Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Fours – The 400m Hills of England

Tod Fell (NY 512 020) – 400m Sub-Four deletion

There has been a deletion to the listing of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Tod Fell (NY 512 020)

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

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being deleted from the 400m Sub-Four category, the criteria for which are all English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24^th April 2018.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Tod Fell and it is adjoined to the Tarn Crag group of hills, which are situated in the far eastern fells of the Lake District, and it is positioned with a minor road to its west and the A6 road to its east, and has the town of Kendal towards the south.

When the 2^nd edition of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018, this hill was included as a 400m Sub-Four and listed with 20m of drop, based on the 401m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 381m col spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage 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 deletion of this hill from 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 400.3m summit height and a 381.7m col height, with these values giving this hill 18.7m of drop, which is insufficient for it to be classified as a 400m Sub-Four.

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarn Crag

Name:  Tod Fell

OS 1:50,000 map:  90

Summit Height:  400.3m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  NY 51224 02058 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  381.7m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  NY 51297 02371 (LIDAR)

Drop:  18.7m (LIDAR)

 

For the additions, deletions and reclassifications to The Fours – The 400m Hills of England reported on Mapping Mountains since the December 2013 publication of the 1^st edition of this list by Europeaklist please consult the following Change Registers:

 

The Fours

 

The Fours – 400m Sub-Four

 

The Fours – 390m Sub-Four

 

The Fours – 390m Double Sub-Four

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (December 2022) 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Cae Gwar Tŷ (SN 656 640) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, 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 Cae Gwar Tŷ (SN 656 640)

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

200m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

The 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Bach group of hills, which are situated in the western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the A485 road to its west and south, and a minor road to its east, and has the town of Tregaron towards the south south-east.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Esgair-maen, which is a prominent name that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and relates to a farm and not necessarily the hill.

Esgair-maen

266m

SN655642

146

199

Trig pillar. Included by contour configuration

 

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose a prominent name that appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and presume it that of the hill.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found. 

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

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.  The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales. 

Extract from the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 1426 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Cae Gwar Tŷ in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Caron and in the county named as Cardigan. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Cae Gwar Tŷ, and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Bach

Name:  Cae Gwar Tŷ

Previously Listed Name:  Esgair-maen   

OS 1:50,000 map:  146

Summit Height:  266.1m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 65639 64049 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  c 232m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 64663 64467 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 34m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch) 

 

My thanks to Aled Williams for advice relating to the listed name of this hill

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Michael Dewey

 

Michael and Gillian Dewey

On the 5^th November 2022 Michael Dewey died.  I had considered him a friend for many years.  Our friendship was mainly through correspondence and communication.  We only met once as I had propositioned Michael for a YouTube interview and this was conducted close to Kendal in the southern Lake District where he and his wife Gilliam had retired to.

Our friendship developed from communication indirectly relating to the listing of The 500-Metre Tops of England and Wales, which appeared in the Mountain tables book published by Constable in 1995, as I had compiled the equivalent list for the Irish hills.  I sent Michael a copy and he responded saying that he had done likewise and suggesting that we co-author the list.  This started a line of communication through letter and more recently email and then telephone.  This communication carried on for over twenty years.  Our co-authored Irish lists; The 500-Metre Tops of Ireland  and the Irish Dodds which was extracted from it, will remain just that, co-authored and will retain Michael’s name.

Michael’s interests were varied, but his main ones all concentrated on the outdoors.  I had known for a number of years that Michael was not well, however his death is still a surprise and he will be sadly missed.

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2022)

Michael produced his lists including the 500 metre tops for his own use with no thought of publishing.  I mentioned the mountain tables to a colleague at work who then asked to see the lists.  The colleague was impressed and contacted a publisher.  The rest is history.

I have decided that Michael would have liked the The 500-Metre Tops of England and Wales to be continued and updated by Myrddyn Phillips.  They had co-authored the 500m Irish list and were in regular correspondence about that list.  The Dewey The 500-Metre Tops of England and Wales list will in future be co-authored but retaining Michael’s name as compiler and originator and therefore still be called the Deweys.

After Michael retired from GCHQ Cheltenham we moved to Cumbria.  He joined the Westmorland Geological Society and he was a leading light in the Millennium project geologically surveying the Lindale and Witherslack area.  The work resulted in the British Geological Survey publishing Sheet SD4B8SW.

Michael for some years was Secretary of Cumbria GeoConservation.  He added new sites found on walks that needed recording and protection.  He digitised the records of the organisation and produced leaflets introducing people to the geology of Cumbria.

Fungi and lichens interested him with finds photographed, researched and catalogued.  One of his lichen photographs was displayed at Kew Gardens.  He gave talks on a wide range of subjects in the locality and took groups out on field trips.  I was always with him on his adventures and have walked all the 2,000ft mountains.  We were a team and I contributed to his projects and interests.

Gillian Dewey (December 2022) 

 

 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Pt. 323m (SN 704 822) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 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. 

The criteria for the list that this name change 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, and the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of the list appearing on the 1^st January 2022. 

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

The hill is adjoined to the Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-west  and the A44 road to its south, and has the village of Ponterwyd towards the east south-east.

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

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

After 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 under the name of Pen y Graig-ddu with 21m of drop.  This is a prominent name that appears to the east of the summit on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map and to the south-east of the summit on the 1:25,000 Explorer map and which the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps indicate is the name of a crag that is topographically not a part of this hill. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose a prominent name that appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and use it for that of the hill.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

However, on occasion even when research is conducted an appropriate name for the hill may not be found, and on such occasions the listing protocol is to use the point (Pt. 323m) notation, and for this hill this is such an example.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Pt. 323m, and this is being used as the author has not found an appropriate name for the hill either through historic research and/or local enquiry. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr 

Name:  Pt. 323m 

Previously Listed Name:  Pen y Graig-ddu 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  323m (spot height)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 70430 82201 (spot height) 

Bwlch Height:  c 303m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 70650 82212 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 20m (spot height summit and interpolated bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Fours – The 400m Hills of England

Langhow Pike (NY 529 131) – 400m Sub-Four deletion

There has been a deletion to the listing of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Langhow Pike (NY 529 131)

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

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being deleted from the 400m Sub-Four category, the criteria for which are all English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24^th April 2018.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Langhow Pike and it is adjoined to the Tarn Crag group of hills, which are situated in the far eastern fells of the Lake District, and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-west and the A6 road to its east, and has the village of Shap towards the north-east.

When the 2^nd edition of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018, this hill was included as a 400m Sub-Four and listed with an estimated c 21m of drop, based on the 405m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and an estimated c 384m col height, based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 380m – 390m. 

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 deletion of this hill from 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 403.6m summit height and a 384.1m col height, with these values giving this hill 19.5m of drop, which is insufficient for it to be classified as a 400m Sub-Four.

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarn Crag

Name:  Langhow Pike

OS 1:50,000 map:  90

Summit Height:  403.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  NY 52952 13105 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  384.1m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  NY 52630 12761 (LIDAR)

Drop:  19.5m (LIDAR)

 

For the additions, deletions and reclassifications to The Fours – The 400m Hills of England reported on Mapping Mountains since the December 2013 publication of the 1^st edition of this list by Europeaklist please consult the following Change Registers:

 

The Fours

 

The Fours – 400m Sub-Four

 

The Fours – 390m Sub-Four

 

The Fours – 390m Double Sub-Four

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (December 2022)

 

  

Mapping Mountains – Summit Relocations – 200m Twmpau

Cae Gwar Tŷ (SN 656 640) 

There has been a Summit Relocation to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, 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 Cae Gwar Tŷ (SN 656 640)

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

200m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

The 200m Twmpau y Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is now listed by is Cae Gwar Tŷ and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Mynydd Bach group of hills, which are situated in the western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the A485 road to its west and south, and a minor road to its east, and has the town of Tregaron towards the south south-east.

When the original 200m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was listed with a summit height of 266m based on the spot height adjoined to a triangulation pillar positioned at SN 65517 64195 that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

One of the mapping resources now available online is on the Magic Maps website which hosts an interactive map originated from Ordnance Survey data.  Until recently this mapping had many spot heights not on other publicly available maps and for this hill it had a 266m spot height positioned at SH 656 640. 

Extract from the interactive mapping hosted on the Magic Maps website

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 height produced by LIDAR analysis to the summit of this hill is 266.1m positioned at SN 65639 64649, and this position comes within the parameters of the Summit Relocations used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Summit Relocations applies to when the high point is positioned in a different field, to a different feature such as a conifer plantation, within a different map contour, a different point where a number of potential summit positions are within close proximity, when natural ground or the natural and intact summit is confirmed compared to a higher point such as a raised field boundary or covered reservoir that is considered a relatively recent man-made construct, or 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.

Therefore, the summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 266.1m which is positioned at SN 65639 64649, this position is not given a spot height on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and is approximately 160 metres south-eastward from where the previously listed summit is positioned.  However, this position is in close proximity to where the 266m spot height appeared on the interactive mapping hosted on the Magic Maps website. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Bach 

Name:  Cae Gwar Tŷ 

OS 1:50,000 map:  146

Summit Height:  266.1m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference (New Position):  SN 65639 64049 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  c 232m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 64663 64467 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 34m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2022)