23.02.16 Gallt y Celyn (SH
811 542, only bwlch surveyed)
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| The area of the bwlch of Gallt y Celyn |
Just to the north of the
busy A 5 as it nears its westward journey toward Betws-y-coed is a tranquil
area of small hills, seemingly wildly situated where bracken and small rock
outcrops predominate. Amongst this land
are situated occasional farms, with a narrow and steep minor road giving access
to an otherwise undisturbed place where hill walkers are a rarity. I’d visited this area in December 2013 when
on my way to Nantlle to spend Christmas.
It was then the 24th and a chill wind blew hail showers
across the land. On that day I’d
surveyed three tops, two of which are given a 258m spot height on Ordnance
Survey maps. The Trimble separated these
tops giving one a height of 257.6m (SH 81121 54259) and the other a height of
257.1m (SH 81007 54476). With an
estimated bwlch height of c 228m adjoined to the higher of the two tops it
meant that this hill had an estimated drop of just less than 30m. My aim today was to survey the critical bwlch
and determine if the hill had sufficient drop to be classified as a P30 Twmpau.
I parked on a muddy
grass verge beside where a track heads north-west bisecting the hills of Dinas
Mawr (SH 808 539) and the southerly of the two previously twin tops, which is
the higher 257.6m summit by Trimble survey.
The track was awash in
mud, and although I left it almost immediately following where a footpath heads
north on the map, the underfoot conditions didn’t improve, as cattle had
stomped their way through this land and the ground was churned and boggy.
My route took me toward
where the map indicated a Chambered Long Cairn is situated, the ground was
muddy and wet and the going was slow, albeit the distance between where I left
my car and the position of the bwlch is not great. I had difficulty following the footpath on
the ground and had to clamber over one wall.
As I approached the area of the bwlch reed grass swan away across the
land, indicating the whole area to be bog bound. Crossing this land is a track, which again
was very muddy, that connects the farm of Ty’n-y-coed with that of Graeanllyn.
I took two data sets,
one from the low point of the track as it crossed a stream which gurgled its
way south. To the immediate north of the
track was a swamp of oozing mud which was almost level with it, whilst the
stream on the southern edge of the track was 0.91m lower than it. This indicated that the track had in effect
almost damned this part of land, and although the water flowed under the track,
it seemed the land to its north had been partly turned in to a quagmire, and
after gathering a data set on the track, it was this land I now headed in to.
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| Gathering data from the low point of the track |
Thankfully patches of
green heaven were interspersed amongst copious amounts of standing water as I
ventured in to the delights of the reed grass.
I chose a spot where I could safely position the Trimble on top of my
rucksack without each being sunk and lost in the bog of standing water.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Gallt y Celyn |
After five minutes of
data were collected I switched the Trimble off, packed it away and retraced my
steps out of the bog and across the mud splattered land to my car.
The fourth and last
place I wanted to visit during the remaining daylight hours was to the south of
Wrexham, and so an approximate hour’s drive was ahead of me, and with it now
being past 2.00pm I could not linger.
Survey Result:
Gallt y Celyn (significant name change)
Summit Height: 257.6m (converted to OSGM15, from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 81121 54259 (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)
Bwlch Height: 227.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 81548 54426
For the post detailing the
summit survey of Gallt y Celyn please click {here}
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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