28.12.17 Mynydd Epynt (SN 961 464, previously
Trimbled), Banc y Cwm (SN 968 470) and Pt. 467.0m (SN 975 473)
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| Banc y Cwm (SN 968 470) |
At the uppermost cattle
grid the car started to slide and did so for the next three or four attempts,
below was an ice and snow encrusted strip of tarmac that led to friendlier
climes below, a 100 metres or so down the road was a sharp corner, below this
was a car near a bog in a field and stuck firmly on the hillside; an example of
the treacherous road conditions that I was now encountering.
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| Overshooting the corner ..... |
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| ..... and coming to a halt near a decidedly unpleasant looking bog |
I was with two friends
and we were hoping to visit a number of hills on Mynydd Epynt; a land out of
bounds for much of the year, but one whose hills are accessible over the
Christmas period.
Slowly reversing the car
we made progress back down the hill to a relatively wide and flat part of snow
that gave a chance to at least face forward going downhill, the remainder of
the journey to the valley below was in first gear, I felt relieved when we
pulled up beside a public footpath sign which would be our route back after
visiting the hills above.
Walking back up the road
gave a chance to admire Cwm Graig Ddu as it swept up toward Banc y Cwm; a 467m
map heighted Pedwar. The conditions were
wintery with snow on the hills and a fast changing sky above, as its calm hues
were rapidly overtaken by a thick deep grey westerly cloud bank heralding more
snow, and as we steadily gained height large flakes slowly fell.
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| Heading back up the road |
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| Cwm Graig Ddu |
The fresh snow only
lasted a few minutes but gave an appealing gentleness to the land; it was
replaced with a beautiful sky with winter cloud sticking to far off hillsides
and misted patches slowly ebbing over others.
Patches of blue broke out above, but the westerly mass of grey was
forever slowly edging east.
Cresting the top of the
road we headed south-west toward the high point of the Epynt, following the
continuation of a paved road toward its summit.
Reaching the top the view opened up with a white land stretching further
west and south, it was good to be out on the hill and the conditions were
proving just ideal with enough snow to enjoy but not to hinder.
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| Looking south from the high point of Mynydd Epynt |
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| Banc y Cwm from near the high point of Mynydd Epynt |
Banc y Cwm looked almost
alpine like as we retraced our steps back to the top of the road, its rounded
profile smoothed white, the next stage of the walk was to survey the connecting
bwlch between Banc y Cwm and Mynydd Epynt. Thankfully I’d come prepared with a ten
figure grid reference for where the map indicates the bwlch to lie between the
start of two streams, with the land hereabouts consisting of large snow bound
tussocks.
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| Banc y Cwm from the approach to its critical bwlch |
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Bank y Cwm |
Once data were stored
and the Trimble packed away I headed toward the summit following footsteps in
the snow. The summit of Banc y Cwm is
flattish in nature with undulations this way and that and is close to a large
squared block of conifers which is one of many on the Epynt. I took two data sets from the summit area
before the three of us headed down to the continuation of the track leading to
the next bwlch to survey.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Banc y Cwm |
On the way down a
Landrover drove up behind the square blocked conifer plantation and the
distinctive call of a farmer could be heard calling sheep toward him for
feed. Not wanting to pass an opportunity
to make place-name enquiries two of us headed his way, coincidentally I’d met
the farmer a number of years ago whilst making place-name enquiries and he had
then been a tremendous help, giving many names where none exist on the
map. We chatted for some time as he
dropped a salt lick off for the sheep; it was good to see him again after so
many years.
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| Preparing for feeding time |
Waving our goodbye’s we headed back on to the track which headed north-east toward the second bwlch, this again consisted of large snow bound tussocks, but at least a small stream gave a clue toward its critical point. As the Trimble gathered data I stood back and looked out on the mass of grey winter cloud that had formed and remained for much of the day over the Elenydd to the north.
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| Pt. 467.0m (SN 975 473) |
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Pt. 467.0m (SN 975 473) |
Just one survey remained and that was for the second of the 467m map heighted hills, we followed the edge of another square blocked conifer plantation toward the summit which is crowned by a trig pillar. The high point was about one metre from its base, and once the Trimble had gathered its allotted data and packed away it was time to head down.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pt. 467.0m (SN 975 473) |
Snow slopes led us down to a public footpath to the north which joined another leading steeply down via a narrow path to the dirtied snow below where a number of friendly horses made their way toward us.
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| Leaving the summit and heading down |
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| The snow capped Elenydd in the distance |
The lower fields led to a minor lane which gained height to the awaiting car, as I slowly plodded up the road the sun dimmed its light and gently fell behind the hill ridge that we had just descended from, it was a fine end to another good day on the hill.
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| The last glimmer of sun |
Survey Result:
Banc y Cwm (significant name change)
Summit Height: 465.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 96824 47007
Bwlch Height: 433.4m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 96584 46748
Drop: 32.5m (Pedwar status confirmed)
Dominance: 6.98%
Pt. 467.0m
Summit Height: 467.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 97543 47378
Bwlch Height: 419.7m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 97192 47333
Drop: 47.3m
Dominance: 10.12%
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