Mapping Mountains – Summit Relocations – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Mynydd Llanfair (SJ 038 040) 

There has been a Summit Relocation 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 LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Mynydd Llanfair (SJ 038 040)

The criteria for the list that this summit relocation 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 name the hill is listed by is Mynydd Llanfair and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Carnedd Wen group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the A458 road to its north, a minor road to its south and the A470 road to its south-west, and has the small town of Llanfair Caereinion towards the east north-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.

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 with an estimated c 21m of drop, based on the 374m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and which is positioned at SJ 03817 04112, and an estimated c 353m bwlch height, based on interpolation of 5m contouring between 350m – 355m. 

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. 

LIDAR summit image of Mynydd Llanfair (SJ 038 040)

The summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 373.7m positioned at SJ 03809 04011, 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 high point of the hill is found to be positioned; in a different field, to a different feature such as in a conifer plantation,  within a different map contour, to a different point where a number of potential summit positions are within close proximity, when natural ground or the natural and intact summit of a hill is confirmed compared to a higher point such as a raised field boundary or covered reservoir that is judged to be 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 373.7m and this is positioned at SJ 03809 04011, 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 100 metres southward from where the previously listed summit is positioned. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carnedd Wen 

Name:  Mynydd Llanfair 

OS 1:50,000 map:  136

Summit Height:  373.7m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 03809 04011 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  351.9m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 03291 04027 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  21.8m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2022)