25.06.18 Bryn y Crofftau (SN 748 634), Carn Fflur (SN
746 623), Pt. 512.8m (SN 747 620), Pt. 516.9m (SN 754 620), Pt. 526.8m (SN 745
611), Grug Crofftau (SN 750 612) and Llethr Brith (SN 756 614)
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| Bryn y Crofftau (SN 748 634) |
The Yr Uchafion list of
Welsh P15 hills over 500m in height opens up a number of places amongst the
hills, where their P30 counterparts aren’t necessarily well represented and the
land to the south-east of Pontrhydfendigaid is one such place.
I’d only visited the
hills in this area once before and on that day found a number of forest
rides and tracks not marked on the
1:25,000 Explorer map, with the forest rides giving relatively easy access to a
number of 500m P15 summits, albeit with the underfoot conditions being rather
tough. Since that day the Ordnance
Survey Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the Geograph website is now available
online and this map shows many spot heights applicable to these hills that do
not appear on any other publicly available map, resulting in summit relocations
and new Uchaf hills. It was this area
that Aled suggested we should visit and he had plotted a route between seven
hills and supplied aerial maps and grid references and I then added a number of
other grid references if we had the opportunity to extend the walk.
We met in the outskirts
of Machynlleth and took one car to Ystrad-fflur (Strata Florida) where we set
off walking at just before 8.30am, even at this hour the heat pervaded the land
and with a forecast for 30º temperatures in the
country we knew it was going to be a very hot few hours on the hill.
Following a track in to
the lower grasslands of the Elenydd the land resembled southern France or parts
of Spain, with blue skies above and all-pervading heat cascading down with dry
and dusted pathways.
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| Heading to the hills |
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| Finding our route to the forest track |
Our first planned hill
was Bryn y Crofftau which is listed as a Pedwar, to get to it we needed to find
the forest track that I had used as my descent route when last on these
hills. Our inward route led to beautiful
mixed woodland and eventually down on a minor track to the main forest track
which forever gained height and brought us to a clearing to our north-east,
which gave access to Bryn y Crofftau.
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| The gap in the trees leading to the summit of Bryn y Crofftau |
Leaving the forest track
a narrow path led down to a boggy area and continued through thick rough summer
grass toward the summit, even at this stage I began to wilt through the heat,
it was debilitating and even more so with the realisation of what land we were
planning on visiting and the underfoot conditions we would encounter, however
Aled had brought the remains of last night’s Chinese take-away and two spare
ribs shared between us seemed to rejuvenate me whilst the Trimble gathered its
allotted summit data.
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| Heading toward the summit of Bryn y Crofftau |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Bryn y Crofftau |
Retracing our route back
to the forest track it then led us up to large swathes of land that had been
felled of conifers and which thankfully had not been replanted. Our next hill was Carn Fflur and its ancient
large cairn; now clear of forestry this vantage point gives excellent extended
views. The ancient cairn measures 25
metres in diameter and two data sets were taken, one from its rim and the other
from its hollowed centre, during data collection the heat beat down.
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| Carn Fflur (SN 746 623) |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Carn Fflur |
The connecting bwlch
between this and our next hill was again clear of forestry and the customary
data set was taken before we made our way to the summit of a 513m map heighted
hill that is listed as an Uchaf and only just misses out on Pellennig status.
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| Pt. 512.8m (SN 747 620) from the slopes of Carn Fflur |
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Pt. 512.8m |
As data were gathered
from its high point I was wilting under the intensity of heat which was proving
merciless, and worried on how much more my body could take as I’ve experienced
a number of unpleasant incidents either on the hill in Britain or whilst
trekking abroad where severe heat has caused my body to succumb in a complete
and unwelcome way.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pt. 512.8m (SN 747 620) |
Our next hill was
immersed in forestry and we wanted to survey its summit and connecting bwlch,
this hill is only given a single ring contour on contemporary Ordnance Survey
maps but has 15m of drop on the Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the Geograph
website, and it was one of the hills I had not visited during my previous
bagging raid.
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| Pt. 516.9m (SN 754 620) proved a hot and difficult hill to reach its summit |
Leaving the summit of
the 513m map heighted hill we re-joined the forest track for a short distance
before entering a land of high soft tussocks and bog that led beside the
conifers to a forest ride that led up and intersected with another ride, I was
now almost on my last legs and needed to stop frequently, hunched over gasping
for breath in the incessant heat, I did not feel good at all.
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| The forest ride leading to the summit of Pt. 516.9m (SN 754 620) |
We eventually reached
the high point of the wide forest ride and I set the Trimble up to gather data
and joined Aled in the shade, getting here was like stumbling in to a trap, and
one where I did not know if I had sufficient energy levels to get myself out
of. Thankfully we were on the summit of
this hill for about 30 minutes which gave me time to recover.
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| Gathering data on the summit area of Pt. 516.9m (SN 754 620) |
During the walk we had
been plagued by copious amounts of horse flies, flies and masses of midges that
were buzzing us in swarms and whilst sitting next to Aled in the shade as the
Trimble beeped away gathering its latest data set I looked at my scratched and
torn legs as flies feasted on my blood, there were so many of them that it
hardly served purpose to flap them away, as more only descended, I then felt a
stinging sensation at the back of my left leg that increased in intensity to
the point that I started flapping about; I had been sitting in a nest of red
ants and they had defended their territory injecting their toxic alkaloid
venom, they had my notice and I stood up quickly and left them to their nest as
my leg turned red and itched in a most unusual and uncomfortable way.
Once data were stored
and the Trimble packed away Aled wanted us to survey the hill’s connecting
bwlch, which led us down to a land were few could have ever ventured in to, it
was prehistoric in nature with trees covered in shining mosses highlighted in
the flashes of sunlight that penetrated the canopy, the floor of this land
consisted of bulbous mosses and pine needles which had probably laid undisturbed
ever since the forestry was last planted, it was wondrous to be in such a
place. We used the Trimble as a
hand-held device to zero in to where the spot height appears on the map and
then judged where the best and most convenient spot to gather data was
positioned. During data gathering I
rested and slowly regained strength and a willingness to continue living.
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| Immersed in the conifer plantation |
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| A land of mosses where few could have visited since the forestry was last replanted |
Aled navigated us out of
the conifers and back on to the forest ride that we had used to gain the hill’s
high point, we then regained height back to the forest track that was now
beginning to take on the mantle of a long lost friend.
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| Back on the forest track looking toward the hill we had just visited |
Four hills had now been
surveyed and we had another three that we hoped to Trimble, this meant pushing
further south in to the ever wilder landscape that constitutes the high
Elenydd. We now had two bylchau to
survey before our fifth summit, the next point being the critical bwlch adjoined
to our third hill; Pt. 513m. Aled had
looked at the 5m contours on OS Maps and the lowest point on the hill to hill
traverse at this next bwlch is not at the end of the forest track where the
497m spot height appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps. To get to the critical bwlch we followed a
narrow path on the crest of a small ridge that proved delightful to walk after
an hour or so immersed in thick conifer plantation.
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| One of the best parts of the walk heading toward the critical bwlch of Pt. 512.8m |
I hoped at this stage
that I would be able to complete the walk as I had major doubts only an hour or
so earlier, and realised that the rest at the summit and bwlch of the last
hill, with both being in shade had helped tremendously.
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| Pt. 526.8m (SN 745 611) now confirmed as a new Uchaf and Pellennig hill (and subsequently deleted due to LIDAR bwlch analysis) |
We chose the set-up position
for the Trimble at the bwlch and sat in shade whilst it collected data, Aled
now found that the clump of soft undergrowth he was sitting in was infested in
another ants nest, they were all over the land as were an incessant plague of flies
that followed us for hours buzzing our heads and feeding on my scratched and bloodied
legs.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Pt. 512.8m |
The next bwlch was one
of the more important to survey as it is adjoined to Grug Crofftau which is
listed with 28m of drop and therefore is a candidate for P30 Twmpau and Dewey
status. When Aled led us in to the bog
infested bwlch using the Trimble to zero in on where LIDAR places its critical
point to lie, I followed willingly with part of my strength regained.
As I sat in shade beside
a dried bog listening to the quiet beeps of the Trimble as it gathered
individual data points, I rested, my body felt as if it had been hammered by
the heat but I would not have been anywhere else at that very moment in time,
as there was a fulfilling element to this walk and the land it took us in
to. During data collection Aled headed
off to visit Garn Gron to the west which rose above us with grassed sides that
had thankfully never been forested.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Grug Crofftau |
I closed the Trimble
down and excited the confines of the bog and forest laden bwlch at the same
moment that Aled headed down from the hill, we were now out of the vast forest
on its southern periphery and used the boundary fence to make progress toward
our next hill which is currently unclassified but is a candidate for both Uchaf
and Pellennig status.
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| Out of the forestry to its south |
The boundary fence led
toward a large bog which was thankfully relatively dry and once over it we
continued back in to felled forestry and up the southern slopes of the next
hill which is given a map height of 527m.
I slowly made progress
up its southern slopes, following Aled, there was now a realisation that we
were going to complete the walk and hopefully all remaining surveys. Thankfully the hill’s summit is now free of
forestry and as the Trimble gathered its summit data I sat with Aled and ate an
apple, the only thing we were now worried about was running out of water, we
had both brought extra bottles but their contents were being slowly sipped and
there was still a long way to go.
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| Heading toward the summit of Pt. 526.8m (SN 745 611) |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pt. 526.8m (SN 745 611) |
The next point to survey
was the connecting bwlch to this 527m map heighted summit and interpolation
placed it amongst or close to a small patch of remaining Scots pine forest,
again the Trimble took us to this position and the allotted data gathered.
Exciting the trees a
path of sorts through thick soft tussocks amongst patches of bog led us
stumbling toward a fire break which would take us to the summit of Grug
Crofftau.
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| Leaving the Scots pine wood |
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| The forest ride leading toward the summit of Grug Crofftau |
The high point of Grug
Crofftau is close to a wide forest ride and about five rows of trees in to the
forest, miraculously the Trimble attained its 0.1m accuracy level before data
should be logged relatively quickly considering its position and gathered the
all-important summit data without any form of objection. We were now nearing the end of our surveying
objectives but still had a long way to walk before reaching the awaiting car at
Ystrad-fflur (Strata Florida).
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| Gathering data at the summit of Grug Crofftau |
We excited the upper
part of Grug Crofftau using another forest ride to take us down to the next
bwlch which was positioned close to the waters of Llyn Crugnant, which is a
wildly situated lake positioned in the grasslands of the Elenydd. As the Trimble gathered data from the bwlch
we both sat on tree stumps trying to recover from what was proving to be quite
an ordeal of sun drenched and wild walking.
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| Llyn Crugnant |
Only one survey remained
and that was the summit of Llethr Brith, and thankfully a path led from the
northern end of the bwlch that had just been surveyed to a forest ride that
took us toward its high point which yet again was implanted firmly amongst the
conifers. It took a long time before the
Trimble was activated and as we waited for ten minutes of data to be gathered
swarms of midges and flies descended on us.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Llethr Brith |
The summit of LLethr
Brith was the last of 14 surveys taken during the day; I had visited seven
summits and Aled eight, with Garn Gron being the extra one. The land we had visited was uncompromising to
say the least and the conditions severe with intense heat, and yet we had
completed all that we had set off to do.
All that remained was the walk out, first down the continuation of the
forest ride which brought us back to the forest track, I celebrated and knelt
on the ground and kissed the gravel.
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| Reaching the forest track was like encountering an old friend. Photo: Aled Williams |
However, it was still a
long walk out down the forest track where it intersected another which brought
us down toward Hafod-newydd. Walking
down the green track toward this house the sun slowly ebbed behind hill ridges
to our west as conifers rose skyward and took on a blackened hue accentuated by
subline and gentle greens of fern and moss at their base. Day was turning to night as dusk brought
gentleness to this land.
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| The forest at dusk |
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| Sunset |
By the time we reached
Hafod-newydd I was desperate to rest and started to wilt at an alarming rate,
beyond the track continued downward, now out of the forestry toward a stream
and a bridge that would if we had of continued, bring us to the narrow road
taking us back to my car, but by this stage I was again almost done in, and
when I saw a car on the track that was in the process of doing what looked like
a seven point turn I gathered my last remaining strength and started shouting
‘hello’ and running toward the vehicle.
The driver kindly stopped his seven point turn and we tried to
communicate, unfortunately he was almost deaf and only picked up certain words,
thankfully those of 13 hours on the hill, exhausted, need water and please can
we have a lift, seemed to do the trick and within a few minutes Aled was
sitting in the back of the car with Henry the dog and I was sitting in the
front with Denis, our saviour and driver.
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| Denis; our driver and saviour and his dog Henry |
Denis had saved us
another 40 minute walk back on the track and road, this I suspect would have
been too much for me and I do not know how on earth I could have done it. He dropped us off close to my car and we
shook hands, what an absolutely lovely person he proved to be.
I arrived home about
midnight and was soon in bed feeling completely exhausted but also extremely
happy at what we had accomplished during the day.
Postscript:
Since the survey of these hills full LIDAR coverage is now available. The LIDAR (Light Detection
& Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height and positional data
that is now freely available for England and Wales. Consequently the numerical details for these
hills have been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR height
and position for some of these hills being prioritised over that produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000.
Survey Result:
Bryn y Crofftau
Summit Height: 447.3m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 74807 63477 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 411.5m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 74705 63091 (LIDAR)
Drop: 35.8m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 8.01% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Carn Fflur
Summit Height: 501.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 74626 62354
Bwlch Height: 480.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 74694 62297
Drop: 20.7m
Dominance: 4.14%
Pt. 512.8m
Summit Height: 512.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 74759 62033
Bwlch Height: 493.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 74659 61518
Drop: 18.9m
Dominance: 3.69%
Pt. 516.9m
Summit Height: 516.9m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 75493 62086 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 501.0m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 75576 61971 (LIDAR)
Dominance: 3.06% (LIDAR)
Pt. 526.8m
Summit Height: 526.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 74595 61119 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 512.0m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 74980 61422 (LIDAR)
Dominance: 2.82% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Summit Height: 533.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 75031 61257
Bwlch Height: 504.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 74415 61043
Drop: 29.0m
Dominance: 5.43%
Llethr Brith
Summit Height: 527.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 75675 61410
Bwlch Height: 508.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 75366 61428
Drop: 18.7m
Dominance: 3.55%
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