The Pedwar listing has been updated with the addition of two new Pedwar hills and the re-classification of an existing Pedwar to Dual Summit status, all of these hills are in close proximity of one another and situated to the east of Merthyr Tudful in south Wales.
Dual Summit: Twyn y Waun 476.0m (artificial) at SO 08209 07041 / 450.6m (natural) at SO 08442 07378
Firstly,
a note on the term ‘Dual Summit’.
A
hill classified as a Dual Summit is defined as one which has an extant natural
summit coupled with that of a higher artificial summit, which can be described
as being stable in character. In the
main, these recent man-made constructions are the result of quarrying
activities producing spoil tips and to put a spin on the term ‘Dual Summit’,
the natural and artificial summits of such hills could be thought of as
duelling with each other for the merit of summit status, which well describes
the polarising affect that such instances can have on the hill bagger, with
some baggers preferring to ignore the artificial summit in favour of the
natural high point and vice versa. For
those bagging Dual Summit hills, a visit to either the natural high point or
the elevated man-made high point is sufficient to claim an ascent of the hill.
These
recent man-made constructions are treated differently to ancient man-made
constructions such as hill forts and tumuli, as if the latter are deemed stable
and of an earthen character their age dictates that they can be viewed as being
permanent in nature and are now effectively a part of the hill. The concept of a ‘dual summit’ is a new one,
having been devised by the authors of the Y Pedwarau listing in response to the
circumstances of the following Pedwar hill.
Twyn y Waun is now
considered a Dual Summit hill with its remaining natural high point positioned
at SO 08442 07378 and listed with a height of 450.6m derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, whilst the
man-made construction which dominates this hill has its summit positioned at SO
08209 07041 and has a height of 476.0m. The
remains of the natural summit of this hill still exists and consists of
undistinguished grazing pasture, it is now overshadowed by a man-made construction
consisting of waste spoil from the Ffos-y-fran opencast mine. The man-made construction is considered
stable and can be easily climbed and consists of grassed side slopes and in the
main solid waste spoil on the summit area which is interspersed with patches of
grass.
 |
| The 450.6m natural summit of Twyn y Waun is now overshadowed by its 476.0m artificial Dual Summit |
The elevated man-made
construction is situated on the edge of the natural summit area of Twyn y Waun
and is known by mine employees as the North Tip and Overburden 1 (OB1), as it
is an overburden mound from the mine extraction. This Dual Summit hill has a prominence of 96.0m (artificial) / 70.7m (natural) and therefore if the elevated man-made construction is
taken, it is a prospective new Subhump.
 |
| The 476.0m artificial Dual Summit of Twyn y Waun |
As detailed above, the
artificial summit of Twyn y Waun was surveyed by Myrddyn Phillips using the
Trimble GeoXH 6000, with the survey having been instigated by a recent Facebook
and Tump Forum post by Rob Woodall.
New Pedwar: Twyn y Waun 460.5m artificial summit at SO 08549 06591
This hill is a new artificial
Pedwar and consists of waste spoil from the Ffos-y-fran opencast mine. The man-made hill is considered stable and
can be easily climbed and consists of grassed side slopes and in the main a
grassed summit area. This hill was
created on the southern slope of Twyn y Waun and is known by mine employees as
the South Tip and Overburden 2 (OB2), as it is an overburden mound from the
mine extraction. It has an artificial
prominence of 41.0m.
 |
| The 460.5m artificial summit of one of the two new Pedwar hills |
The survey of this hill
had been on our surveying radar for some time, having been detailed in a 2015
document entitled ‘Artificial Pedwar Hills’ by Aled Williams, and was finally
prompted by a recent visit communicated to Myrddyn Phillips by Rob
Woodall.
New Pedwar: Garth Fawr 410m artificial summit at SO 082 059
This artificial hill is
positioned to the south of the Ffos-y-fran mine and to the knowledge of the
authors, it currently has no recorded summit visit from anyone in the hill
bagging community, therefore its inclusion as a Pedwar is reliant upon detail
from OS Maps (the recent replacement for OS Get-a-map) and independent visual
inspection, albeit from a distance, by Rob Woodall and Myrddyn Phillips.
 |
| The 410m artificial summit of Garth Fawr; the second of the two new Pedwar hills. Photo: Rob Woodall |
Garth Fawr had been on
our surveying radar for some time, having been detailed in a 2015 document
entitled ‘Artificial Pedwar Hills’ by Aled Williams. In early 2017, Aled Williams analysed LIDAR
data for this area and recorded a summit height of 388.0m at SO 08521 05968 and
a bwlch height of 374.8m at SO 08618 06004, giving a drop of 13.2m. In late 2017, Myrddyn Phillips was contacted
by Rob Woodall who reported that an unrecorded artificial hill existed on the spur
known as Garth Fawr.
Garth Fawr had little
natural prominence and was a southerly spur of Twyn y Waun, but due to mining
activity its height has increased with OS Maps giving it three separate
uppermost ring contours of 410m and a bwlch height of c 376m based on
contouring between 375m – 380m, whilst LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled
Williams gives the height of the bwlch as 374.8m at SO 08618 06004. It is apparent that the mine spoil was
deposited post measurement of the LIDAR data.
The northern slopes of the hill are grassed and the summit area consists
of waste spoil, which is undoubtedly of a stable character. This man-made hill is known by mine employees
as Overburden 3 (OB3), as it is an overburden mound from the mine
extraction. It has an artificial
prominence of c 35m.
As the mining activity in
the area is ongoing, these summits could undergo a levelling process in the
future. If this does occur, the Y
Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales listing will be updated accordingly.
Myrddyn Phillips and
Aled Williams (December 2017)
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