Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Mynydd Epynt

23.09.17  Pen y Crug (SO 029 303)

Pen y Crug (SO 029 303)

Pen y Crug overlooks Aberhonddu (Brecon) with the town nestling against the Afon Wysg (River Usk) as it ebbs forever eastward.  The hill is crowned by a triangulation pillar and the remains of an impressive Iron Age hill fort and gives expansive views to the higher southward hills.

Although passing close to Aberhonddu on many an occasion I’d never stopped to visit Pen-y-crug, and with a planned lunchtime meal and wander round Hay, Lou and I thought taking in a small hill ideal to add to the day’s activities.

We approached from the south-east following a bridleway consisting in part of tarmac and concrete as it headed up beside enclosed hedgerows toward the last inhabited house or two before open hillside gave access to the upper part of the hill.

Heading up the path toward Pen y Crug

Driving west from Worcester the weather had proved a murky combination of grey low mist and persistent drizzle, not an ideal combination for a hill walk, but a slight brightness pervaded the land further west and as we walked up the bridleway the cloud base had risen and the rain had thankfully stopped.

The enclosed nature of the lower part of the walk was in contrast to the upper part of the hill as a greened path led beside coloured autumnal bracken through the hill’s old defensive ditches toward the summit.

The view south-east down the path we'd just come up

Glimmers of brightness slowly showed as we approached the trig pillar, whilst Lou headed off to admire the view I set the Trimble atop my rucksack and activated it to gather the allotted 300 datum points and five minutes of data.

Lou with Aberhonddu (Brecon) nestled in the valley below

The summit consists of closely cropped grass that wouldn’t be out of place on the putting green of a golf course, with the high point about five metres from the base of the trig pillar which is enclosed in stone with its upper part painted white and festooned in a red dragon motif.

Gathering data at the summit of Pen y Crug

Once data were stored and the Trimble closed off and packed away we retraced our inward route back down the hill where sunshine and warmth greeted us.

Survey Result:

Pen y Crug 

Summit Height:  331.2m (converted to OSGM15) (Trimble GeoXH 6000)   

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 02927 30312 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  219.9m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 02162 30880 (LIDAR)

Drop:  111.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  33.62% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) 

(Lesser Dominant addition)

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet