Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Whiteford Burrows (SS 448 964) – Pellennig addition

There has been an addition to the listing of Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales due to LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Whiteford Burrows

The criteria for the list that this addition applies to are:

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales - Welsh hills whose summit is at least 2.5km from the nearest paved public road and the hill has a minimum 15m of drop, the list is a joint compilation between Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is available as a downloadable e-booklet or print-booklet version on Mapping Mountains Publications with the up-to-date master list available on the Mapping Mountains site in Google Doc format.

The name of the hill is Whiteford Burrows and prior to LIDAR analysis this hill was not catalogued as the uppermost contour given it on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map is 5m, whilst the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map has no contours.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map

Whiteford Burrows is adjoined to the Gŵyr group of hills, which are situated in the western part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C1), and it is positioned overlooking Whiteford Point and the coast, and has the small community of Llanmadog towards the south.

As the hill is a part of designated open access land it can be approached from any direction, for those wishing to visit the Wales Coast Path approaches the hill from the south and follows land close to the coast and heads toward Whiteford Point, and the summit of the hill is only a short distance from this long distance path.

The addition of this hill to Pellennig status is due to LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales. 

The 2m DSM LIDAR analysis gives the hill the following details:

Name:  Whiteford Burrows

Summit Height:  29.6m

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 44870 96422

Bwlch Height:  9.2m

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SS 44631 95701

Drop:  20.4m

Therefore, the 29.6m LIDAR analysis for the summit position at SS 44870 96422 and the 9.2m LIDAR analysis for the bwlch position at SS 44631 95701 gives this hill 20.4m of drop, and with the nearest paved public road to its summit being at SS 43885 93665, it gives this hill 2.925km of remoteness which when coupled with this hill’s drop value is sufficient for Pellennig status.

LIDAR summit image of Whiteford Burrows

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Gŵyr

Name:  Whiteford Burrows

OS 1:50,000 map:  159

Summit Height:  29.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 44870 96422 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  9.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SS 44631 95701 (LIDAR) 

  

Drop:  20.4m (LIDAR)

Remoteness:  2.925km

For the additions and deletions to Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales reported on Mapping Mountains please consult the following Change Register:

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (December 2018)