating position. The views over Newport and across the Bristol Channel were excellent, with the Mendip Hills visible in the distance. I started on 2 metres FM, quickly logging three local stations including regular chaser Don G0RQL.

Switching to 20 metres SSB, I worked into Europe with good propagation. The highlight was a summit to summit (S2S) contact with HB9DLB/P on HB/FR-040 in Switzerland, followed shortly by another S2S with HB9HRM/P on HB/SZ-019. Nine contacts in total made for a respectable activation, before walking back down the same route to the car park.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Mynydd Twyn-glas on Sunday 21st September, 2025.

Walking Route for Mynydd Twyn-glas

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Mynydd Twyn-glas. The GW/SW-019 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 9 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/SW-019 Mynydd Twyn-glas on Sunday 21st September, 2025 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Mynydd Twyn-glas:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/SW-019 Mynydd Twyn-glas.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Mynydd Twyn-glas.
• Google Maps Page for Mynydd Twyn-glas.
• Wikipedia entry for Mynydd Twyn-glas.

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