Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Fronllwyd (SH 617 631) - 14th significant name change
Survey post for Fronllwyd
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Welsh Highlands - Uchafion Cymru, with the drop and status of the hill confirmed by a level and staff line survey conducted by John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips on the 26th May 2007, with the summit height and its position derived by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams on the 6th July 2019 and the bwlch position derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams.
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Fronllwyd (SH 617 631) |
The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:
The hill is adjoined to the Glyder Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and it is positioned with the Afon Ogwen and the A5 road to its north-east and Llyn Padarn, Llyn Peris and the A4086 road towards its south-west, and has the town of Bethesda towards the north and the village of Llanberis towards the south-west.
The hill first made an appearance in a published hill list in 1940 when Ted Moss listed it as Carnedd y Filiast Point N.W. in his The Two-Thousands of Wales published by The Rucksack Club Journal.
When this hill was first included in the listing that later became known as Yr Uchafion and latterly as the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru it was listed by the directional name of Carnedd y Filiast North-west Top with an accompanying note stating; Named from mountain to the South-east.
During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to. Therefore if a hill was seemingly unnamed on the map I either invented a name or used a combination of a directional name for it. This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name information can be improved either by historic research and / or local enquiry.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
It was during the compilation of the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list that I first made place-name enquiries with local farmers, grazers and landowners, during this process there were many people who gave me an enormous amount of help, with one of these being Ieuan Wyn who at the time of my enquiries lived in Bethesda. It was Ieuan who first told me that this hill is known as Fronllwyd or with the use of the definite article; Y Fronllwyd. During subsequent enquiries this was substantiated by a number of local farmers, including Glyn Williams, Gwyn Thomas and William Williams. The name of Fronllwyd also appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps, however it is misspelt and appears as Fronllwydd.
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The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Fronllwyd |
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru is Fronllwyd and this was derived from local enquiry, with this name also appearing in a misspelt form on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Glyder Fawr
Name: Fronllwyd
Previously Listed Name: Carnedd y Filiast North-west Top
OS 1:50,000 map: 115
Summit Height: 720.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 61747 63161 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 704.6m (relative to Trimble summit and line survey for drop)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 61858 63028 (LIDAR)
Drop: 16.1m (line survey)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2019)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Yr Allt (SO 056 162) - 13th significant name change
Survey post for Yr Allt
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and 500m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill initially determined by LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Willams on the 19th April 2019.
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Yr Allt (SO 056 162) with the Bannau Brycheiniog beyond |
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop. With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is adjoined to the Cymoedd Gwent group of hills, which are situated in the eastern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-west and above the Pentwyn Reservoir to its south-west, and has the towns of Merthyr Tudful to its south and Aberhonddu (Brecon) to its north.
The hill first made an appearance in an unpublished hill list in 1985 when Tony Blackburn listed it as Pant y Creigiau in The 500 Metre Tops of England and Wales. When this hill was first included in the listings that later became known as Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau it was also listed by this same name.
Hill list authors are prone to list a hill by the name that appears nearest to its summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, with little regard for the meaning of names and to what feature the name is appropriately applied to and little consideration for its local or historic confirmation. This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name information can be improved either by historic research and / or local enquiry. In the case of this hill the name of Pant y Creigiau appears near to the summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
It was during the compilation of the Yr Uchafion list that I first made place-name enquiries with local farmers, grazers and landowners, and it was during this process that the name of Yr Allt was confirmed as being appropriate for this hill.
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau is Yr Allt and this was derived from contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and confirmed locally as appropriate.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Cymoedd Gwent
Name: Yr Allt
Previously Listed Name: Pant y Creigiau
OS 1:50,000 map: 160
Summit Height: 564.7m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 05633 16201
Bwlch Height: 493.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 07090 15748
Drop: 71.2m
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2019)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Banc yr Haul (SN 802 828) - 12th significant name change
Survey post for Banc yr Haul
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and 500m Twmpau, with the drop and status of the hill initially determined by a basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 22nd July 2000 and confirmed by a level and staff line survey conducted by Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips on the 19th February 2010, with subsequent LIDAR summit analysis conducted by Aled Williams and the summit height, bwlch height and their locations determined by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 10th April 2019.
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Banc yr Haul (SN 802 828) |
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop. With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is adjoined to the Elenydd group of hills which are situated in the central part of the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with the A44 road to its west, north and east, and has the villages of Ponterwyd towards the west south-west and Llangurig towards the east south-east.
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Graham during the line survey of Banc yr Haul |
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Graham beside the summit of Banc yr Haul during our line survey |
The hill first made an appearance in a hill list in 1997 when John Kirk listed it in his Kirk’s BIG Mountain List as Hirgoed Ddu (S), using a name that appeared to the north of the hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps of the day, this list remains unpublished but is available via enquiry with the author.
When this hill was first included in the listings that later became known as Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau it was listed by the directional name of Cripiau South South-east Top, with this name being taken from the hill positioned to its north north-west.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to. Therefore if a hill was seemingly unnamed on the map I either invented a name or used a combination of a directional name for it. This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name information can be improved either by historic research and / or local enquiry.
It was during the compilation of the Yr Uchafion list that I first made place-name enquiries with local farmers, grazers and landowners, during this process there were many people who gave me an enormous amount of information and one of these was Erwyd Howells who worked as a shepherd, and is now an author and another person who realises the insignificant and importance of documenting upland place-names, and it was Erwyd who gave the name of Banc yr Haul for this hill.
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The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Banc yr Haul |
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau is Banc yr Haul and this was derived from local enquiry.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Elenydd
Name: Banc yr Haul
Previously Listed Name: Cripiau South South-east Top
OS 1:50,000 map: 135, 136
Summit Height: 525.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 80202 82864
Bwlch Height: 495.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 80293 82632
Drop: 30.6m (line survey and Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2019)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Glanfeinion Hill (SO 033 846) - 11th significant name change
Survey post for Glanfeinion Hill
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and 500m Twmpau, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill being confirmed by a Leica 530 survey conducted by John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips on the 10th February 2010, with a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 4th August 2018.
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Glanfeinion Hill (SO 033 846) |
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
Yr Uchafion – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the Introduction to this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 4th November 2015.
500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop. With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is adjoined to the Pegwn Mawr group of hills which are situated in the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the A 470 road and the Afon Hafren (River Severn) to its north-west and the A 483 road to its east, and has the small community of Llandinam towards the north and the town of Llanidloes towards the west.
The hill first made an appearance in an unpublished hill list in 1985 when Tony Blackburn listed it as top N Caelluest in The 500 Metre Tops of England and Wales. When this hill was first included in the listings that later became known as Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau it was listed by the name of Waun Lluestowain. This is a name that appeared to the east of this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps of the day.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map |
During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to. Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.
It was during the compilation of the Yr Uchafion list that I first made place-name enquiries with local farmers, grazers and landowners and this hill was one of the first that I enquired about. This was so early in my place-name enquiries that I had not at that stage started to document each enquiry that would later be done in a systematic way. Therefore I have no record of who I spoke to. However, the person did have association with the land that this hill is situated on and he told me that it is known as Glanfeinion Hill after the landowning farm of Glanfeinion which is situated to the west north-west of its summit.
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The Leica 530 gathering data at the summit of Glanfeinion Hill |
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The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Glanfeinion Hill |
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau is Glanfeinion Hill and this was derived from local enquiry.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Pegwn Mawr
Name: Glanfeinion Hill
Previously Listed Name: Waun Lluestowain
OS 1:50,000 map: 136
Summit Height: 534.9m (converted to OSGM15, Leica 530)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 03338 84670 (Leica 530)
Bwlch Height: 506.5m (converted to OSGM15, Leica 530)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 03043 83053 (Leica 530)
Drop: 28.4m (converted to OSGM15, Leica 530)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (January 2019)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Craig Gwrelyg (SO 055 203) - 10th significant name change
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and Y Pellennig - The Remotest Hills of Wales, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill initially ascertained by LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams and later confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips which took place on the 30th June 2018.
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LIDAR image of Craig Gwrelyg |
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
Yr Uchafion – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 4th November 2015.
Y Pellennig –The Remotest Hills of Wales - Welsh hills whose summit is at least 2.5km from the nearest paved public road and the hill has a minimum 15m of drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is available as a downloadable e-booklet or print-booklet version on Mapping Mountains Publications with the up-to-date master list available on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.
The hill is adjoined to the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) group of hills, which are situated in the South Wales Region (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it is positioned between the towns of Aberhonddu (Brecon) towards its north and Merthyr Tudful to its south.
The hill first made an appearance in a published hill list in the 1940 edition of the Rucksack Club Journal when Ted Moss listed it as Craig Cwareli in his list entitled The Two-thousands of Wales. The hill has since been listed by a variety of names including; Craig Pwllfa (subsid), Gwaun Cerrig Llwydion, Bwlch y Ddwyallt and Graig Fan Las.
Hill list authors are prone to list a hill by the name that appears nearest to its summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, without much consideration for its local or historical confirmation, or whether map placement is appropriate, and in the case of this hill the name of Bwlch y Ddwyallt appears close to this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
When this hill was first included in the Yr Uchafion it was listed as Bwlch y Ddwyallt, it was only towards the end of the compilation of this list that place-name enquiries were made with local people including farmers, grazers and landowners.
One of the locals contacted in this area has his family farm to the north of this hill and gave the name of Gurelig Rocks for the cliffs to the immediate north and north-west of this hill’s summit. This name is an anglicised version of Craig Gwrelyg with the cwm of the same name given on the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map |
The name of the cliffs to the immediate north of this hill’s summit was given this person by his father, and when asked about the name of Cwm Cwareli which appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, he had never heard of it. He also confirmed that Bwlch y Ddwyallt is the name of the bwlch between this hill and Waun Rydd (SO 062 206) and is not applicable to the hill itself.
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The cliffs of Craig Gwrelyg |
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales is Craig Gwrelyg and this was derived from local enquiry.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Bannau Brycheiniog
Name: Craig Gwrelyg
Previously Listed Name: Bwlch y Ddwyallt
Summit Height: 753.9m (converted to OSGM15)
OS 1:50,000 map: 160
Summit Grid Reference: SO 05521 20383
Drop: 18.9m (converted to OSGM15)
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Gathering data with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 at the summit of Craig Gwrelyg |
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (November 2018)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Grug Crofftau (SN 750 612) - 9th significant name change
Survey post for Grug Crofftau
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and 500m Twmpau, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 25th June 2018, with the position of the bwlch having been ascertained from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams.
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
Yr Uchafion – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the Introduction to this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 4th November 2015.
500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop. With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is situated in the Elenydd group of hills which are placed in the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned in relatively remote land for Wales and has the small community of Pontrhydfendigaid towards the north north-west and Tregaron towards the west south-west.
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Heading toward the summit of Grug Crofftau (SN 750 612) |
When this hill was first included in the listings that later became known as Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau it was listed by the name of Pen Llyn Crugnant, with an accompanying note stating; Named from lake 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 or as in this instance, use the name of a near lake and prefix it with the word Pen. 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 it was only towards the end of the compilation of the Yr Uchafion list that place-name enquiries were made with local farmers, grazers and landowners.
One of the local farmers contacted in this area shepherds the land above Tyncwm (SN 770 655) and gave the name of Grug Crofftau for this hill when a detailed description of its position was given, the farmer in question is local to the area and has worked this land since 1961. Another local farmer who when contacted was aged 80, having lived at Crofftau (SN 750 644) and shepherding the hills above this farm for 25 years knew the hill as Grug, explaining that it is the highest part of land associated with the farm of Crofftau.
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau is Grug Crofftau and this was derived from local enquiry.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Elenydd
Name: Grug Crofftau
Previously Listed Name: Pen Llyn Crugnant
Summit Height: 533.3m (converted to OSGM15)
OS 1:50,000 map: 146, 147
Summit Grid Reference: SN 75031 61257
Drop: 29.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2018)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Banc y Foel (SN 725 186) - 8th significant name change
Survey post for Banc y Foel
Significant Height Revisions post for Banc y Foel
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Yr Uchafion and 500m Twmpau, with the summit height and drop of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 6th May 2018.
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
Yr Uchafion – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the Introduction to this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 4th November 2015.
500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Du range of hills, which are situated in the western part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C1). The hill is positioned with the A 4069 road to its east, and has the village of Llangadog towards the north and Brynaman towards the south.
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Banc y Foel (SN 725 186) |
The hill first made an appearance in an unpublished hill list in 1985 when Tony Blackburn listed it as Carn Pen-rhiw-ddu in The 500 Metre Tops of England and Wales, and was later included by Michael Dewey by the same name in his list entitled The 500-Metre Tops of England and Wales that appeared in his Mountain tables book published by Cicerone in 1995.
Hill list authors are prone to list a hill by the name that appears nearest to its summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, without much consideration for its local or historical confirmation, or whether map placement is appropriate, and in the case of this hill the name of Carn Pen Rhiw-ddu appears beside an ancient cairn on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps on the northern periphery of this hill’s summit plateaux and which is approximately 300 metres from the high point of the hill.
When this hill was first included in the Yr Uchafion and the list that later became known as the 500m Twmpau it was listed as Pen Rhiw-ddu, it was only towards the end of the compilation of the Yr Uchafion list that place-name enquiries were made with local farmers, grazers and landowners.
One of the local farmers contacted in this area grazes this hill from the south and he immediately gave the name of Banc y Foel when a detailed description of its position was given. The farmer in question had grazed and gathered sheep on this hill for 50 years and was the third generation of his family to do so, saying that the names he gave were passed down to him by his father, a later enquiry with his mother who was then aged in her 80s also resulted in the same name being given for the hill.
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Yr Uchafion and the 500m Twmpau is Banc y Foel and this was derived from local enquiry.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Mynydd Du
Name: Banc y Foel
Previously Listed Name: Pen Rhiw-ddu
Summit Height: 531.6m (converted to OSGM15)
OS 1:50,000 map: 160
Summit Grid Reference: SN 72536 18670
Drop: 38.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (July 2018)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Twyn Llech (SO 255 353) - 7th significant name change
Survey post for Twyn Llech
Significant Height Revisions post for Twyn Llech
Summit Relocation post for Twyn Llech
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that appears in the Yr Uchafion and 700m Twmpau lists, with the summit height, drop and summit position of the hill being confirmed by a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 which took place on the 28th September 2017, with the height and position of the critical bwlch having been previously determined from LIDAR data analysed by Aled Williams.
The criteria for the two listings that this name change applies to are:
Yr Uchafion – All Welsh hills at and above 500m in height that have 15m minimum drop. The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 4th November 2015.
700m Twmpau – All Welsh hills at and above 700m and below 800m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for ‘thirty welsh metre prominences and upward’. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips.
The hill is a part of the Mynyddoedd Duon (Black Mountains) range, which is an extensive group of hills in the south-eastern part of South Wales, and it is situated above and between the upper part of the Olchon Valley to its south-east and the Dyffryn Ewias (Vale of Ewyas) to its south. The hill is also situated between the small communities of Craswall towards its east and Capel-y-ffin towards its south.
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Twyn Llech (SO 255 353) |
The hill was first listed in the late 1920’s by Arthur St George Walsh as E. Ridge (Large peat plateau). The next listing was by W.T.Elmslie in 1933 as Black Mountain (Frontier), Elmslie also listed another three points along this ridge by the same name. The frontier part of this name no doubt refers to the course of the Welsh / English border which has been diverted in subsequent years. The next listing to this hill was by Edward (Ted) Moss in 1939 and 1940, using the name Unnamed Top.
However, Ted Moss’ unpublished notes to these listings have, and I quote; ‘not named on O.S. maps, other sources indicate the name Black Mountain. See P.T.Jones’ Welsh Border Country p 10’. The book Ted Moss refers to was first published in 1939 by B.T.Batsford Ltd of London, its full title is; ‘The Face of Britain Welsh Border Country by P.Thoresby Jones’. There are two references of interest to the Black Mountain in this book; page 10 footnote; ‘The term Black Mountain (singular) or the Welsh equivalent is given in maps to the group of peaks and moorlands between Carmarthen and the Towy: also, confusingly, to the ridge stretching from Hay Bluff’, and on page 31; ‘Moreover, from just south of Hay Bluff this ‘Black Mountain’ ridge throws out a long narrow spur towards Longtown’.
We can deduct from this that the main easterly ridge that is commonly known nowadays as the Hatterall Ridge was then known by some as the Black Mountain Ridge. This is substantiated by the use of a ridge long name of Black Mountain on the 1832 Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ sheet. The plural form; Black Mountains, also appears as a ridge name taking in just this hill’s summit area on the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map published in 1887, but this name was dropped by the 1905 publication. The singular form of this name also appears as a ridge name on the Bartholomew’s revised ‘half-inch’ map that some of the early hill list authors probably used, and although this name appears directly over this hill’s summit on this map, the font and its size matches that also given to other ridge names that appear on the same map, these include; Fwddog Ridge, Gader Ridge and Penalltmawr Range.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map from 1832 |
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map from 1887 |
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map from 1905 |
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Extract from the Bartholomew map |
The first person to list this hill as Black Mountain was William McKnight Docharty in 1962, over subsequent years there have been a number of list compilers (and republications of their work) who have followed suit; Bridge 1973, Wright 1974, Marsh 1985, Nuttall 1989, Borman 1990, Adams (page 250) 1990, Hermon 1991, Dawson 1992, Harveys 1993, Dewey 1995, Woosey 1995, Kirk 1996/97, Robert Jones 1997 and Dafydd Andrews 1999, all have followed the premise that the name of this hill is Black Mountain.
In the process of investigating the name of this hill it is important to realise that Welsh as a language is no longer spoken in the area that takes in this hill range, therefore although many hill names that appear on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps are still known as such, the evolution of language has dictated that English names for the occasional hill have materialised.
The loss of Welsh as a spoken language is also the reason why some Welsh hill names are no longer known by the farmers in the Dyffryn Ewias (Vale of Ewyas), as they are English speakers with a great knowledge of their patch of land, but the loss of spoken Welsh has resulted in an occasional Welsh hill name being lost. This includes the knowledge for the name of this hill, and to retrieve the first clue to the Welsh name of this hill we have to venture in to the deepest, darkest depths of England and visit Craswall and David Gains.
At the time of my research in to this hill’s name David was aged over 70, his father was born in the Craswall valley and his mother in the Olchon Valley. The more people I contacted in this area, it was always David’s name that kept cropping up as the person who knew the most about the hills.
One of the first names David gave me was The Thieves Stone, he continued; ‘It’s hanging out on a slope, straight on top of the ridge, just on the Welsh side and about 3-4ft wide’. I asked him when and how he had first heard of this name, he replied that his father had told him, he also told me that he’d heard; ‘If a sheep grazed the land around the stone and kept by The Thieves Stone it would never get maggots’. David could be the last person to know the details about The Thieves Stone, as I contacted just about every other farmer of note around this hill range, and the other 34 people did not know a name for this outcrop or hill. Neither did David for the latter, remember Welsh as a language has been lost in this area, and although the name of The Thieves Stone is now only preserved orally in English, its Welsh counterpart is still written on Ordnance Survey maps and appears as Llech y Lladron on the 1:25,000 Explorer map. Llech translates as Slab, Flag, Slate or Stone, whilst Lladron translates as Thief or Robber, therefore Llech y Lladron can translate as The Thieves Stone. This still doesn’t give us the name of the hill, I asked 35 people in all, all from the farming community, both on the Welsh and English side of the hill range and nobody knew a name for it. Thankfully such events were uncommon during my place-name research, but as evidenced for this hill, it did happen on occasion.
The next part of this ever expanding jigsaw puzzle to consider is the use of distinctive terms for the word ‘hill’ in certain Welsh areas, as in; Moel in the Moelwynion, Tarren in the Tarennydd, Ban or its mutated form; Fan in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons), Fforest Fawr and Y Mynydd Du. The area taking in the Y Mynyddoedd Duon (The Black Mountains) is no different, look at the names and you’ll see the word Twyn, as in; Pen Twyn Mawr, Pen Twyn Glas, Twyn Mawr and Twyn y Gaer, all of which appear on current Ordnance Survey maps.
We know that this hill’s main named feature is Llech y Lladron, it may be justifiable to think that the hill would take its name from this, well, it does! The long forgotten name of the hill appears at SO 247 355 on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map; Twyn Llech, it’s been on the map all along! It has just required a bit of detective work to piece the jigsaw together. Don’t worry where the name Twyn Llech currently resides on Ordnance Survey maps, it has suffered a bad case of hill name slippage over the years, which is not an uncommon event.
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Extract from the current Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
The name Twyn Llech can be followed back in time, as it appears as Trwyn Llech on the 1832 Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map positioned on the connecting bwlch between this hill and Hay Bluff, whilst this same bwlch is named as Waun Llech on the preceding Draft Surveyors map, with the present lower position of the name Twyn Llech on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps being traced back to the early Six-Inch maps.
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map from 1832 |
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Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map |
When the hill was first included in the listings that would later become the Yr Uchafion and the 700m Twmpau, it appeared under the name of Black Mountain, as previous compilations were followed. 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 the detective work as laid out above that concluded the name Twyn Llech as being the most appropriate for this hill.
Therefore, as a result of local enquiry and detail from historical and contemporary Ordnance Survey maps this hill is now listed under the name of Twyn Llech in the Yr Uchafion and the 700m Twmpau.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Mynyddoedd Duon
Name: Twyn Llech
Previously Listed Name: Black Mountain
Summit Height: 703.6m (converted to OSGM15)
OS 1:50,000 map: 161
Summit Grid Reference: SO 25520 35383
Drop: 154.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (November 2017)
Mapping Mountains - Significant Name Changes - The Welsh 500m P15s (Yr Uchafion)
Tor Du (SN 842 856) - 6th significant name change
Survey post for Tor Du
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