20.04.15 Pen Diban
(SH 112 205) and Mynydd Enlli (SH 123 219)
Mynydd Enlli (SH 123 219) |
Ynys Enlli lies as a
dominant influence for people with faith, especially so in medieval times when
it was a major centre of pilgrimage with a legendary 20,000 saints laid to rest
in its grounds. Today the island
supports a small community of farms and a bird observatory, as well as a small
tourist industry with holiday lets and day trips by people seeking solitude of
island life and an ascent of its hill; Mynydd Enlli, which at a map height of
167m is listed as a Marilyn.
Although I wanted to
visit the summit of Mynydd Enlli and do a number of surveys, including Pen
Diban at the southern point of the island, I also wanted to explore its land
and history. I’d wanted to visit the
island for many years and having watched the sun sink into the sea close to its
darkened silhouette just after last Christmas I decided to make a concerted
effort and visit the island during this year.
The opportunity arose
when visiting Ynys Tudwal Fach and Ynys Tudwal Fawr, as John Mackay said that
the boat to the island was leaving at 10.30am on Monday from Porth Meudwy. The skipper was Colin Evans who had taken us
over to Ynys Gwylan Fawr in early February of this year.
I drove from Nantlle
toward Porth Meudwy with a beautiful and welcoming blue sky overhead and a
weather forecast that was perfect for visiting the island, with sunshine all
day and only a light breeze predicted.
It takes a little
navigating on narrow lanes to find the earthen large car park to the south-west
of Aberdaron which is the starting point for boat trips to Ynys Enlli. This car park is situated at SH 158 259 and
as I pulled in it was quiet, I got by walking boots on and relaxed for a few
minutes before another car drove in. The
occupants were a couple from Norfolk on holiday, as they started down the track
toward the small bay I followed.
Arriving at Porth Meudwy
was similar to many of the Greek island bays that I had been to over the years,
as it was secluded and today it was bright with sunshine and a lapping blue
sea. Colin soon arrived followed by John
and Marian and a few other people, some arriving via the cliff footpath.
Marian next to the Benlli III at Porth Meudwy |
We set off on the 20
minute trip over the sea and approached the island down its eastern coast with
Mynydd Enlli on grand display rising steeply up from the sea and culminating in
its small rocky top.
Part of the eastern face of Mynydd Enlli |
A seal met us as we
pulled into the well protected bay where the slipway came out to sea, it’s head
bobbed up out of the water looking inquisitively as we chugged the last few
metres toward the slipway.
A single seal met us as we arrived on Ynys Enlli, many more were on the rocks when we departed |
Within a few minutes
Colin had attached the boat to its trailer and pulled it onto the slipway with
a tractor. We climbed down the ladder
onto the gravelled patch of land just above the narrow isthmus that separates
the higher bulk of the island from that of its Lighthouse at Pen Diban.
Marian, John and Colin next to the Benlli III and the slipway on Ynys Enlli |
Colin attached the boat to its trailer and pulled it ashore with the tractor |
We gathered on the grass
just above the boat where Colin gave an informative and sometimes humorous
account of the island’s history and its current state of affairs. This talk was given with passion and
benefited because of it, with Colin being able to trace his family’s direct
association with the island back six generations. He was brought up on the island at the small
school house that now has a number of information boards on its walls. He went through its history, its population
decline and the recent struggles he had had with conservation bodies. He instructed us that we had about 3 hours 45
minutes to enjoy the island and off he went to investigate his lobster pots.
I decided to walk toward
Pen Diban first and left the others chatting with Colin before he took back to
the waters, leaving the small group of people I joined a gravelled track come
path that headed toward the Lighthouse, on my way I assessed the connecting
bwlch which is at the island’s narrowest point, before continuing south toward the
high point of Pen Diban. This small hill
used to be listed as a Pellennig; one of the remotest hills of Wales, as it
just qualified with c 15m of drop.
However, later on-line mapping which had 5m contour intervals suggested
a drop of only c 14m, so the hill was deleted from the Pellennig ranks.
Colin chatting with our group beside the slipway on Ynys Enlli |
I walked into the
Trinity House compound where the Lighthouse is situated and over a wall toward
the high point of the hill, this has a circular concrete structure on it which
is built on a small rock outcrop. I took
data from two points outside of the structure, both on rock outcrops. Whilst the Trimble gathered its allotted data
I looked out to the southern tip of the island and then to the north where
Mynydd Enlli rose up with sides of grass and gorse, Colin had previously
suggested that one of the best routes up the hill was to follow a narrow path
on its southerly ridge, with another path zig zagging up through the gorse on
the hill’s western side.
Gathering data at the first surveyed summit position of Pen Diban |
Gathering data at the second surveyed summit position of Pen Diban |
Once the Trimble had
gathered its summit data I packed it away and re-joined my inward route back
down to the bwlch at the isthmus. This
proved relatively easy to assess and as the Trimble gathered data I took a few
photographs and looked out to the western sea.
The critical bwlch of Pen Diban is also the narrowest point of the island |
As I walked back toward
the slipway I could see small figures ascending the southern ridge of Mynydd
Enlli and having previously decided to use the zig zags as an ascent route I
changed my mind and headed toward the base of the southern ridge. A track leads from the slipway toward a
number of houses with one being where Jo was outside happily crafting a basket,
we chatted for a minute or so, she asked if I would like a drink and although
the thought was tempting I wanted to press on and leave myself sufficient time
after the ascent to investigate the northern part of the island.
Jo crafting baskets |
As I left Jo the sun
beat down with refreshing warmth, I found the path up the south ridge and
slowly made my way up, occasionally looking back as I gained height onto the southern
land below with Pen Diban circling left and almost separated from the main part
of the island.
The southern part of Ynys Enlli |
As I gained height there
were large areas of hillside covered in spectacularly bright yellow gorse which
contrasted against the blue of sea and sky.
I soon met John and Marian on their descent from the summit, they kindly
told me what to expect as I wanted to survey the southern top of the hill which
is given a 166m spot height and only one metre below the higher map heighted
main summit. They described each summit
and where the zig zag path leaves the southerly ridge path, this I wanted to
take on my way down as it would take me toward the north of the island.
Hillsides of gorse |
Meeting John and Marian on their descent from the summit of Mynydd Enlli |
I was now amongst the
hillsides of gorse and I looked back one last time on Pen Diban, now just a
curved flatland extending southward out to sea.
The curved shape of Pen Diban |
As I crested the summit
ridge the slight breeze was welcome from the unusually warm April weather. I found the southern top and placed the
Trimble on its grassed mound, before walking over to the obvious high point of
the hill. This consists of a large rock
which I immediately stood on and peered out to sea, looking down reminded me of
a visit to the high point of Kos three years ago, where the land shot down to
the blue sea below.
Gathering data at the southern summit on top of the grassy mound |
I balanced the Trimble
on the rock and aligned its internal antenna with its high point, with it set
firmly in place I pressed ‘Log’ and walked off to catalogue the details of the
survey. Once five minutes of data were
collected I took a number of photos and sat next to the rock and ate a butty. No one was on the summit and for the next ten
minutes I happily drank in the atmosphere of this the high point of Ynys Enlli,
a marvellous place.
A spectacular position for the Trimble |
The Trimble aligned with the high point of Mynydd Enlli |
Gathering data at the summit of Mynydd Enlli |
My descent route was
directly north-west on what I thought to be a path; this turned into open
hillside of grass and gorse and proved easy to negotiate. In time this route took me down to the
remains of St Mary’s Abbey which is perched in the cemetery of the island. I looked at some of the inscriptions on the
grave stones, including one to the wife of the Lighthouse keeper; she was only
in her early 30’s when she died.
The remains of the Abbey at the northern end of Ynys Enlli |
Neatly engraved slate plaque on the cemetery wall |
Mention of the legendary 20,000 saints |
The remains of the Abbey |
Beautiful Carreg Bach |
Steve and Emma Stansfield |
I wanted to take a data
set beside the water to see if the processed data gave a negative reading, I
sat the Trimble on top of a small rock and hoped that it wouldn’t slither off
into the seaweed and salty water, and set it to log another five minutes of
data.
Gathering data beside the sea |
Seals relaxing in the afternoon sunshine |
Ynys Enlli rising out of the sea |
It's hard to photograph a porpoise, a fin can just be seen toward the bottom right of the photo |
The 300ft cliff face of Parwyd |
Striking yellows and blacks of the mainland close to Porth Meudwy |
Survey Result:
Pen Diban
Summit Height: 20.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 11235 20585
Bwlch Height: 5.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 11285 20949
Mynydd Enlli
Summit Height: 167.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 12312 21930
Bwlch Height: N/A (sea)
Bwlch Grid Reference: N/A (sea)
Drop: 167.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Dominance: 100.00%
Dominance: 100.00%
The data set taken at the sea
attained a negative figure of – 0.44m (converted to OSGM15) at SH 11441 21234
For further details please consult
the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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