Mapping Mountains – Summit Relocations – The Welsh P15s

 

Pen Ucheldref (SH 349 882) 

There has been a Summit Relocation to a hill that is listed in the The Welsh P15s, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail on contemporary maps produced from Ordnance Survey data and LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Pen Ucheldref (SH 349 882)

The criteria for the list that this summit relocation applies to are:

The Welsh P15s – Welsh hills with 15m minimum drop, irrespective of their height, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Sub-P15s, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills with 14m or more and below 15m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 10^th May 2019. 

The Welsh P15s by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Pen Ucheldref and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it 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 is positioned with two minor roads beside its summit and the A5025 road to its north-west, and has the village of Llanrhuddlad also towards the north-west. 

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was listed with an estimated c 23m of drop, based on an estimated c 90m summit height positioned at SH 34812 87943 and an estimated c 67m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 5m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map, with the 85m upper summit contour mistaken for 90m. 

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

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales. 

The summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 85.4m and is positioned at SH 34917 88259, and this comes within the parameters of the Summit Relocations used within this page heading, these parameters are: 

The term Summit Relocations applies when the hill’s high point is found to be positioned; in a different field, within a different map contour, to a different feature such as in a conifer plantation, to a different point where a number of potential summit positions are within close proximity, a relocation of approximately 100 metres or more in distance from either the position of a map spot height or from where the summit of the hill was previously thought to exist, or when natural ground or the natural and intact summit is confirmed compared to a higher point such as a raised field boundary that is judged to be a relatively recent man-made construct. 

Therefore, the summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 85.4m and this is positioned at SH 34917 88259, this position is given an 85m spot height on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger maps and an 84m spot height on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps, and is approximately 320 metres northward from where the previously listed summit is positioned. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Ynys Môn 

Name:  Pen Ucheldref 

OS 1:50,000 map:  114

Summit Height:  85.4m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference (New Position):  SH 34917 88259 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  c 67m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 35183 88544 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 18m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2021)