Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Brandy Hill

01.08.18  Brandy Hill (SN 213 133)

Having visited three hills with Suzanne toward the south-east of Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) we now headed to the west of the town to visit another three hills, all of which are positioned with their summits close to a minor road that heads up from the small community of Llanddowror.

The next hill on our bagging agenda was Brandy Hill, this hill was once listed as a 205m map heighted twin Marilyn, its old twinned summit was further along the minor road to our west and was planned to be our last of six hills during the day to visit and survey with the Trimble.  

The A477 road now cuts a great swathe through the southern section of this hill, and with a large transmitter mast and accompanying building close to its summit, Brandy Hill is not one of the most tranquil of places to visit, but today it was bathed in afternoon sunshine that gave clarity of colour to the landscape.

We approached as many have done before from the convenience of the minor lane leading across the upper section of the hill, and found the gap in the hedge that gives access to the field where the natural high point of the hill is situated.

Suzanne heading through the gap in the hedge

Prior to visiting I’d used LIDAR to analyse where the summit of the hill is positioned and this proved a great help in determining placement for the Trimble, and as Suzanne led the way through the hedge and up the field and past the large mast I followed with Trimble in hand using it as a hand-held device to zero in on to the position of the high point of the hill.

Suzanne leading the way toward the summit of Brandy Hill

Once the Trimble was set up atop my rucksack to give it elevation above its immediate surrounds, I visited the trig pillar which is positioned on a steep sided embankment that is probably a designating boundary and which is higher than the edge of the field where the Trimble was placed, but as I considered the embankment a recent man-made construct I dismissed this for potential summit position.  The view from the trig pillar consisted of large chunks of metal that sped skyward; it had little to offer except for novelty.

The trig pillar is perched atop an embankment

The view from the trig isn't one of the best

As the Trimble gathered its allotted data we lay in the sunshine as the rhythmic hum of traffic on the A477 sped forever this way and that.

Gathering data at the summit of Brandy Hill

Relaxing in the sun

The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Brandy Hill

Once ten minutes of data were gathered and stored I closed the Trimble down, packed it away and off we went toward the gap in the hedge and further west toward our 5^th hill of the day, and one that the Tithe map gives an interesting name to the land where the summit of the hill is positioned; Mountain Park (SN 171 120).

Survey Result:

Brandy Hill

Summit Height:  205.1m (converted to OSGM15) (Dominant re-twinned with Castell Meherin [SN 14646 11773] with the Trimble result giving the height of both summits exactly the same; 205.077m)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 21352 13359

Bwlch Height:  53.5m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 14049 17973 (LIDAR)

Drop:  151.6m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch) (Brandy Hill is being listed as the prioritised summit for drop purposes)

Dominance:  73.92% (Brandy Hill is being listed as the prioritised summit for dominance purposes)

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet