24.04.21 Braich yr Hwch (SH 877 233), Foel Hafod
Fynydd (SH 877 227), Esgeiriau Gwynion (SH 889
236), Foel Rudd (SH 895 239) and Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon (SH 891 250)
 |
| Braich yr Hwch (SH 877 233) |
The high Aran are impressive hills. From the east their profile always stands
out. Dominating this range of hills is Aran
Fawddwy, which south of Yr Wyddfa is the highest point in Britain. When I first started hill walking the Aran drew
me in along with Cadair Idris and the higher Eryri peaks to their north. But it was the Aran that I favoured, partly
no doubt as they are relatively close to where I live, but convenience was not
all. At this time few paths existed
between many of this ranges hills and their northerly territory only had access
via a courtesy path. This was many years
before the open access that we now enjoy today.
This partly forbidden territory only added to their appeal as a courtesy
path can soon be turned in to investigation farther afield.
This was many years ago, and now my walking is
more contemplative and having visited the higher hills of Wales so many times I
now enjoy investigating other hills, many of which are much lower in height,
but nonetheless still situated in beautiful landscape. However, opportunity to visit the higher
hills still occasionally takes place and today a route had been planned taking
in Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon as a marginal non-Dewey and Braich yr Hwch as a P10
needing to be surveyed, between the two are Foel Hafod Fynydd, Esgeiriau
Gwynion and Foel Rudd. This circuit gave
good bagging and surveying potential. It
also gave stunning views in to those higher Aran hills with the block of cliffs
between Aran Fawddwy and Aran Benllyn only broken by the steep grassed slope
leading to Erw y Ddafad Ddu.
 |
| The high Aran |
I met Aled in the Llanuwchllyn car park and he
then drove further up valley to our designated parking place, with Mark later
joining us on the hill. From here we
walked up Cwm Croes with me taking great delight pointing out all the potential
parking places that we had disappointedly ignored!
The forecast for the day was good with clear
skies, but with a chilled easterly breeze.
After leaving the car the high Aran was already on grand display with
their cliffs dominating above the foreground of green pastured grazing fields;
a stunning sight to greet us as we set off on our walk. As our meeting time was all too uncivilized
for Mark, he was setting off an hour or so later and would meet us on the hill.
 |
| Erw y Ddafad Ddu |
The paved road up Cwm Croes ends at
Nant-y-barcut farm, from here a good track continues toward the buildings of
Cwm-ffynnon which are undergoing renovation.
A vehicle track on the moor then heads up toward Cwm Ddu with a path
continuing to Bwlch Sirddyn where we would meet Mark in a few hours’ time. We opted to follow the vehicle track toward
the bottom of steep ground that led up Braich yr Hwch; the P10 that Aled wanted
surveying.
The steepness soon increased and my pace
relented to a steady gasping plod.
However, to compensate the view opened up and what a view it was. The cliffs of Erw y Ddafad Ddu are rarely seen
than from this vantage point, whereas those of Aran Fawddwy and Aran Benllyn
always stand out. But this route gave us
such a close view in to the steep rising ground up to the main Aran ridge.
 |
| The cliffs of Erw y Ddafad Ddu |
The track on the moor that we followed turned
out to be made by a quad bike and this kept to the rising ground as it tapered
in to a narrow steep ridge, not a place that I would favour riding such a
thing, a skilled hand would be needed to negotiate safe passage.
 |
| Heading toward the steepening slopes of Braich yr Hwch |
Eventually I crested the upper ridge and Aled
was standing on the high point of Braich yr Hwch. I soon set the Trimble up to gather its
allotted data. Once the equipment was
closed down and packed away we headed down to the hill’s connecting bwlch where
we spent a few minutes assessing the lay of land before choosing placement for
the Trimble.
 |
| Nearing the summit of Braich yr Hwch |
 |
| Gathering data at the summit of Braich yr Hwch |
As I sat scribbling all necessary details in my
survey notebook, Aled called over as he had spotted Mark walking up the
valley. Once bwlch data were gathered
and stored we made our way up continuing steep ground toward the summit of Foel
Hafod Fynydd. Thankfully the steepness
relented toward the upper part of the hill, but I still needed to gather my
breath once at the summit.
 |
| Gathering data at the bwlch of Braich yr Hwch |
 |
| Aran Fawddwy from near the summit of Foel Hafod Fynydd |
The high point of Foel Hafod Fynydd is
positioned a few metres from its cairn and soon the Trimble was placed on Aled’s
rucksack with its internal antenna aligned with the high point of the hill and
once the 0.1m accuracy level was attained before data should be logged, I set
it to gather data and joined Aled sitting below the equipment and out of the
brisk breeze.
 |
| Gathering data at the summit of Foel Hafod Fynydd |
The next point to survey was the bwlch
connecting Foel Hafod Fynydd with Esgeiriau Gwynion. To get to it involved losing a lot of height
on very steep ground. As we contoured
around the upper part of the hill I spotted a figure sheltering behind a peat
hag down at the bwlch; it was Mark.
Arriving at the bwlch it was good to see him. He had spotted us making progress toward the
summit of Foel Hafod Fynydd and had been waiting at the bwlch for about 45
minutes.
 |
| Descending steep ground toward Bwlch Sirddyn |
For some perverse reason I had always wanted to
survey this bwlch. I think this is due
to contrasting contour information on contemporary Ordnance Survey and Harvey
Maps as well as the old 5m contouring that was available on the OS Maps
website. Prior to this survey this bwlch
was listed with an estimated c 500m height and now it was time to put an
accurate height to it.
 |
| Erw y Ddafad Ddu and Aran Benllyn from Bwlch Sirddyn |
We each gave an opinion toward the position of
the bwlch and agreed that it was ground beside the fence that crosses the land on
the hill to hill direction. The Trimble
was soon positioned on one of the fence posts and gathering data.
 |
| Gathering data at the bwlch of Esgeiriau Gwynion |
During data collection I sat with Mark and Aled
out of the breeze behind a peat hag listening to their conversation whilst
enjoying a sandwich, all seemed good in the world! I left the Trimble to collect 10 minutes of
data before closing it down, packing it away and then looking up at the steep
rising ground ahead. This led to the
summit of Esgeiriau Gwynion and as I ever so slowly plodded up the slope and emerged
near the top of this horrendous slope, I looked at Mark and said that ascending
it was like being tortured by the Spanish inquisition.
 |
| Steep ground leading up toward the summit of Esgeiriau Gwynion |
 |
| Mark is close to the high point of Esgeiriau Gwynion as surveyed by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 |
Two points were surveyed for summit position of Esgeiriau
Gwynion. The first which many believe to
be the high point is beside a small cairn of quartz rocks which has a discarded
old fence post stuck in the middle of it.
The second point was beside the ridge path adjacent to a fence that we
had followed to make our way to the cairn, whilst doing so we all commented
that we thought ground beside this fence higher than that beside the small
cairn. We’ll have to wait for the
Trimble data to be processed before this question is answered.
 |
| The first of two positions surveyed for the summit of Esgeiriau Gwynion |
These two surveys also gave me time to sit and
rest and soak in that ever present and wonderful view. The breeze still blew, but the chill of early
morning was being quickly replaced by an afternoon warmth, all too welcome on
the higher hills.
 |
| The second of two positions surveyed for the summit of Esgeiriau Gwynion |
We had two further hills to visit and survey,
but thankfully the majority of the uphill was now behind us. Leaving the summit area of Esgeiriau Gwynion
lay large peat hags, all dry and all looking other worldly with their parched
moor grass not yet summer greened.
Beyond these lay a descending moor leading down to the connecting bwlch
with Foel Rudd.
 |
| Heading toward Foel Rudd |
Although relatively expansive the position of
the critical bwlch of Foel Rudd was not difficult to pinpoint. With direction from Mark and Aled I headed
toward where we considered it lay, whilst doing so I walked up a part of the
southerly valley following a narrow channel which led me to where I then placed
the Trimble.
 |
| Gathering data at the bwlch of Foel Rudd |
Once the allotted bwlch data for Foel Rudd was
gathered and stored we followed a narrow path up to the hill’s summit. We all agreed that the high point was amongst
heather approximately 2 metres from the small quartz cairn and fence post that
adorns the hill.
 |
| Gathering data at the summit of Foel Rudd |
 |
| The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Foel Rudd |
Just one hill remained; Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon,
which is positioned on the northerly descending ridge from Esgeiriau Gwynion. I had visited this hill once before in May
2002 with Bill Owens who had helped me with a basic levelling survey of the
hill.
We started to descend from the bwlch connecting
with Foel Rudd, with the ground soon turning in to the roughest experienced
during the day. The rough stuff mainly
consisted of reed grass and some bog, it was never difficult but toward the end
of many hours on the hill it sapped my already depleting stores of energy.
 |
| The last hill of the day; Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon |
A raised embankment crosses the bwlch of Ffridd
Cwm Ffynnon and heads toward and beyond its summit. This is an old field or ffridd boundary and
is now grassed over with just an occasional quartz rock protruding from its
side. We debated where to gather data from
at the bwlch, having all decided that the embankment was obviously man-made and
therefore should be discounted from being taken as a part of either the bwlch
or summit height of the hill.
Having decided upon a suitable position for the
bwlch, I placed the Trimble on top of a fence post and with Mark’s help
measured the offset between its internal antenna and the ground at its base and
then waited for the allotted data to be gathered and stored.
 |
| Gathering data at the bwlch of Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon |
A narrow path beside the embankment led us to
the summit of Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon and an Abney level was then used to determine
on which side of the embankment and adjoining fence the highest remaining
natural ground lay. Once determined, the
Trimble was soon set up gathering its tenth and last data set of the day.
 |
| Gathering data at the summit of Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon |
All that now remained was to re-trace our route
back to the connecting bwlch and follow a track down in to the upper reaches of
Cwm Ffynnon. It was a beautiful route
down with the high Aran now no more than blued silhouettes with the afternoon
sun hiding their morning’s detail.
 |
| The blued late afternoon silhouette of the high Aran |
Descending in to the bowl of the cwm meant that
the breeze also now left us and it soon warmed proceedings with the afternoon
sun increasing in strength. It was also
a relatively long walk out, back past Nant-y-barcut farm and down the paved
lane.
 |
| Farm life on the way through Cwm Croes |
 |
| Time to rest and enjoy the sunshine |
I stopped occasionally to take in the scene and
also take a few photos with chickens and lambs highlighted by rich afternoon
colour. It had been another good day on
the hill, my third consecutive day which is a rarity for me nowadays. I arrived back at the awaiting cars a few
minutes after Mark and Aled and proceeded to bask in the luxury of getting my
walking boots off. A simple pleasure
desperately needed!
Survey Result:
Braich yr Hwch
Summit Height: 576.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 87754 23371
Bwlch Height: 567.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 87682 23247
Drop: 8.4m
Dominance: 1.46%
Foel Hafod Fynydd
Summit Height: 688.1m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 87759 22714 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: c 603m (interpolation)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 87018 22664 (interpolation)
Drop: c 85m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and
interpolated bwlch)
Dominance: 12.37% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and
interpolated bwlch)
Esgeiriau Gwynion
Summit Height: 669.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 88925 23616
Bwlch Height: 499.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 88466 22985
Drop: 170.0m
Dominance: 25.39%
Foel Rudd
Summit Height: 657.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 89563 23949
Bwlch Height: 639.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 89297 23914
Drop: 18.0m
Dominance: 2.74%
Ffridd Cwm Ffynnon
Summit Height: 534.2m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 89182 25074
Bwlch Height: 507.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 89143 24686
Drop: 27.2m
Dominance: 5.09%
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
No comments:
Post a Comment