12.08.15
Bryn Serth (SO 148 109)
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| Bryn Serth (SO 148 109) |
Bryn Serth stands on the
outskirts of Tredegar at the head of the Cwm Sirhywi (Sirhowey Valley) in the
heartland of south Wales. The hill is
listed as a Pedwar with c 34m of drop and was suggested by Mark to form part of
our days outing to the south, which proved part bagging and part cultural as
the hill looks down on the Aneurin Bevan Memorial.
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| Pay due deference toward a man of vision |
Aneurin Bevan’s legacy
is still predominant in the politics of today as he was the founding father of
the National Health Service, and the memorial was erected in his memory to mark
the place where he held open air meetings to speak to his constituents.
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| This stone plaque is laid into the wall surrounding the Memorial |
The Memorial consists of
four upright monoliths, all broad in nature with the centrally based one being
the largest; this represents Nye himself, with the other three representing his
constituents in Ebbw Vale, Tredegar and Rhymney.
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| This bold monolith represents Nye |
The Memorial stands
beside the busy A4047 which cuts a swathe across the land in a south-west to
north-east direction. Adjacent to the
Memorial is a car park, this area also holds that of the critical bwlch of the
hill.
We arrived as 12.45pm
having had a pleasant drive south consisting of good conversation and a stop
for eateries and refreshment on the way.
Our visit to the Memorial and the bwlch could wait as our objective for
now, was the summit. This is given as c
410m in Y Pedwarau as its uppermost 410m contour is very small and photographic
evidence of the hill shows it as being relatively flat on top.
A track leaves the
confines of the car park and heads off north-westward over the land toward the
hill; it soon swings north-eastward, at this point a path climbs the hill’s
southern flank. It was here that a pane
of broken glass lay smashed and abandoned on the track, an unfortunate reminder
that outdoor beauty can be easily despoiled.
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| The track leading to the summit of Bryn Serth |
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| An unfortunate addition to some parts of the hills |
As we arrived on the
summit area Mark walked toward where the ten figure grid reference for the
uppermost contour ring was situated on the ground, once there we looked further
north and both agreed that higher ground lay a 100 metres or so further on.
Once at the point that
we both agreed was the highest for the hill I nestled the Trimble down on the
top of my rucksack, using the latter as an improvised tripod as the grass
hereabouts was long and would no doubt submerge the Trimble if it was laid on
the ground and possibly interfere with satellite coverage. I measured the offset between the ground at
the base of the rucksack and the point of the internal antenna in the Trimble
as 0.44m.
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| Gathering data from the summit of Bryn Serth |
As the Trimble gathered
its data we looked out on the beauty of south Wales as one extended ridge led
to another, once five minutes of data were collected I packed the equipment
away and we re-joined the path and headed back toward the car. However, I still wanted a data set from the
position of the uppermost contour ring, so as Mark walked back to the car and
paid a visit to the Memorial I set the Trimble up for another five minute data
collection. Once complete I joined Mark
at the car.
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| The second data set was taken from where the c 410m ring contour appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps |
We’d certainly been
lucky with the weather as this day in south Wales had been booked a few weeks
in advance, and the weather forecast was for sunshine and a light breeze and as
I walked the last few metres toward the car park the pleasant afternoon’s
warmth pervaded the land.
By the time I walked
back to the car park Mark was already busy looking at the lay of land around
the area of the road and the entrance into the car park, within a few minutes
we had chosen the point to survey and as Mark headed back to the car
I set the Trimble up on the top of my rucksack on the corner of the pavement,
adjacent to the busy road and wondered why I hadn’t done this those many months
ago when it had been run over on the edge of a pavement in Mold.
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| The Trimble set-up position for the bwlch survey of Bryn Serth |
As the traffic passed,
the Trimble contentedly went about its business gathering five minutes of data,
after I packed it away I quickly visited Mark and then headed up the path to
the Memorial Stones.
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| Placing the Trimble on top of a ruck sack makes an excellent improvised tripod |
I paid my respects to
Nye and looked out on the landscape he called home; it is a landscape of urban
development, past industrial heritage and one of hills. Soon afterward I was back at the car and we
headed toward Trefil and our next walk of the day.
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| Three of the four monoliths at the Aneurin Bevan Memorial |
Survey Result:
Bryn Serth
Summit Height: 404.0m (LIDAR) (significant height revision)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 14807 10929 (LIDAR) (summit relocation confirmed)
Bwlch Height: 378.2m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 15083 10507 (LIDAR)
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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