Change Register – Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Change Register

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales are the Welsh hills whose summits are at least 2.5km in distance from the nearest paved public road and which have a minimum 15m of drop.  The list was conceptualized whilst finding the remotest point from any paved public road in Wales and then using a 2.5km minimum distance from summit to nearest paved public road criterion when listing the remoteness for Welsh P15 hills at or above 500m in height, this was during 2006 and 2007 and the compilation of what was to become Y Pellennig followed immediately afterward.

Prior to fist publication the Mainland Wales list was separated from the All Wales list to create two lists, the reason for doing this was to create a challenge that is feasible to complete, as many of the qualifying summits in the All Wales list are situated on islands that are out of bounds due to nesting birds.

It was subsequently published as two lists on 16^th November 2011 by Geoff Crowder on his v-g.me website and entitled The Pellennigs, with 160 hills qualifying for the All Wales list and 123 hills qualifying for the Mainland Wales list.

Although Y Pellennig comprises two lists, for the purpose of this Change Register the status alterations are combined into one Register with the individual totals for each list included under the details given for each hill.

After the 2011 v-g.me publication the master hand written list was maintained by Myrddyn Phillips, and following the publication of Y Pedwarau and The Fours by Europeaklist in May and December 2013 respectively, Y Pellennig was re-evaluated with the assistance of Aled Williams as co-author for publication by Mark Trengove on his Europeaklist website on 13^th April 2015 and made available as a print-booklet and an e-booklet version.  The Europeaklist publication coincided with the two lists being published by three other outlets; the Mapping Mountains site where the Master lists are maintained as Google Docs, Phil Newby’s Haroldstreet website where they are available as GPS Waypoints and online tick lists and Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website where the original publication was updated.

With the advent of Europeaklist going back to its roots with mainland European listings, the booklet version of Y Pellennig - The Remotest Hills of Wales was updated and published by Mapping Mountains Publications on 4^th July 2016 as a print-booklet and an e-booklet version, with the listings on the Mapping Mountains site still serving as the Master lists that any updates are fed into.

Although the criteria has remained the same the two lists have benefited greatly since first publication with the continuing results produced by independent surveyors and the use of LIDAR data enabling greater accuracy for numerical data, and the meticulous research conducted by Aled Williams enhancing the place-name data.

It seems fitting that the list of Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales should now benefit from a detailed Change Register, and although the changes to these lists have been catalogued on the Mapping Mountains site and as an Appendix of Additions, Deletions and Relocations in the booklet available on Mapping Mountains Publications, it will be useful to list all status changes to these lists since their first 16^th November 2011 publication and present them in a Change Register.

The Change Register to Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales appears below with the reclassifications to the All Wales and Mainland Wales lists appearing under one Register and detailed chronologically in receding order.

Change Register

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Pt. 526.8m    526.8m at SN 74595 61119

LIDAR image of Pt. 526.8m (SN 745 611)

The deletion of this hill from Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains with a retrospective Hill Reclassifications post published on the 09.11.23.  The hill was previously listed as a Pellennig due to contouring on the interactive mapping hosted on the OS Maps website.  The hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000, resulting in a 526.8m summit height and a 511.9m bwlch height.  Although this survey gave this hill 14.9m of drop, it was decided that the bwlch position was incorrect and therefore the hill was retained as a Pellennig.  Its deletion is due to LIDAR bwlch analysis conducted by Aled Williams, resulting in a 526.8m summit height and a 512.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 14.8m of drop.  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 172 All Wales and 126 Mainland Wales.

 

Twll y Gwyddel    16.4m at SM 70552 22500

The addition of this hill to Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains on the 05.07.19, prior to this the hill was not catalogued as contours, or lack of, on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps indicated that it had less than the minimum 15m of drop required for Pellennig status.  This hill’s addition is due to LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams resulting in a 16.4m summit height and a 0.8m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 15.6m of drop, which when coupled with its 3.300km remoteness is sufficient for Pellennig status.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 173 All Wales and 127 Mainland Wales.   

Pt. 22.2m    22.2m at SM 70180 22696

Pt. 22.2m (SM 701 226)

This hill’s addition to Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains on the 15.06.19, prior to this the hill was not catalogued as contours, or lack of, on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps indicated that it had less than the minimum 15m of drop required for Pellennig status.  This hill’s addition is due to LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams resulting in a 22.2m summit height and a bwlch height given as sea level, which when coupled with its 3.400km remoteness is sufficient for Pellennig status.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 172 All Wales and 127 Mainland Wales.   

Whiteford Burrows    29.6m at SS 44870 96422

LIDAR image of the summit area of Whiteford Burrows (SS 448 964)

The addition of this hill to Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains on the 26.12.18 when the Hill Reclassification post was published, prior to this the hill was not catalogued as the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map only has a 5m contour applicable to it, whilst the 1:50,000 Landranger map has no contours given to this hill.  This hill’s addition to Pellennig status is due to LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips, resulting in a 29.6m summit height and a 9.2m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 20.4m of drop, and as the nearest paved public road is 2.925km from this hill’s summit these values are sufficient for Pellennig status.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 171 All Wales and 127 Mainland Wales.   

Pt. 526.8m    526.8m at SN 74595 61119

THIS HILL HAS SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN DELETED FROM PELLENNIG STATUS

Pt. 526.8m (SN 745 611) is now included as a Pellennig

This hill’s addition to Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains on the 16.09.18, with the Hill Reclassification post appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 18.10.18; prior to this the hill was listed with an estimated c 13m of drop and therefore was not considered for Pellennig status.  This hill’s addition is due to a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey and interpolation of the 5m bwlch contouring on OS Maps, resulting in a 526.8m (converted to OSGM15) summit height and a c 511m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill c 16m of drop, which when coupled with its 2.700km remoteness is sufficient for Pellennig status.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 170 All Wales and 126 Mainland Wales.  

Tap Llwyd    565.7m at SH 71990 06571

Tap Llwyd (SH 719 065) is now confirmed as a Pellennig

The addition of this hill to Pellennig status was announced on Mapping Mountains on the 28.04.18, with the Hill Reclassification post appearing on Mapping Mountains two days later on the 30.04.18 day; prior to this the hill was not classified as it was listed with 13.6m of drop based on a basic levelling survey (BLS) conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 29.09.05.  Importantly the BLS was conducted when the western conifer plantation was intact and therefore the survey could only be taken to the high point of the hill that was outside of the plantation.  This hill’s subsequent addition to the ranks of Pellennig hills is due to a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams on the 01.04.18 when the forestry had been felled, resulting in a 565.7m (converted to OSGM15) summit height and 550.5m (converted to OSGM15) bwlch height giving this hill 15.3m of drop, which when coupled with the nearest paved public road being 2.875km from the summit is sufficient for its inclusion as a Pellennig hill.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 169 All Wales and 125 Mainland Wales. 

  

Pembrey Forest    27.1m at SN 39390 01694

The deletion of this hill from the listing of Y Pellennig was announced on the Mapping Mountains site on the 16.01.17, the hill had previously been listed as a Pellennig with c 25m summit and c 18m of drop with a remoteness of 2.560km, however LIDAR data analysed by Aled Williams discovered a higher and less remote summit at SN 39390 01694 that LIDAR gave as 27.1m high with 17.6m of drop but with only 2.360km of remoteness which in insufficient for the hill to qualify as a Pellennig.  The highest point near to the summit that was originally listed was also analysed against LIDAR data and this came to 25.7m summit at SN 39118 02003 with 12.3m drop which is insufficient for it to qualify as a Pellennig.  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 168 All Wales and 124 Mainland Wales.

Esgair y Llyn    528.6m at SN 84116 70174

Esgair y Llyn (SN 841 701)

The addition of this hill to Pellennig status was announced on the Mapping Mountains site on 11.12.16, preceding this it had been announced as a Welsh 500m P15 on the 08.12.16, prior to this the hill remained unlisted.  Its addition is due to the 529m summit and 513m bwlch spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  Subsequent LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams and a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams confirmed its addition, resulting in a 528.6m summit height and a 513.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 15.6m of drop, which is sufficient for it to qualify for this list when coupled with its summit being 4.535km from the nearest paved public road.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 169 All Wales and 125 Mainland Wales.

4^th July 2016 – Mapping Mountains Publications publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales. 

Pellennig total; 168 All Wales, 124 Mainland Wales.

Bryn Llwyd    501.4m at SN 835 920

Gathering data with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 as part of the survey that sixteen years after its basic levelling survey promoted Bryn Llwyd to its rightful place as a Pellennig

This hill’s status change was announced on the Mapping Mountains site on 21.05.16, the hill was previously catalogued as having only 38ft 6″ (11.7m) of drop based on a basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on 11.07.00 which resulted in the adjacent summit of Bryn yr Ŵyn (SN 839 925) being listed as higher.  This anomaly was only rectified sixteen years later when a number of surveys were conducted over two days; 05.05.16 and 13.05.16, by Myrddyn Phillips using the Trimble GeoXH 6000, the result confirmed that Bryn Llwyd is 1.5m higher than Bryn yr Ŵyn and therefore the drop for the latter is now prescribed to the former.  As well as now being listed with 30.3m of drop the summit of Bryn Llwyd is also positioned 2.525km from the nearest paved public road and therefore this hill qualifies for the status of a Pellennig.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 168 All Wales and 124 Mainland Wales.

Graig Fach    513.1m at SN 82140 93168

Graig Fach is now deleted from the ranks of Pellennig hills

The change in this hill’s status was announced via the Mapping Mountains site on 21.05.16, the hill had been previously listed as a Pellennig with 17m of drop based on a basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on 22.05.04.  This hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 by Myrddyn Phillips on 05.05.16, resulting in the hill having 14.5m of drop, which is insufficient for qualification as a Pellennig.  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 167 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Ynys Arw    15.2m at SH 266 945

The summit cone of Ynys Arw

The new classification of this hill was announced on Mapping Mountains on 12.10.15, and as the hill was previously catalogued as only c 12m high based on the uppermost 10m ring contour on Ordnance Survey maps the hill had not been listed in any hill list known to the authors prior to its listing as a Pellennig.  The Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey that promoted this hill to Pellennig status was conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on 13.09.15 and resulted in a summit height of 15.2m.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 168 All Wales and 124 Mainland Wales.

Pen Diban    20.0m at SH 11235 20585

Pen Diban at the southern end of Ynys Enlli

The reinstatement of this hill as a Pellennig was announced on Mapping Mountains on 24.04.15, this hill had previously been deleted from the ranks of Pellennig hills (see below) due to the 5m contour intervals on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website indicating that this hill did not possess sufficient drop for qualification to this list, it was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 by Myrddyn Phillips on 20.04.15 resulting in the hill being listed with 15.0m of drop.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 167 All Wales and 124 Mainland Wales.

  

13^th April 2015 – v-g.me re-publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales. 

Pellennig total; 166 All Wales, 124 Mainland Wales.

13^th April 2015 – Mapping Mountains publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales (Master list for All Wales and Mainland Wales). 

Pellennig total; 166 All Wales, 124 Mainland Wales.

13^th April 2015 – Haroldstreet publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales. 

Pellennig total; 166 All Wales, 124 Mainland Wales.

13^th April 2015 – Europeaklist publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales. 

Pellennig total; 166 All Wales, 124 Mainland Wales.

Foel Las    489m at SN 75983 92608

The classification of this hill was accepted as a Pellennig on 19.06.14, before which time the hill had not been listed in any hill list known to the authors.  The hill’s qualification was discovered by Aled Williams as he studied the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website, which suggested that Foel Las qualified from having a 489m summit and 473m bwlch spot height, these values give the hill 16m of drop, which is sufficient for it to qualify for this list when coupled with its summit being 3.15km distant from the nearest paved public road.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 166 All Wales and 124 Mainland Wales.

Ganol Ddu    c 531m at SN 82391 59941

The new classification of this hill was accepted on 26.02.14, before which time the hill had not been listed in any hill list known to the authors.  This hill’s qualification as a Pellennig is due to interpolation of bwlch contours as its summit is 3.35km from the nearest paved public road and is estimated as being c 531m high based on the two 530m ring contours shown on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map, whilst its drop is estimated as c 17m, with an estimated bwlch height of c 514m based on bwlch contouring between 510m – 520m.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 165 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Darren    524m at SN 90822 56829

The deletion of this hill from the ranks of Pellennig hills was accepted on 26.02.14, prior to this the hill had been listed with 2.525km distance between its summit and the nearest paved public road, this was based on detail from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map published in 1999, with its listed drop value of 67ft 6″ (20.6m) obtained from a basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on 09.06.05, however the 2005 edition of this map shows that a paved road exists where there was only a track on the earlier edition and this was confirmed via driving a Google Car up it on Google Maps, and therefore with only 2.45km distance between this hill’s summit and the nearest paved public road it is deleted from the Pellennig list.  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 164 All Wales and 122 Mainland Wales.

Pen Diban    20.0m at SH 11235 20585

Pen Diban has been deleted from, and then re-instated to the ranks of Pellennig hills

The deletion of this hill as a Pellennig was accepted on 22.01.14, this hill had previously been listed in the ranks of Pellennig hills due to the 10m contour intervals on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps, with bwlch contouring indicating that the drop was sufficient for qualification, however the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website has 5m contour intervals and re-interpolation of this hill’s bwlch suggested that the hill only had c 14m of drop, which is insufficient for it to be retained as a Pellennig hill.  The hill was later re-instated after a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 (see above).  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 165 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. c 20m, Carreg Rhoson    c 20m at SM 66543 25413

Pt. c 20, Carreg Rhoson is the third islet along to the left of its higher and main island of Carreg Rhoson

The status of this island as a Pellennig hill was accepted between the dates of 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, this small island entered the listing of Pellennig hills due to its uppermost 20m ring contour only being discernible on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping that is hosted on the Geograph website, and therefore with an estimated summit height of c 20m and a distance from its high point of 5.85km to the nearest paved public road it qualifies for this list.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 166 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. 17m    17m at SM 71298 09639

The status of this hill was accepted as a Pellennig between the dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, and was done so as the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website gives this island a 17m summit spot height, which when coupled with its summit being 4.8km from the nearest paved public road is enough for qualification to this list, whereas the detail on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map only gives this island a 7m summit spot height.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 165 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Long Point    15m at SM 74438 05189

The classification of this hill to Pellennig status was accepted between the dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, with the hill’s qualification dependent upon the 15m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website, and as its summit is 4.14km distant from the nearest paved public road this hill meets the criteria to be listed as a Pellennig.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 164 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Chapel Point    c 57m at SS 14290 95945

This hill was accepted into the ranks of Y Pellennig between the dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, its listing as a Pellennig hill is based on study of photographs showing that the highest ground in the vicinity of the triangulation pillar is approximately 1.5m higher than the ground at its base, and with a flush bracket height of 55.882m adjoined to the trig pillar the ground at its base would be approximately 55.582m high, therefore the highest ground to the east of the trig pillar would be approximately c 57m high.  Such a height gives this hill an estimated c 15m of drop and when coupled with its summit being 3.96km from the nearest paved public road it is enough for this hill to qualify as a Pellennig.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 163 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. 26m    26m at SM 70460 22342

Pt. 26m looks as if it would consist of an interesting ascent

The new classification for this hill was accepted between the dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, and the island only entered the Y Pellennig list due to the 26m summit spot height appearing on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website, with the amount of contours given the island only being discernible on this enlarged mapping, and as its summit is 3.48km from the nearest paved public road it easily qualifies on the distance criterion.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 162 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. 70m, Skomer    70m at SM 72582 08682

This hill was accepted into the ranks of Y Pellennig between the dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, and only entered this list due to the 70m summit spot height appearing on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping on the Geograph website, and this when combined with an estimated bwlch height of c 52m, gives this hill a drop of c 18m and with a distance of 3.51km to the nearest paved public road this hill qualifies as a Pellennig.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 161 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. c 16m    c 16m at SM 70192 22657

Pt. c 16m is the islet on the left of this photograph with its adjacent islet having no ring contours on Ordnance Survey maps and a possible future Pellennig hill

The reclassification of this hill was accepted between the dates of 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, this small tidal island only entered the listing of Pellennig hills due to its uppermost 15m ring contour only being discernible on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping that is hosted on the Geograph website, and therefore with an estimated summit height of c 16m and a distance from its high point of 3.4km to the nearest paved public road it qualifies for this list.  Pellennig total increases by one and confirmed as 160 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

Pt. 71m, Ynys Bery    71m at SM 70182 21965

Ynys Bery with its two 71m map heighted summits

This hill’s change in status was accepted between the following dates 22.03.12 – 26.02.14, before which time the hill had been listed as a Pellennig based on a 3.925km distance between its summit and the nearest paved public road and an estimated drop of c 15m between it and an adjacent summit of the same 71m map height, however re-interpolation of bwlch contours indicates that this hill only has c 10m of drop and therefore cannot qualify for this list.  Pellennig total decreases by one and confirmed as 159 All Wales and 123 Mainland Wales.

16^th November 2011 – v-g.me publishes Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales. 

Pellennig total; 160 All Wales, 123 Mainland Wales.

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (January 2017)