04.05.17
Foel Fawr (SJ 130 146)
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| Foel Fawr (SJ 130 146) |
Having visited Bwlan (SH
946 255) and the beautiful Pistyll Rhyd-y-meinciau I wanted to visit one small
hill on my way home, and Foel Fawr proved a perfect choice. The hill is unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps
but the Tithe map to the parish of Meifod names the bounded land where the
summit of the hill is situated as Foel Fawr.
The hill is positioned to the north-west of the village of Meifod and
sits quietly amongst a patchwork of country lanes.
I approached from the
east having parked my car at the entrance to the track leading down to the old
farm house of Rhosfawr Uchaf, walking down this track was similar to a scene
from parts of France as luxuriating warmth came out of a succulent blue sky with
an avenue of trees leading down toward the house. The track is a public footpath and as the
critical bwlch of the hill is placed on or beside it, I spent a few minutes
assessing the lay of land at the bwlch before continuing toward the summit of
the hill.
All was quiet as I followed
the track through the old farm yard and continued on the green track to the
south of the house, following it through canopied trees and out to an adjacent
field, it was only a short distance from here and over another field to the
high point of the hill.
Once at the summit I
assessed the lay of land for its high point and placed the Trimble on the
ground to gather its customary five minutes of data, as it beeped away
collecting its datum points I stood back and admired the view, which was
expansive; away to the south-east the distinctive profile of Corndon stood out
beyond a multitude of varied coloured trees, and to the north the double topped
Gallt y Goedhwch shone green with patches of yellowed gorse adding variety to
its grazed slopes.
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| Distant view of Corndon |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Foel Fawr |
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| The greens and yellows of Gallt y Goedhwch |
For such an unassuming
and relatively small hill Foel Fawr gave expansive views, and although I could
so easily have stayed on its summit lingering in the late afternoon warmth and
beauty I had an appointment with a ballot box in Welshpool for the local County
Council election and so once five minutes of data were gathered I closed the
Trimble down, packed it away and retraced my way back down the fields and
through the wood to where the connecting bwlch of the hill is placed.
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| Route back through the wood to the bwlch |
Once at the bwlch I
judged its critical point to be beside the track, I set the Trimble up on top
of my rucksack to give it elevation above its immediate surrounds and waited
for the 0.1m accuracy level to be attained before data should be logged, this
proved a long wait as the Trimble was shielded by a number of trees, however I
was in no desperate rush and spent my time enjoying the dappled early evening
light as the sun slowly lowered casting long shadows. It took about 25 minutes before the magic
0.1m accuracy level appeared and I then pressed ‘Log’ and scampered off to wait
until five minutes of data were gathered.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Foel Fawr |
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| Early evening light |
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| The long wait at the bwlch enabled me to concentrate on finer detail |
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| Gathering pollen |
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 set-up position at the bwlch of Foel Fawr |
As I packed the Trimble away I had one last look back at Rhosfawr-uchaf, a now renovated old farm house nestling in quiet countryside amongst good hills, and followed the track back up to my awaiting car.
Survey Result:
Foel Fawr (significant name change)
Summit Height: 309.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 13095 14685
Bwlch Height: 255.1m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 13387 14854
Drop: 54.4m
Dominance: 17.59%
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