Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

 

Aberbechan Wood (SO 128 950) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Aberbechan Wood (SO 128 950)

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

100m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 100m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m 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. 

The 100m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Carnedd Wen group of hills which are situated in the south-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A4), and it is positioned with the B4389 road to its west and south, and has the village of Betws Cedewain towards the north north-west. 

The hill originally appeared in the 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed and invented name of Aberbechan Wood Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from wood to the South.

Aberbechan Wood Top

192m

SO128951

136

215

Name from wood to the South

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 the name of a wood and add the word Top to it.  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

The name Aberbechan Wood appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and is strictly applicable to the wood positioned just to the south and west of the summit.  However, as this is the main named feature of this hill, this is an appropriate name to use for listing purposes for the hill. 

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 100m Twmpau is Aberbechan Wood, and this name was derived from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Carnedd Wen 

Name:  Aberbechan Wood

Previously Listed Name:  Aberbechan Wood Top 

OS 1:50,000 map:  136

Summit Height:  192.9m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 12815 95085 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  149.7m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 13155 95542 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  43.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

 

Myrddyn Phillips (April 2021)