12.10.17
Moel Bentyrch (SJ 055 095)
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| Moel Bentyrch (SJ 055 095) |
It was just after 8.00am
and I was standing rather self-consciously in a field close to a main road and
below buildings that looked suspiciously like a farm with a distant beep, beep,
beep of the Trimble echoing around an otherwise quiet land. I stood away from the Trimble and
unsuccessfully tried to blend in to a hedge which at least gave protection from
any inquisitive passing motorist, once 300 beeps were beeped I silently marched
toward my surveying equipment and quickly closed it down and packed it away
before walking toward a gate that gave access on to a narrow lane.
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| Gathering data at the bwlch of Moel Bentyrch |
The early morning’s
clandestine visit to a field was to determine the prominence of a hill listed
as a Submarilyn with c 142m of drop. The
hill in question is Moel Bentyrch and when heading west from Welshpool it is
the first hill of note to be encountered, I’d only visited once before in 2012
and had ascended via a narrow steep path across the hill’s upper eastern face,
today I wanted to visit the hill from the west, but before doing so I wanted to
pretend that I was a part of a hedge in a field whilst an unusual black and
yellow piece of equipment was left atop a blue rucksack that for all wants and
purposes looked as if it had been abandoned in said field. Sometimes surveying can lead you to some
beautiful, and also unusual places, but surveying for bwlch height has an
eclectic enjoyment all its own.
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| Moel Bentyrch from the west |
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| Looking down on the bwlch of Moel Bentyrch which is just beyond where the sheep are gathered and across the fence |
Following a narrow lane
on the opposite side of the main road I grabbed my chance between a large
bungalow and what looked like another one of those suspicious looking farms and
quietly made my way in to a field and slowly walked beside mature trees gaining
height toward a fence.
As I gained height the
sun appeared over the upper lip of the hill, casting low light as it did so,
this heightened the colour and set against a delicate blue and grey sky it made
a wonderful hour on the hill.
To my south-west
Disgwylfa was bronzed and green set above its conifered lower slopes, with a
foreground of dulled bracken almost illuminated by the sun. My only companions were sheep, scampering
this way and that, a white mass of small animal adding perspective to the
scene.
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| Disgwylfa (SJ 033 074) |
The summit area of Moel
Bentyrch is crowned by an ancient enclosure with the customary banks and
ditches on show, it is a marvellous viewpoint and somewhat dwarfs the Ordnance
Survey triangulation pillar which sits forlornly to the south-east, however as
the hill’s eastern side plunges down steeply, views from the vicinity of the
trig pillar open the land to the east, which this morning was bathed in silvery
light with patchworked fields emerald like split only by hedge and narrow lane.
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| The trig pillar overlooking the eastern wild lands of border country |
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| Patchwork fields only split by hedge and lane |
As the Trimble gathered
summit data I soaked in the scene, a visible overload of joy, being on a hill
either in the early morning or late evening brings a very different feeling to
the land, one that is hard to quantify, but I find it uplifting and partly
addictive, as I want the feeling it gives time and again, this is only enhanced
by operating the Trimble as this gives reason to stand and savour the scene,
something that whilst on a normal hill walk is not always taken.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Moel Bentyrch |
I turned my back on the
hill after packing the Trimble away and quietly sauntered down the upper
eastern part of the hill, back to the road and civilisation. Just a brief encounter was all that was
needed this morning to re-invigorate the day and leave me content.
Survey Result:
Moel Bentyrch
Summit Height: 337.5m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 05547 09518 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 197.0m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 04561 09379 (LIDAR)
Drop: 140.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 41.63% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
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