UKHillwalking Article
UKHillwalking recently
published an article on The Huws – 100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft. The contributors to this list are; Alex
Cameron, John Gillham, Myrddyn Phillips, Adrian Rayner, Mark Trengove and Rob
Woodall
The Huws - 100 great Welsh hills under 2000ft
Biggest
isn't always best, as the authors of a new list of the best smaller Welsh hills
are keen to point out. Showcasing the variety and beauty of the country, these
cherry picked mini-peaks sound like a project for the connoisseur. Here the
contributors to the list explain how they arrived at their top 100.
Contributors:
Alex Cameron, John Gillham, Myrddyn Phillips, Adrian Rayner, Mark Trengove and
Rob Woodall
Few people would argue against Tryfan being included
as one of the best hills in Wales. It rises above Llyn Ogwen as a great spine
of rock and is crowned by the monoliths of Adam and Eve, with many considering
this one of, if not the best hill in Britain. There are many other hills in
Wales that are almost as good; Yr Wyddfa the highest in the country, Crib Goch
for those inclined toward knife edge ridges, the pyramidal Cnicht, the
ruggedness of Rhinog Fawr, Cadair Idris which is still rightly ever popular,
the wilds of Drygarn Fawr, the beauty of Picws Du and south Wales' highest; Pen
y Fan. All are justifiably popular and abound in variety of landscape and view.
However, their popularity is partly based on their height, as it is a natural
inclination for many people to visit the higher before then concentrating on
lower hills. And in the case of these hills, they are all over the benchmark
2,000ft (609.6m). But what about those hills under this height?
 |
| Clogwyn Bwlch y Maen near Moel Siabod, not much prominence but plenty of quality |
Gathering the Team
The title of the Huws is a play on the name Hughs, which Andrew
Dempster used for his guide to Scotland's Best Wee Hills under 2,000ft. It is
this book that gave the inspiration for us to set about compiling our own
similar list to represent Wales.
The initial team of Alex, Mark and Myrddyn was formed in late
summer 2020 and soon set about discussing the merits of many classic hills
which could easily meet the parameters set for the list.
It wasn't long before we realised that such a list of hills would
vastly benefit from a wider breadth of experience and knowledge. Rob, Adrian
and John were all invited to contribute, and our team was complete.
 |
| The lovely Roundton Hill is just one of 100 characterful entries on the list |
Setting the Parameters
Outside of each hill being less than 2,000ft (609.6m) in height
our list is of a purely subjective nature. However, through discussion we all
came upon a common goal that two other important factors should be met:
Foremost that the hills should cover the whole length and breadth of Wales; and
secondly that we should include the fullest variety of hills, both in height,
prominence, geology, history and difficulty.
The variety of these hills is all important; as such a list could
easily be filled with higher and more prominent candidates. And so this along
with the spread of hills throughout the country was always a determining factor
behind our selection process. Originally we were working towards a final total
of 50 though it was not long before it became obviously apparent that this was
far too limiting and we dispensed with this idea in favour of going for 100.
Without a doubt the impact of a choice of 100 compared to 50 is
self-explanatory; Wales most certainly warrants having 100 great hills below
2,000ft.
 |
| Rhobell y Big. Photo: Mark Trengove |
The Process
The restrictions imposed through Covid-19 meant that we unable to
meet up in person to discuss what hills to include. Therefore, after we each
independently chose our 50 best Welsh hills below 2,000ft, these were listed on
an ever more detailed spreadsheet resulting in over 170 hills in all. This
formed the basis for discussion which took place over a series of weekly Zoom
meetings.
One of the first things we discussed was access, but as this list
is not intended to be a guidebook and instead just a document of what we
believe are a great collection of hills in Wales below 2,000ft, those wanting
to visit these hills should abide by any legal restrictions and if unsure of
permissible access ask permission from the respective landowner.
After the merits of each hill were discussed we gave each one of
three categories; 4 for rejection, 3 for review and 2 for inclusion. This
process resulted in 118 hills being given the category of 2 for inclusion. We
then independently listed our 18 hills for rejection. It was from this ever
decreasing list of candidates that our 18 hills to exclude were chosen. We had
our final 100!
The Hills
It is all too easy to forget the process that goes on behind the
scenes in any compilation of hills, but ultimately it is the hills that matter.
So let's have a little look at just some of the ones that did make the grade.
Concentrating on variety meant that we could include any hill of
any height and prominence. This opened up the choice to the whole of the
country including its many delightful offshore islands.
 |
| Ynys Fach, a fantastic offshore summit |
Islands:
These are represented with the tidal islands of Penrhyn Gŵyr,
otherwise known as Worms Head in the far south of the country, with others
including Ynys Fach and Ynys Lochtyn hugging the south-west coast and giving
exciting expeditions for any adventurous hill walker.
Both Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island) and Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island)
have representation in the list and both can be reached by regular tourist
boats. The magical archipelago of Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid, otherwise known as
The Skerries in the north-west of the country is also included and this
requires a charter boat.
The largest island of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) and its adjacent Ynys
Gybi (Holyhead Island) have good representation with Dinas Gynfor being one of
the farthest northerly hills; the otherworldly coloured rock of Mynydd Parys
and the dramatically situated coastal hill of Mynydd Twr (Holyhead Mountain) are
also included.
 |
| Craig Wion is memorably rugged. Photo: Mark Trengove |
Higher Hills:
Unsurprisingly there are many of these represented. An example is
Moel Wion in the northern Rhinogydd; also in the heartland of Eryri we included
Moel Meirch in the Moelwynion and Moel Ddu in the Moel Hebog range. In the
north-east is Moel Famau, one of the most popular hills in the country. Also
listed are Graig Goch on the edge of the wild openness of Y Migneint, the
shapely Foel Figenau in the south-western Y Berwyn, the relatively remote Drosgol above
Nant y Moch Reservoir in the Pumlumon range of hills, the distinctive profile
of Whimble in the central east of the country, Domen Milwyn in the wild central
belt, Carreg Cadno with its limestone summit and the ever popular Mynydd Pen y
Fâl (Sugar Loaf to its English friends) in the south of the country.
Lower Prominence Hills:
Nowadays prominence, or drop as it is also known, is an all
determining factor when considering criteria for a hill list. But there are
many excellent hills that have relatively little prominence and we also wanted
to ensure that these received good representation. Some of these include
Clogwyn Bwlch y Maen; a shapely hill positioned between Moel Siabod and Moel
Meirch that has excellent views into the higher peaks of Eryri; Tomen y Mur
overlooking Llyn Trawsfynydd and consisting of a Roman fort complex crowned by
a Norman Motte; the southern peak of Clip in the Rhinogydd - considered a
finer viewpoint than its higher northerly counterpart; the sharply defined Y
Gribin above the small community of Llangynog; Sycharth, one of the two
traditional courts of Owain Glyndŵr; and Crug Hywel in the south of the country
with its ancient hill fort.
 |
| Mynydd Parys is quite simply unique. Photo: Mark Trengove |
History:
We were also conscious of those hills that have association with
different historical eras as their inclusion can greatly enhance interest to
our shared passion for the hills. Bryn Gop in the far north-east of Wales is
crowned by the second largest Neolithic mound in Britain, with only Silbury
Hill in Wiltshire being larger. Wales has many hills that are topped by ancient
Bronze Age hill forts and some of the best in the country are represented in
this list with Tre'r Ceiri in the north-west; Castell Tinboeth and Craig
Rhiwarth in Mid Wales; and Trichrug in the south. The Roman era is
represented by Tomen in Mur, and the time of great castle building by Carreg
Cennen in the south and Y Faerdre in the north. Our mining history is also
represented by copper mining on Mynydd Parys and slate on Moel Tryfan and
Y Ceiliog Mawr. All very good hills in their own right, but their historical
interest undoubtedly also add a little something extra to their appeal.
Unique Character:
Although all hills are different, there are some whose individual
uniqueness stands out head and shoulders from the rest. For our list these
include; the multi-coloured otherworldliness of Mynydd Parys; Y Ceiliog Mawr, a
remnant outcrop in the slate mining area of north-west Wales; Ynys Gifftan, one
of the rare estuary islands in the country; the summit of Carn Llidi in the
south-west which has the only deposit of gabbro in Wales; Aberthaw's (manmade!)
Ash Tip which is Wales' southernmost hill and Tyle Garw which is officially the
most remote mainland hill in the whole of the country!
Also represented are a scattering of wooded summits, those beside
or close to lakes and one within a coastal sand dune habitat. All add interest
and variety; these are The Huws – and we hope you thoroughly enjoy our list of
100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft!
The Huws – 100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft have been published
on the Haroldstreet website as an online tick list and for GPS Waypoints, and
on Mapping Mountains to download as a Google Doc list. They are available here:
Haroldstreet: The Huws – 100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft
- Ticklist
Mapping Mountains: The Huws – 100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft
- Introduction
Mapping Mountains: The Huws – 100 great Welsh hills under 2,000ft
- List
Alex Cameron: Alex is an enthusiastic backpacker based in the
north of Wales and who goes about all his exploring of the Welsh hills
completely on foot, or occasionally by bicycle.
John Gillham: John is a full time professional writer, illustrator
and photographer and the author of a number of published books concentrating on
Wales and more recently Shropshire.
Myrddyn Phillips: Myrddyn is the webmaster of Mapping Mountains.
He is an enthusiastic hill surveyor, hill list compiler and enjoys Welsh upland
place-name research and lives in Mid Wales.
Adrian Rayner: Adrian is a keen walker and has summited over 1,000
hills in Wales. He runs an email based discussion forum for British hills with
over 30 metres of drop. When time allows he enjoys visiting overseas mountains.
Mark Trengove: Mark is the webmaster of Europeaklist. He lives in
the north-east of Wales and enjoys international peak-bagging and poly bagging,
and has a wide experience of the Welsh hills.
Rob Woodall: Rob has completed numerous hill lists in Britain and
has bagged many overseas peaks. He's also visited all the British trig pillars
and is currently working on Ordnance Survey benchmarks.
For the original article published on the UKHillwalking website
No comments:
Post a Comment