10.09.18 Bryn (SH 426 361)
Today I wanted to visit
a hill that Chris Pearson had proposed as a new Tump in February of this year,
and which Chris Crocker then LIDARed as having 30.2m of drop, with a 36.9m
summit and 6.7m bwlch height. The hill
is now listed as Penychain in the Tumps, and was first listed in the sub list
that accompanied the 30-99m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website
under the invented name of Creigiau Penychain.
 |
| LIDAR summit image of Bryn |
Prior to my visit I also
LIDARed the hill and analysed its summit and bwlch contours, concluding that
the hill is not a natural P30 as LIDAR bwlch contouring implies that the
natural bwlch would once have been over 7m in height. This bwlch is now reduced in height due to a
railway cutting.
 |
| LIDAR image of Bryn showing the railway cutting toward the top right of the image |
I also researched an
appropriate name for the hill via the Tithe map, and found that the upper
section of the hill which now comprises one field, used to comprise two, with
the boundary between each showing as a slight elevation on LIDAR. This boundary although old, is not ancient,
and would be a man-made construction.
LIDAR also shows that the natural summit of this hill still exists,
close to the old field boundary.
Therefore I wanted to take data sets from the slightly raised field
boundary, and the natural summit with LIDAR giving two potential positions for
this, with one adjacent to the old field boundary and the other a few metres
distant from it. I had considered
surveying the bwlch, but as its critical point is positioned behind a chalet in
a holiday park I thought my intrusion may not be welcome, therefore the three
planned surveys at this hill’s summit would have to suffice.
For those wishing to
visit this hill there is parking for two cars beside the entrance to the
Penychain Railway Station, from here a rough road proceeds toward the farm of
Penychain.
As I left my car I
looked over the railway bridge toward where the bwlch is situated, the rail
line curved leftward out of view, with the bwlch to the right and on the other
side of the perimeter fence, I thought it wise not to visit this bwlch and the
height produced via LIDAR analysis would be sufficient when coupled with an
on-site visit and the three planned Trimble surveys to confirm (or otherwise)
this hill’s reclassification to the P30 Twmpau and Dominant ranks.
 |
| The railway that now cuts through the natural bwlch of this hill |
The rough road led up
toward the farm, one vehicle was parked outside when I approached, I did
contemplate knocking on the door to make place-name enquiries with the farmer
to check on this hill’s locally known name, but decided this was best to do
after visiting its summit.
There is only one detailed
log of this hill on the Hill Bagging website and that is by Alex Cameron who
suggests that following the track to the right after passing the farm house
avoids the worst of the gorse which swamps the majority of this hill, I was
thankful for Alex’s advice as otherwise I may have ventured further on the
track following the public right of way and tried a gorse bash that no doubt
would have proved unwelcome.
The track on the
southern side of the farm house leads to a gate, and just on the left of this
is rough grass and an ATV track that leads through more rough grass toward the
summit of the hill.
The view from the top is
extensive and I stood and stared for a number of minutes following the coast as
it swung south-westward toward Ynys Enlli, to the north-east the higher Eryri
peaks were on display, some blanketed in the morning’s cloud, but many were
free of murk with their greyed silhouettes merging from one to another.
Finding the high point
of the slightly raised old field boundary was easy and when doing so I checked
the ten figure grid reference produced via LIDAR against that showing on the screen
of the Trimble. This point consists of
rough grass and as I set the Trimble up I stood looking north-east following
the course of the old boundary across the summit area of the hill, this soon
disappeared as it was swallowed by gorse bushes, turning round I again followed
the old boundary’s course, this time south toward steepening slopes as it
plunges down to a connecting field boundary, again this soon disappears in to gorse
on the area of the summit, but the old field boundary is easily picked out and
this would no doubt be man-made.
 |
| Gathering data at the high point of the old field boundary |
Once Trimble data were
gathered and stored I next surveyed the point where LIDAR gives the remaining
natural summit of the hill to be positioned, this is no more than 4 metres from
the high point of the boundary, I wondered if at one time it may have been a
part of it, but LIDAR dismisses this and I concluded that it was not a part of
the old boundary and is still a natural part of the hill. As the Trimble beeped away gathering data I
stood back and admired the view, for such a small heighted hill this proved
wonderful and to be here all alone with the breeze blowing inland from the near
sea was a sheer pleasure. I then
collected a second data set from this second point, and once stored moved on to
where LIDAR gives another potential natural summit to be situated.
 |
| The position of the second data set with the old field boundary in the background |
This third point
consists of rock and I wondered if LIDAR had bi-passed its highest point, and as
the Trimble gathered its allotted data I again stood back and savoured the
view. Once data were stored, all that
remained was to retrace my inward route back down the hill to my car.
 |
| Gathering data at where the Trimble identified as the natural summit of Bryn |
As I neared the gate
adjacent to Penychain farm a vehicle appeared coming up the road, it was the
local farmer, my timing could not have been better. After introducing myself and explaining my
interest in his hill and its name we talked for 15 minutes or so, he proved
extremely knowledgeable and asked me not to mention him by name, as he wanted this
to remain private.
He explained that the
hill is known as the Bryn, without the use of the definite article ‘Y’, and as
is the want of generic names it is also referred to locally as Bryn Penychain
to differentiate it from other hills named Bryn in the local area. I asked what of these two names would he
prioritise and he said; Bryn.
I then told him about
the Tithe names given to the two fields which are now one on the upper part of
the hill, with the north-westerly field where the natural summit of the hill is
situated being named Bryn Cefn Tŷ, and the south-easterly
field named Cae Bryn on the Tithe. He confirmed
that the field used to be split in two and told me where the boundary went from
his farm to the upper part of the hill and over its top down to another field
boundary, which matches the course shown on the Tithe map, he then started
giving me field names on the other side of the hill as well as one on the other
side of the gate directly up the track from where we were standing.
I find it interesting
that the two fields at the time of the Tithe both reference the word Bryn in
their name, and this generic word is also the name that the local farmer knows
the hill as.
Thanking him for his
time I wandered back down the rough road toward my car, it had been a good morning
on the hill taking four data sets, having an inspection of the old field
boundary and then meeting the local farmer who confirmed the name of this hill.
Survey Result:
Summit Height: 36.7m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 42656 36173 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) (summit relocation confirmed)
Bwlch Height: 6.6m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 43103 36535 (LIDAR)
Drop: 30.0m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
(30-99m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 30-99m Twmpau)
Dominance: 81.88% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
(Dominant addition confirmed)
No comments:
Post a Comment