National Tops

 

The basis of National Tops: 

The concept of National Tops as a hill category is new.  Its concept is based on the land area that a hill list comprises.  This land area is dependent upon a national boundary. 

 

National Boundaries: 

National boundaries form a part of the land area of many hill lists.  For the listings that we co-author these are mainly for Wales, but such a concept can be as applicable for any of the constituent countries within the UK. 

There are many hill lists that use national boundaries as a part of their land area.  These are too many to document in their entirety but such examples are; the Munros are a Scottish listing, whilst the 2,oooft mountains of England listed by John and Anne Nuttall are an English listing, these and many others are dependent upon a national boundary to define the land area for inclusion of their respective hills. 

 

Different Forms of Land Area: 

There are other hill lists that do not use national boundaries, these in the main use the whole of Britain / UK as their land area.  Examples are the Marilyns, Humps and Simms.  Although the listing of the Marilyns have appeared in Welsh and English format within the TACit Tables publications. 

There are also lists of hills that are dependent upon specific land areas smaller than that of national boundaries.  These can take in County Tops which as the name implies use county boundaries to define their land area.  Others concentrate on National Parks or boundaries that are similar; such as the Wainwrights and Birketts. 

There are also topographical boundaries defined by the lay of land using rivers, streams and bylchau to define a natural boundary.  However, few hill lists have used this concept to define their overall land boundary. 

These in the main are the defining land areas used within British hill lists. 

 

The Qualifying Parameters of National Tops: 

National Top status is dependent upon the following qualifying parameters: 

The concept of National Tops use a national boundary as the defining land area, and is specific to just this form of hill list. 

The highest point and connecting bwlch of the hill are positioned within the country defining the list.  For our co-authored lists this applies to Wales. 

The highest point meets the minimum height used within the list.  For the two hills detailed below this is 400m. 

A National Top connects to a higher adjacent summit via the national boundary.  For the two hills detailed below the higher summits are Hergest Ridge (SO 254 562) and The Warren (SO 318 685). 

The concept of National Tops is that many lower and their adjacent higher summits are a part of the same overall hill.  Therefore, for each National Top the drop is taken to the connecting bwlch for the overall hill. 

 

National Tops, our new summits: 

For the hill lists we co-author the concept of National Top status affects two hills, both of which are now listed in our Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales list. 

These two hills are: 

Hergest Ridge:  401.0m summit positioned at SO 24693 55769 with 131.7m drop.  This summit connects via its bwlch with the higher Hergest Ridge (SO 25435 56259) via the national border between Wales and England.  The Welsh summit is now listed as a Pedwar. 

Stonewall Hill:  400.1m summit positioned at SO 31823 69655 with 23.8m drop.  This summit connects via its bwlch with the higher The Warren (SO 31855 68590) via the national border between Wales and England.  The Welsh summit is now listed as a 400m Sub-Pedwar. 

In essence Hergest Ridge has a Welsh summit and an English summit; both are a part of the same hill.  This is also applicable to Stonewall Hill.  Therefore, for each National Top the drop is taken to the connecting bwlch for the overall hill. 

 

Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips (September 2021)