Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

 

Pt. 360.1m (SN 604 447) – Sub-Trichant reclassified to Trichant 

There has been confirmation of a reclassification to the list of Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, 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 Pt. 360.1m (SN 604 447)

The criteria for the list that this reclassification applies to are: 

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales – Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017. 

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is now listed by the Point (Pt. 360.1m) notation as an appropriate name for it either from historic research or local enquiry has not been found, and it is adjoined to the Elenydd group of hills, which are situated in the central part of the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-east and the A482 road to its south-west, and has the town of Llanbedr Pont Steffan (Lampeter) towards the north-west. 

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for the main P30 category. 

When the sub list was standardised and interpolated heights and drop values also included, the details for this hill were re-evaluated and it was listed with an estimated c 33m of drop, based on the 357m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and an estimated c 324m bwlch height, based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 320m – 330m that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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.  

Therefore, the confirmation of the reclassification of this hill from Sub-Trichant status is due to detail on contemporary maps produced from Ordnance Survey data and LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 360.1m summit height and an estimated c 324m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill an estimated c 36m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Trichant. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Elenydd 

Name:  Pt. 360.1m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  146

Summit Height:  360.1m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 60451 44797 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  c 324m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 61574 45299 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 36m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2021)