Mynydd Bedwellte

A sturdy moorland ridge separating the Sirhowy and Rhymney valleys, this is less 'rugged alpine peak' and more 'expansive industrial heritage site.' It offers a grand tour of South Wales' coal-mining past, provided the mist doesn't turn your afternoon stroll into a silent horror film.

• •The mountain is crowned by the Manmoel road, an ancient ridgeway that has served as a vital transport link since long before the local coal mines were even a soot-stained dream.
• •Its slopes contain the remains of Bronze Age burial mounds, suggesting that humans have been enduring the biting South Wales wind on this ridge for several millennia.
• •The fell sits within the Diocese of Monmouth, a region that famously put its cathedral in Newport just to avoid a naming conflict with the local Roman Catholics in 1921.
• •From the summit, you can look down upon Tredegar, the town that gave the world Aneurin Bevan and the NHS, making this a very healthy place to have a minor panic attack about your fitness levels.
• •Hiking the plateau is essentially a masterclass in 'peat-bog parkour,' where every step is a high-stakes gamble on whether you’ll stay dry or sink up to your knees in ancient, freezing sludge.