Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Mynydd Bach (SH 389 767)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height confirmed by LIDAR analysis, and a subsequent survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 conducted by Myrddyn Phillips, with the latter taking place on the 28^th October 2018.

LIDAR summit image of Mynydd Bach

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of 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 additional Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is between one third and half that of their absolute height, with the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015.

The hill is adjoined to the Ynys Môn group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and it has the A5 and A55 roads to its south, and has the village of Gwalchmai towards its south.

This hill was first listed in the original Welsh 30-99m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Bryn-teg, which is a name appearing near to the hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and which I presumed was the name of the hill, it is not, it is a name of a house.

Bryn-teg

95c

SH389768

114

262/263

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 or as in this instance transpose a name on the map which I presumed to be that of the hill.  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.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

After visiting this hill I called at a number of houses, including Bryn-teg hoping to make place-name enquiries.  I was directed down the minor lane toward a cottage, as I headed toward the cottage a man appeared and walked toward a plot of land where his daughter was planning to live.  Gwyn Thomas lived at one of the houses I’d passed on the lane; the hill was on the other side of the road to where his daughter was planning to live and was at the back of Gwyn’s house.  I introduced myself and explained my interest in hill names and asked if he knew a name for the hill; he replied immediately and told me its name is Mynydd Bach.

Gwyn Thomas with Mynydd Bach in the background

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Mynydd Bach, and this was derived from local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Ynys Môn

Name:  Mynydd Bach

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn-teg

 

OS 1:50,000 map:  114

Summit Height:  96.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 38964 76773

Bwlch Height:  c 64m

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 40259 77918 (I)

 

Drop:  c 32m

Dominance:  33.66%

For details on the summit survey of this hill

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2019)