Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant

Comins (SJ 174 282)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 7^th June 2017 and subsequent LIDAR analysis.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

Y Trichant - These are the Welsh hills at and above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop,  with the introduction to the re-naming and publication history of this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017.

The hill is a part of the Y Berwyn range, this group of hills is situated in the south-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A4), and it is positioned above the small community of Llansilin which is to the east of the hill. 

Comins (SJ 174 282) with Gurn Moelfre behind

The hill appeared in the sub list adjoined to the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented name of Pen-y-Moelfre, with an accompanying note stating; Name from village to the East.  

Pen-y-Moelfre

376m

SJ175282

125

255

Name from village to the East

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historical documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found, and in the case of this hill it was one of the local farmers who has lived under the hill all of his life, who gave the name of the Comins.

Emyr Evans

The local farmer is Emyr Evans who farms from Cefn-y-braich which is situated towards the east south-east of the hill.  Emyr is now aged 81 and has lived locally for all of his life; he told me that the hill is a part of the land of Lloran Isaf which is the next farm along from Cefn-y-braich and nearer to the hill.  Emyr was out cutting thistles and we chatted at length, it turns out that Emyr went to school with an uncle of one of my lifelong friends and before leaving he told me that there used to be a flagpole on top of the hill.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is the Comins and this was derived from local enquiry. 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Y Berwyn

Name:  Comins

Previously Listed Name:  Pen-y-Moelfre 

Summit Height:  376.1m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 17476 28210 

 

Drop:  34.8m

For details on the survey of the Comins

Myrddyn Phillips (July 2017)