On Location with Channel 5 News

Introduction:

The news that Fan y Big is no longer classified as a Hewitt seemed to stir the imagination of many in the news media with pieces in The New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, it also received attention from a number of British news outlets including The Times, Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror.

BBC Wales interviewed me on their afternoon radio show and asked me to take part in a live broadcast from the foot of the hill, this was only pulled at the last moment as a horse had run amok in the Pembroke show injuring a number of people; therefore their outdoor broadcast van was diverted west to cover this story.

However, the news of the dethroning of Fan y Big was soon picked up by Channel 5 News, who expressed interest in filming from its summit, and along with a representative from the Brecon Beacons National Park I was invited to be a part of the forthcoming proceedings.

Filming Shoot:

Arranging to meet close to the Upper Neuadd Reservoir on the southern side of the Beacons in late August of this year, I set my alarm for 4.30am and drove south toward our designated rendezvous.  Nearing our meeting place I took the opportunity to survey the critical bwlch of Cefn yr Ystrad, approaching this bwlch glimmers of sunshine and blue sky peered out from an otherwise misted scene, and although the murk seemed set for the day, the afternoon forecast predicted it would rise.

(L to R) Dominic Reynolds - reporter, James Williams - Brecon Beacons National Park Communications Officer and Rui Costa - cameraman

There had been a flurry of communication leading up to this meeting, with this mainly based on the film crew wanting to get footage from the summit of Fan y Big, and therefore we explored the most convenient ascent route and the southern approach to the hill was agreed on, and this was also the way I approached this hill when it was initially surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000.

Any outdoor film shoot is dependent upon the weather and especially so when it involves a hill, and more so when the hill has a summit that is dramatically placed.  And although Fan y Big now fails Hewitt criteria, it is positioned above the great sweeping drop of Cwm Cynwyn to its west and Cwm Oergwm to its east and with a slender upper northerly ridge it certainly meets the criteria for having a dramatically positioned summit.

Soon after I arrived at the designated car park James Williams, the Communications Officer of the Brecon Beacons National Park also arrived, we greeted each other and James soon told me that he had already been interviewed by Radio 1 and that they wanted another interview with him from the summit.  It is James who wrote the wonderful report of the National Park losing one of their Beacons that appears on their website, he instantly understood the ‘news’ about Fan y Big and immersed himself fully it its conviviality.

The crew from Channel 5 News closely followed and pulled up in the car park in the Taf Fechan Forest; with Dominic Reynolds the reporter and Rui Costa the cameraman introducing themselves.  They had come well prepared with lightweight camera gear and tripod and an enthusiasm for the ‘story’.

A narrow path leads from this car park up on to the paved minor road leading toward the Upper Neuadd Reservoir, with a track then leaving this and heading toward open hillside and the bwlch between Fan y Big and its higher adjacent hill of Cribyn.  This is the route we had chosen, as it gives a relatively easy and quick ascent to the deposed Beacon of Fan y Big.

As we left the confines of the Taf Fechan Forest, Rui wanted to get footage of our ascent and we spent a few minutes walking beside one another past the camera and up the track, and then repeated this, with close in footage also filmed.  I always find proceedings such as this of interest, and when the opportunity to be out with a film crew presents itself, it is with the realisation that it is the film crew who pulls the strings for the day and you are a part of an overall story that they are telling.

Making our way toward the connecting bwlch with Fan y Big

As we gained height we emerged in to the mist, and once at the connecting bwlch between Fan y Big and Cribyn we stopped to assess the situation as the conditions were not ideal for filming.  Dominic wanted to explain how Fan y Big had been dethroned and this would involve explaining what the drop value of the hill is, and as a part of this he wanted the visual aid of its connecting bwlch to be on show for the viewers, and it looked as if this was not going to happen.

However, we had little option other than to proceed to the summit as Channel 5 wanted the footage to appear on their 5.00pm news programme, and once off the hill Dominic and Rui needed to edit the footage, do voice overs, and drive to Brecon to transfer the finished footage to their offices in London, therefore we were under a tight schedule.

As we headed up the stepped path toward the summit of Fan y Big, Rui again wanted footage of our ascent, and we repeated our upward route past the camera with an out of focus segment adding a nice touch to the edited piece that later appeared on television.

During this filming the first walker passed us descending the steep western slopes of Fan y Big; and Dominic approached him and engaged in conversation, as he did with almost every walker who later would appear at the summit during our protracted stay.

Lee Major lives in Bridgend and he was soon being interviewed by Dominic, with a segment of this footage appearing in the finished video.  As Lee headed down, we continued up in to the mist and murk surrounding one of Wales’ latest dethroned mountains!

Lee being interviewed by Dominic

Once at the summit I set the Trimble up to gather data and left it in situ for 55 minutes as a multitude of people arrived from all directions, some watching our exploits, many being interviewed by Dominic and others peering down at the equipment as it beeped away on the high point of Fan y Big.  During this James had numerous phone calls from Radio 1 and he got in the spirit of the ‘story’ unwrapping a makeshift flag with their logo on it and standing on what many people know as the surfboard; a rock jutting out over the great sweeping drop down in to Cwm Cynwyn.

James with the makeshift Radio 1 flag

After 15 minutes on the summit the mist started to lift, it initially played with us as small segments of hillside were revealed, first the northern ridge and some of the great sweeping drops down in to the adjacent cymoedd were stripped of murk, this heralded a quick rethink as Plan B had already been activated as we thought footage of extended views unlikely, therefore Plan A was again the priority.

Plan A not surprisingly involved interviews of the main participants as well as footage of the connecting bwlch with Dominic expertly explaining what 30m of drop involves, without these extended views Plan B would have concentrated more on the interviews, but a visual aid is always welcome and especially so in the hills.

Dominic interviewed a number of passing hill walkers including Wouter Georges from Belgium, who then sent me photos he had taken from his descent and kindly gave permission for these to appear on Mapping Mountains.

Wouter being interviewed by Dominic

James, Dom, Rui and me at the summit of Fan y Big.  Photo: Wouter Georges

James was now interviewed standing beside the surfboard and he emphasised that although the National Park had lost one of their Beacons, they knew that Fan y Big would always remain a mountain in their eyes, and would continue to be a part of the famous horseshoe around the four Beacons of Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big.

James being interviewed by Dominic for Channel 5 News

Next to face the gentle inquisition of Dominic was me, I mentioned the Hewitts, their criteria, their author; Alan Dawson, and that Aled Williams had initially analysed data for this hill produced by the Environment Agency, none of this made the final footage as they concentrated on me owning up to having obsessional tendencies and admitting that this result would probably mean that I would have to change my nationality!

At the summit of Fan y Big, (L to R); Surveyor, Reporter, Cameraman and National Park Communications Officer

It was now time to wrap up proceedings and head down as Dominic and Rui still had much work to do before the footage was ready to transfer to Channel 5.  We quickly descended to the connecting bwlch with Cribyn, and this is where I thanked them for their interest in this ‘story’ and shook their hands, as I wanted to visit Cribyn and survey its summit and bwlch.     

Postscript:

It was an extremely enjoyable experience meeting the crew from Channel 5 News and I thank them for their interest in mountain surveying and putting me at ease during the film shoot.

The footage of Fan y Big and its deletion from Hewitt status with the Brecon Beacons National Park also losing one of their treasured Beacons was broadcast on the Channel 5 News later the same day at 5.00pm, and was soon uploaded by Channel 5 to YouTube.  This with Channel 5 News’ permission appears below.

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2018)