Parking up in the car park at the foot of the hill at Pentechwyth, the first thing that greats you and introduces you to the walk ahead is this cool, wooden arch:
The arch is decorated with some great woodcut illustrations and I stood there for a while studyings its detail before actually commencing the walk. There is a great web page on the arch here if you fancy a closer look at it online.
A little further along the woodland walkway, I came across this great totem pole:
I have to admit to preferring its original colours though. Compare its original painting, which you can see here on this fantastic blog. The site was one of the very first websites I visited when I first had the internet and is one of the major inspirations behind The Swansea Blogger.
From here, the route took on a bit of an incline:
An interesting wood sculpture of I know not what:
What I found particularly interesting about the above sculpture was this funny little gnome someone had nestled away there:
The gnome's location intrigued me, and investigating it, I soon discovered that the location was of particular interest to Geocache players,
The next intriguing artwork I encountered almost startled me as it kind of merged into the background. The metal Green Man statue creeps up on your awareness until you are almost upon the thing. I found the sculpture amazing and it was definitely my favourite thing along the walk.
Just around the corner from this stature, my route cleared the forest and give views of the nearing 193 metre summit of the hill:
The Kilvey Hill Transmitting Station dominates distant views from right around Swansea and it felt strange seeing it suddenly veer closer and closer.
And then Mumbles peeked into view...
...and just as suddenly I had reached the top.
The cloud studded sky did not allow for the most clear views from the height of Kilvey Hill, but it was still an impressive sight seeing the city and the docks in one open vista beneath me:
And then it was time to head back down, and I decided to take a circular route back to the car as it afforded better views thant the climb up had allowed:
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| Mumbles and Swansea Bay viewed from Kilvey Hill |
For those who have been a daunted by the thought of climbing Kilver Hill, please take give it a go. It really isn't as difficult a walk as you might think.