Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant

Bwlchau Bank (SO 117 587)

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 being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 3^rd October 2017.

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 an accompanying sub category entitled the Sub-Trichant, with the criteria to this sub list being all Welsh hills at and above 300m and below 400m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of 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 adjoined to the Fforest Glud range, this group of hills are situated in the eastern part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and the hill is positioned between the town of Llandrindod (Llandrindod Wells) to its west north-west and the small community of Hundred House to its south.

Bwlchau Bank (SO 117 587)

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the invented name of Moel Bwlchau, with an accompanying note stating Name from buildings to the South.  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now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historical documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found, and in the case of this hill it was one of the local farmers whose family has lived in this area for over 100 years who gave the name of Bwlchau Bank.

Moel Bwlchau

348m

SO118588

148

200

Name from buildings to the South

The local farmer is Keith Williams who farms from Hendy, which is situated directly below the hill to its east.  Keith is aged 50 with his family moving to this farm in 1902; he told me that the hill is a part of the land of Bwlchau, which is the farm directly below the hill to its south.  I met Keith whilst surveying the bwlch of this hill as he had stopped his vehicle on the narrow lane that crosses the bwlch to ask what I was doing, we chatted for a number of minutes and he was good enough to give me his time and also gave me another name for a hill that is unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps and one which I was heading to after visiting Bwlchau Bank.

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

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Fforest Glud

Name:  Bwlchau Bank

Previously Listed Name:  Moel Bwlchau 

Summit Height:  348.3m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 11770 58788

  

Drop:  31.6m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the survey of Bwlchau Bank

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2017)