Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Pen Twmp (SM 988 329)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the bwlch height and its Dominant status confirmed via LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

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

200m Twmpau – All Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales – Welsh P30 hills whose prominence equal or exceed half that of their absolute height.  With the criteria for Lesser Dominant status being those addition Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is 33% or more and below 50% of their absolute height.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the start of the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015.

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Preseli group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B4), and it is positioned with the A 40 road to its west and the B 4313 road to its north and has the Nant y Bugail to its south-west and the River Aer to its north-north-east, and has the town of Abergwaun (Fishguard) towards the north-west.

The hill originally appeared in the 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the invented name of Bryn Pentre-newydd with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the North-East. 

Bryn Pentre-newydd

217m

SM988330

157

35

Name from buildings to the North-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 historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

During the initial compilation of the Dominant list I made a number of place-name enquiries for qualifying hills, including this one.  I was put in contact with Elin Evans and Julian Fry, at the time of our conversation Elin was a school teacher and Julian a web master for a site concentrating on Llanychaer, this being the small community where they lived.  Elin’s grandfather grew up at Penlan (SM 997 333), and her parents; John and Rhian Evans lived in the bungalow adjoined to the farm of Cronllwyn (SM 986 348), therefore her family have lived beside this hill for at least three generations.

On the day I phoned, Elin’s parents were upset as one of their sheep dogs had been put down, therefore Julian offered to speak with John and Rhian at an opportune moment, and he later did so and phoned me with details relating to this hill and its name.  The name given Julian for this hill by Elin’s parents; John and Rhian Evans is Pen Twmp.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Pen Twmp, and this name was derived from local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Preseli

Name:  Pen Twmp

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Pentre-newydd

 

Summit Height:  217m

OS 1:50,000 map:  157

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 98820 32984 

 

Drop:  109m

Dominance:  50.09%

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2018)