The History of Welsh Hill Lists

The History of Welsh Hill Lists – Part 5

The Early Years

1911-1940

1929 – John Rooke Corbett

With the completion throughout England and Wales of the Popular Edition of the One-Inch Ordnance map, John Rooke Corbett updated his original 1911 list, and thus in 1929 the Rucksack Club Journal published an eight page article, again entitled Twenty-Fives.  This revised Corbett’s first list and included 148 English and Welsh 2500 foot tops, fifty eight of which are in Wales.  Similar in format to his 1911 publication:

The first page comprises an introduction with the last three pages relating to Wales.  The Welsh list is split into six groups with a brief description of each followed by the mountain’s name and height, in all three mountains are deleted from the 1911 list, whilst ten mountains are added. 

Front cover of the 1929 Rucksack Club Journal

Of particular interest is the addition of Cader Berwyn, S. Top which was mapped at 2650 + feet, it would be almost sixty years before this particular mountain was recognised by published list compilers and the Ordnance Survey alike as being the highest point of the Berwyn, eventually receiving the designated map height of an 830 metre ring contour (2723 feet), and eighty five years since this hills first appearance in a list before its accurate height of 832.0m was obtained by using a Trimble GeoXH 6000.  Corbett’s criterion for inclusion depended upon each top being indicated by a separate contour ring, but also retained were a few others, whose summits Corbett remembered as distinct tops.  By using this criterion Corbett is open to including certain tops that have less re-ascent, than other tops, which are omitted.  But by compiling this list from map details with contour intervals of 50 feet, Corbett had taken the first step toward this prescribed height being used as the designated minimum re-ascent criterion for many a future list compiler.

Next installment due on the 30^th November 2014

For the Preface please click {here}

For Part 1 please click {here}

For Part 2 please click {here}

For Part 3 please click {here}

For Part 4 please click {here}

Hill Lists – Cymru / Wales – 200m Twmpau updates – Brandy Hill

The first list to the Welsh 200m P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s website v-g.me in 2000; this list preceded the list of TuMPs by nine years, the list proved a very useful resource for the TuMP compilation for this category of hill.

The Welsh 200m P30 list documents all hills in Wales that are at or above 200m in height and are below 300m in height, to qualify for the main list each hill requires a minimum of 30m of prominence.

The hills listed below are updates to the Welsh 200m P30 list originally published on Geoff Crowder's website.  To see the original list click {here}

The original published list had a Sub-List which was entitled ‘Hills to Survey’.  This list consisted of all hills in Wales in the stipulated height band that have a minimum of 20m of prominence, but do not meet the minimum 30m of prominence to enter the main list, according to Ordnance Survey map spot heights and contours.  Nowadays the standard Sub-List takes in all hills that have a minimum of 20m of prominence.  However, the Hills to Survey Sub-List discounted hills whose map spot heights gave a drop value of less than 30m, but more than 20m.  By doing so, the only hills that were Sub-Listed were those that map values dictated stood a chance of entering the main list, for example; if a hill had a summit spot height of 250m and a bwlch spot height of 221m, it was not listed in the Hills to Survey Sub-List as with 29m of drop I thought it did not stand a chance of main list qualification. 

When compiling the Sub-List I was measuring many hills for P30 status using a basic levelling technique, please click {here} for more information concerning this.  I now know that Ordnance Survey spot heights have a standard margin of uncertainty of + / - 3m associated with their accuracy.  Therefore many hills that were not listed in the original Sub-List may have sufficient drop to enter the main list.  Because of this the Sub-List has been altered to include all hills that have a minimum of 20m of drop but are not known to attain the minimum 30m of drop to enter the main list.

The hills listed below are those major amendments to the original Welsh 200m P30 list as it appears on Geoff’s website.  There are many hills that have been promoted from the Hills to Survey Sub-List to the main list, whilst there are many additions to the Sub-List now that it has been standardised to include all 20m minimum but below 30m drop hills.

When the 200m P30 list was first published it was the first to this category of hills and in some way it and its other 100m height band lists paved the way for Clem’s data that later appeared on the RHB file database and then for the TuMPs listing by Mark Jackson.

As well as the first P30 list to this height band the list is now the first to include a comprehensive Sub-List.

TuMP baggers beware; as the main list also includes P30’s not listed by Mark Jackson, so if you want to visit all P30’s you’ll have to include some non TuMPs to do so.

The list will be updated on a weekly basis and will be done so through each Group category, starting from the north and working south.  The Twenty Fifth Group is Brandy Hill.

Brandy Hill

South from the Cartlett Brook at SM 957 152 to bwlch at SN 018 194, and the Church Hill Brook and the Deepford Brook to SN 071 198, continuing south of the Afon Syfni to SN 084 194, continuing west of the Cleddau Ddu (Eastern Cleddau) to SN 075 166, continuing south of stream to bwlch at SN 142 179 and the Afon Daulan to SN 162 186, continuing south and then west of the Afon Taf to SN 337 084.  Bordering with Mynydd Preseli to the north, Pen y Moelfre to the east and the sea to the west and south. 

   

Twmpau - 200m updates

Pt. 204m    204m    SN 171 120

This hill is a promotion from the Sub-List; it originally appeared under the name of Upper Llantydwell which is the name of the house to the north of the hill’s summit.  As no appropriate name for the hill is known by the blog author it now reverts to the Pt. notation.  The 204m summit spot height appears on the Ordnance Survey enlarged Geograph map, the area of the bwlch has two 173m spot heights on it, one that is not centred and just appears on the enlarged Geograph map at SN 157 113, and the other which is being taken as the position of the critical bwlch appears at SN 156 113.  The 204m summit and 173m bwlch values give this hill 31m of drop.

 

Next update due on the 6^th October 2014

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Arenig

27.09.14  Moel y Gydros (SH 914 453)  

Moel y Gydros (SH 914 543)

As I drove through Llanfyllin the drizzle started and beyond Llangynog the land had turned grey with low mist hugging all hills.  Remarkably Milltir Gerrig was free of mist but looking west was not very appetising as the murk was lower here than in the east and as I drove into Y Bala the drizzle was heavier.  It was a morning to have had an extra hour in bed or continue with assessing the Y Pellennig.

Instead I was heading for a rendezvous with Aled with a plan to visit two marginal hills, one a Pedwar (Y Gesail at SH 926 437) and the other a 400m Sub-Pedwar (Cerrig y Gordref at SH 930 428), these could be easily combined with one or two other hills and would make a good circuit with a descent to Llyn Maen Bras.

As I waited in a lay-by for Aled to arrive the mist thickened and the murk continued to drizzle, it really wasn’t very encouraging.  When Aled arrived we sat in his van for an hour and chatted.  During this time a tiny patch of lightening sky showed a slither of blue and as time continued this became larger, this at least was encouraging, but our planned hills were still grey and infested with murk.  Aled came up with an alternate plan involving a smaller and less committed walk visiting the summit of Moel y Gydros and if the weather improved we could then bag a couple of Pedwarau hills afterward.  So we headed off towards the top of the road that heads up Cwm Tirmynach.

We parked in a large passing place just on the southern side of the high point of the road and set off to the top of the road and then down a track to gain access to the upper part of Moel y Gydros.

As the weather was still a little iffy I put on my over trousers and Goretex coat and proceeded to feel as if I was walking in the tropics as a serious case of over-heating commenced.  The track continued downhill to its low point and then headed up toward the rounded summit ridge of Moel y Gydros, which is listed as a Submarilyn with 145m of drop.  This was something that I was unaware of  but which Aled quickly worked out by looking at the map contouring, its critical bwlch was beside the road a few hundred metres from where the car had been parked, so we could combine Trimbling the bwlch with a good small circuit of the hill.

When approaching Moel y Gydros from the west the hill portrays sides re-claimed from its moorland past with cows and sheep grazing green pasture, its recent past is evidenced by its neighbour; Moel Llechwedd-figyn whose rounded dome is more in nature with the hills in the area with reed grass and baiged colour portraying a wilder side to these hills.  However, an eastern approach to Moel y Gydros would give the walker a very different feel for the hill as from this direction its moorland appeal would be on full show as it is only its western side that is pasture.

The eastern side of the hill shows its wilder moorland profile

To the north stood Moel Eglwys (SH 905 478) a Pedwar Aled had not visited and if the weather kept improving it was a hill we hoped to visit after Moel y Gydros.  To our south-west cloud still clung to the higher Arennig but Craig yr Hafod and the rounded shape of Graig Ddu were now free of murk which heralded a continuing improvement in the weather.

Graig Ddu (SH 888 428) with the high Arenig still in cloud beyond

The summit of Moel y Gydros has a small cairn which I inspected for any higher hidden ground compared to the ground beside it, there was none, so the Trimble was positioned on the highest bit of land beside the cairn and sat happily gathering data for its allotted five minutes.  During this Aled sat and munched on a pasty and I pottered about taking photographs.

Gathering data beside the cairn at the summit of Moel y Gydros

The summit height came to 522.4m (converted to OSGM15), which is 1.4m higher than previously recorded

The time when the Trimble is gathering data does afford a few minutes to sit and relax and as the first survey of the day was in progress Aled chilled out and I happily scribbled down all relevant notes to include in the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet and admired the view.  This proved excellent as this hill is in a prominent position looking out on the wild heather moor of Carnedd y Filiast as well as neighbouring high cymoedd and lower heighted hills.

Aled taking a rest as the Trimble does its stuff

When the Trimble had done its stuff we headed down toward its critical bwlch which looked easy to place from above, but when we arrived its lower reaches on the valley to valley traverse was full of quagmired water, tussock and mud.  We assessed it from a number of directions with Aled heading up the adjacent road to get a better view of its placement.

If not for the steel bridge the Trimble may have ended up drowning in the quagmire of water and mud

The channel of water at its base seemed to have been dammed by the advent of the adjacent road, forming the small quagmire which did not have continuous run off down the northern valley.  The Trimble was eventually placed on a steel trailer side that had been placed over the water as a bridge and a 33cm offset measured to the water surface, a few minutes later once it had gathered its data I joined Aled at the car and we headed toward Moel Eglwys for a bag of a Pedwar.

Survey Result:

Moel y Gydros

Summit Height:  522.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 91430 45386

Bwlch Height:  376.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 90805 45033 

Drop:  145.9m (Submarilyn status confirmed)

Dominance:  27.94%



For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Y Llethr

21.09.14  Craig Wion (SH 664 319), Pt. 499.5m (SH 665 310), Pt. 518.5m (SH 663 306) and Pt. 497.2m (SH 661 303)

The central ridge of the northern Rhinogydd - a land of rock and heather

In the western part of north Wales is a land made of hard sedimentary rock where mountain peak and wild heather moor is interspersed with desolate bog and openness seldom found in northern Wales.  When walking in to this country there is a feeling of visiting a land that time has forgot.  The land in question is the Rhinogydd, a unique landscape in Wales where a continuous ridge stretches from its grassier southern lands in to its central and northern realms where great gaping gaps are met with up thrusts of rock.  It really is quite a magical place.

This was another walk suggested by Mark, who along with his ex-working colleague and good hill walking friend; Dave Middleton, planned on visiting the central section of the northern Rhinogydd from Craig Wion to Bwlch Tyddiad.  Mark asked if I would like to join them, as I’d only walked this part of the ridge in its entirety once before I jumped at the chance.  My memory from my previous visit was one of rock canyons and numerous hills all joined by a narrow path that if lost foretold a struggle amongst wild land of heather, bog and crag.

We met at Y Bala and proceeded in one car to the beauty of Cwm Bychan which was resplendent in early autumnal sunshine.  We parked at the head of the cwm next to the Cwm-bychan farm house where there is a grassed parking area with an honesty box for the parking fee of £2.00 per car and £1.00 per person.

As we headed back down the lane to join the path that headed up toward the bwlch between Clip and Craig Wion, we stopped and framed the impressively looking Carreg y Saeth against the lapping waters of Llyn Cwm Bychan.  Carreg y Saeth justifiably appears on the front cover of the 1^st edition of Y Pedwarau.  It looks a stunning hill guarded by typical northern Rhinogydd rock and heather.

Carreg y Saeth framed by Llyn Cwm Bychan

Once our path was found it led up through hill sides of heather, now with their purples dying back to dull browns, their ebbing colour still contrasting subtly with the yellow and green of the gorse. 

The subtle colour maze of heather and gorse

As height was gained Clip rose up ahead, another impressive hill with sides of rock giving way to lower ground of tussock and bog, what marvellous country.  At this stage Mark and Dave were about ten minutes behind me as I steadily made progress up to the first bwlch of the day.  The afternoon cloud had yet to bubble up and with blue skies the sun’s warmth illuminated the land.

So good, it had to be included twice - Carreg y Saeth

Clip (SH 654 329) rising out of its lower heather clad land

The first of many point’s to survey was the critical bwlch of Craig Wion, there proved two possibilities for its position with a hummocky lump bulging up between, the north-westerly option looked the lower and this is where the Trimble was placed for its five minutes of data collection.  As the equipment was being closed off Mark and Dave appeared, perfect timing.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Craig Wion

We initially found vestiges of a path heading toward our first summit of the day; Craig Wion, this was soon lost but reappeared higher up.  Behind us Clip rose almost as a black face of rock with Craig Ddrwg continuing ever northward.  This section of ridge from Clip to the Pedwar of Craig y Gwynt is another magical place to investigate.

Dave and Mark admiring the rock face of Clip and Craig Ddrwg

Ahead lay the small cairned summit of Craig Wion with its slightly rounded shape bulging with rock.  As the Trimble gathered its customary five minutes of data we took a break and relaxed with food in welcome sunshine.  To our south lay a jumble of rock strewn hills, one lump after another, all seemingly merging in to one another.  I’d come prepared with a number of ten figure grid references which Mark fed in to his GPS in a steady stream of data through the day.  Each helped pinpoint where the map spot height or interpolation suggested the survey point to be on the ground.

The rounded rock strewn summit of Craig Wion

Gathering data at the summit of Craig Wion

As we left the summit of Craig Wion we headed toward the first of four potential critical bwlch positions for a 499m map height hill that is listed with c 27m of drop.  In affect this hill could change from its current Sub-Pedwar status to a fully-fledged Pedwar, or jump up in altitude rank to a Dewey or for those interested in Sub-Deweys it could find its way in to this sub-set of hills.  To be sure that the correct lowest bwlch was surveyed each in turn would need Trimbling.

The narrow path continued down toward the first of the four bylchau with land ahead now rising as each rocky top became more distinguishable, as we descended I noticed a substantial hill down on our right, we checked the map and couldn’t find where it was situated.  As we neared the bwlch it quickly disappeared out of sight, I promised myself it was something to investigate in the future.

Each of the four bylchau were visited, with each bwlch bisected by lumps of heather and rock emerging up out of the ridge, the narrow path continued like a roller coaster as it wound its way over the land.  When at each bwlch it was similar to being in a narrow tussock grassed encampment beside rising sides of rock.  The land we were walking on was proving impressive in nature and if not for the ten figure grid references directing us toward each Trimble placement we may have become marooned in a complicated land where map contouring could easily go wrong.  Considering how narrowly defined some of these bychau were the Trimble was achieving its 0.1m accuracy before data can be logged remarkably quickly.  Only once did it struggle and this was when a vertical bank of cliff rose directly above it.

Once the four bylchau had been surveyed we headed up to the summit of the 499m map heighted Sub-Pedwar.  The ten figure spot height grid reference placement took us to the northern edge of its summit plateaux where small squared rocks all neatly stacked together but split from weathering where trying their utmost to topple over a cliff, the Trimble was placed on their high point and I willed it to stay in position.

Typical northern Rhinogydd land

Balanced on the edge of a cliff, the first option for the summit of Pt. 499.5m came to 498.896m (converted to OSGM15) at SH 66549 31044

About 100 metres to the south lay a large erratic boulder which looked slightly higher than where the 499m spot height is positioned on the ground, and whilst Mark and Dave went over to investigate it I took a reading with a small spirit level and Dave then did likewise sighting back toward me.  We all agreed that the erratic boulder looked higher.  But would it prove to be over 500m in height?  Data were collected from its top as we gazed back on the wild land we’d walked through and looked toward the maze of rock ahead.  

Dave standing on the top of what proved to be a new Pedwar

Gathering data at the second option for the summit of Pt. 499.5m, this came to 499.536m (converted to OSGM15) at SH 66565 31003

The descent from this summit takes you down a steep cleft in the rock to a lower boulder field before the customary narrow tussocked bwlch is crossed to a steep ascent on a peat path.  It would be a shame to lose this hill from the list of Sub-Pedwarau to the higher echelons of 500m hills as it is a fine hill by any standard.

As we crested the opposing ground at the top of the steep peat path I veered rightward to visit a small hill just to our west.  Mark left Dave and I to our bagging need and said he was going to sit and grumpily eat his trail mix as he was going to have nothing to do with these smaller prominence hills.  Whilst at its summit I headed toward yet more cliffs to photograph the current Sub-Pedwar in late afternoon sunlight and stepped straight in to a hole on my way back toward Dave, who was sitting on a rock taking in the view.  The small hole proved to have sides of rock which scraped my lower leg meaning that I was sporting a bloodied wound when we re-joined Mark.

The summit of the new Pedwar is the large erratic boulder on the right of photo.  The 499m map spot height is positioned at the summit on the left of photo.

However, before re-joining Mark we followed his tracks up a slender path on the edge of a small drop as it traversed a crag, what marvellous land.  This delightful little occupier of mind and soul popped us out near to the top of the hill that is listed in Michael Dewey’s list as Moel Morwynion, which in his notes within his 500-Metre list has ‘Authors name from llyn 600 metres to south west’.  It would be good to one day find a locally known name for this hill.  As the Trimble gathered data from the high point Mark kindly did running repairs to my leg and covered a formidably sized plaster with some ointment, I then slapped it on my leg and watched as blood oozed out from the sides, mmmmm yummy, time for a sandwich.

Gathering data at the summit of Pt. 518.5m

Dave admiring the view

By now eleven surveys had been conducted and there was only one hill left to visit, this is listed under the point notation in Y Pedwarau as no suitable historical or local name is known for it by the authors.  I’d previously surveyed this hill with my old staff and obtained a drop of 102 ½ft / 31.2m, noting that ‘difficult measure on rock and heather, two summits, southern one has large cairn’.  As ever with these old staff surveys I take great delight in comparing their drop result to more accurate surveying which today was being done with the Trimble.

Once at its bwlch the Trimble was positioned on its improvised Tripod and again it reached its 0.1m accuracy relatively quickly.  Once data were collected we headed up to the 497m map heighted summit.  By the time I had arrived Mark and Dave had pin-pointed the highest point, soon the Trimble was in position and I grabbed a bite to eat and watched as the sun sank behind a narrow bank of evening cloud as the sea turned golden in its glow.

The penultimate survey of the day at the summit of the Sub-Pedwar

Sea turning golden in the sun's glow

This Pedwar also has an adjacent 496m map height top which has a large cairn beside it; we just had time for me to gather another five minute data set from this point before it was time to head down.  As the Trimble gathered data I stood and looked out to sea as the sun cast evening colour from behind its narrow cloud bank, to be on a hill as daylight turns to night is a magical experience. 

Last survey of the day as the light dims from the evening sky

Casting colour from behind cloud

As we left the last summit of the day the sun was playing light upon the land with mauve tinged highlighted cloud nestling above a sea of orange.  As the sun emerged from its cloud hiding it turned the land a succulent rich hued red with black of foreground hills being off laid with the bluish grey of the slither of Pen Llŷn.

Rich colours highlighted against the black outline of the Rninogydd

The walk down the Roman Steps proved enjoyable as light dwindled from the land, and as we entered the lower reaches of our route back to Cwm Bychan, darkness fell upon us with just a serene afterglow highlighted on the lake.  It proved a fitting end to a walk in a rather special area of Welsh upland.

 

Darkness decsends on Llyn Cwm Bychan.  Photo: Mark Trengove

Survey Result:

Craig Wion

Summit Height:  565.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 66424 31950

Bwlch Height:  485.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Girf Reference:  SH 65754 32912

Drop:  80.2m

Dominance:  14.18%





Pt. 499.5m

Summit Height:  499.5m (converted to OSGM15) (Pedwar status confirmed when coupled with drop value)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 66565 31003 (summit relocation confirmed)

Bwlch Height:  469.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Girf Reference:  SH 66658 31203

Drop:  30.3m (400m Sub-Pedwar reclassified to Pedwar)

Dominance:  6.08%

Pt. 518.5m

Summit Height:  518.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 66363 30620

Bwlch Height:  c 463m (interpolation)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 66567 30863 (interpolation)

Drop:  c 55m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)

Dominance:  10.61% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)

Pt. 497.2m

Summit Height:  497.2m (converted to OSGM15) (Pedwar status confirmed)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 66182 30317

Bwlch Height:  465.3m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Girf Reference:  SH 66219 30458

Drop:  31.8m (Pedwar status confirmed)

Dominance:  6.41%




For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

Alex Cameron – Y Pedwarau video log

Visiting the Land of Y Pedwarau video log, conception and creation

“What was the name Myrddyn had for this hill?” Barbara Jones asked Rob.  Rob was not sure, and I too was none the wiser.  It was just a brief moment before Myrddyn, video camera in hand, caught us up on the top of the hill.  He did a short piece of filming just before we could ask him the burning question.  What was that name? “This hill is a Pedwar” he proudly announced.  My Welsh isn’t brilliant but I knew straight away what Myrddyn was talking about.  The hill we were gathered on was Mynydd Tan-y-coed standing at a height of 491 metres above sea level ... It was the four.  That’s what we had come here for!  I smiled inwardly knowing all too well that pedwar is of course the Welsh word for four.

(L-R) Alex, Barbara and Rob at the summit of Mynydd Tan-y-coed

This was certainly food for thought as we continued our walk to the summit of Tarrenhendre.  I knew that the Hewitts and Dewey’s are two relatively achievable lists that hill baggers go after but I’d never really heard of anyone setting out to climb all the 400m hills as well.  That is with the exception of one unique character who I knew had already climbed every such hill in England and Wales.  This person also happened to be the fourth member of our small group atop Mynydd Tan-y-coed today.  One Rob Woodall.

After such a memorable day out with list keeper and conqueror it would only be right and proper that I begin my own journey to get to know these particular hills more intimately.  A few weeks later the list went live on the net, formally titled as ‘Y Pedwarau’ (The Fours) and housed on Mark Trengove’s Europeaklist site and Haroldstreet as well soon after.  I was lucky because Myrddyn had given me a preview of the e-booklet enabling me to get a little head start.  I needed it too because apart from some 400m hills with trigs on that I’d bagged, and a handful more in the Clwydians and Carneddau, I was almost starting from scratch.

The view from Crimpiau (SH 733 595), the first Pedwar Alex visited

I’m one who takes just as much pleasure in pouring over maps and planning out my routes as actually being out in the hills themselves.  Not having a driving license certainly complicates things, but with careful study of bus timetables and realism about how much ground I’m able to cover in a 5-6 hour window it’s pleasantly surprising how many tops I’ve managed to tick off as day trips.  Sometimes the hills are just too remote though and I’ve had to resort to using my bike to access them.  On a couple of occasions I’ve gone for the lightweight backpacking option instead, giving me the freedom to just bivvy out wherever I stumble to a stop at the day’s end.

So, where did the idea for my ‘Y Pedwarau’ video log come from?  To keep me motivated through the course of a year I like to have some sort of a goal to work towards.  Last summer it was to visit every trig pillar in North Wales, which I duly achieved on Moel Fammau in late August.  For a personal record of the day I took a video camera along with me and as I got some nice footage I decided to share it with the trigpointing community on Youtube.  My channel is now developing slowly and it’s always great fun seeing projects go from the ideas stage through to the final product.  My North Wales episode of Y Pedwarau has certainly been the most ambitious yet, with the footage taking the best part of spring and summer to gather together.

From the outset I already had in mind what I was going to do with the visual presentation but what I was going to need to finish it off was some extra special music.  It was either by fate or some wild chance then that I managed to rescue an old Sain Records LP bound for our local charity shop.  I placed the needle down on Side A and instantly knew that I’d found what I was looking for without even trying.  Marwnad yr Ehedydd - The Lark’s Elegy.  If anything could summon up the spirit of still-wild corners of our land then this piece of wonderfully evocative music would be top of the list for sure.

As the ever busy summer of 2014 now fades slowly away into blissful memories I can take a little more time to reflect on my Pedwar journey so far.  ‘Where shall it take me to next?’ was the question I posed at the end of my vlog and in all honesty I rarely know myself from one week to another.  That is the charm and magic of nationwide hill listings.  The hills themselves decide the agenda and you can but only enjoy the ride from one to the next.  There are still plenty wide open spaces to lose yourself in in this overcrowded isle of ours.  And I know without a shadow of doubt that they are here to discover in the Land of Y Pedwarau.  You just need to know where to look.

https://sites.google.com/site/europeaklist/Home/united-kingdom/wales--cymru/y-pedwarau

Thanks to Alex for sharing his Y Pedwarau video log and supplying the accompanying text.

To access Alex’s YouTube channel please click {here}