15.09.20 Top Field (SJ 070 055)
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Top Field (SJ 070 055)
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This was the seventh of
a planned thirteen hills that Alex and I hoped to visit during the day, with me
sitting out three of these as they had recently been Trimbled. Alex had navigated the short distance from
our previous hill; Caer Wedyn (SJ 095 047) on the narrow lanes that pre-dominate
much of the land hereabouts, and I parked in a passing place close to the
entrance track to the old farm of Rhiw-hiriaeth-uchaf after Alex had removed a large
tangled tree branch that was lodged in the soon to be parking place.
It was only a short walk
on the narrow lane to the access track that swept up the northern flank of the
hill toward the old farm which was tucked away out of sight under the summit to
the south.
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Alex heading up the start of the access track toward the summit of Top Field
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Prior to our visit I’d
examined LIDAR and produced data for this hill’s summit and bwlch, and now with
the grid co-ordinates produced by LIDAR analysis we zeroed in on the high
point. This consists of grass and as I
set the Trimble up a small herd of cows slowly headed our way.
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LIDAR image of Top Field
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After asking Alex if he
could usher the cows a safe distance from the survey equipment I waited for the
Trimble to achieve the 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged, and
once this appeared on the screen I pressed ‘Log’ and retreated to join Alex who
was sitting admiring the view.
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With the cows a safe distance away the Trimble could start gathering data
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Gathering data at the summit of Top Field
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Away to our north Moel
Bentyrch dominated the view with its greyed scree and crags on fine display, with
the distant outline of ridges and summits beyond. However, to our west a grey murk had appeared
that forever crept nearer. This looked
like cloud bearing rain which was surprising as rain was not forecast.
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Moel Bentyrch
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Once the Trimble had
gathered and stored its allotted data we headed toward the access track leading
to the farm. From this viewpoint it
looked as if the farm required quite a distance to walk, therefore we headed
back with intention to use the track back toward the car.
On our way Alex noticed
a vegetated knoll above a small quarry and as this looked a similar height to
the point that had just been Trimbled, we headed toward it. Arriving at the knoll we both thought it
probably consisted of debris from the quarry, but as we were now there we
decided to gather data.
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Gathering data at the top of the knoll
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The farm was now
directly below us and as the Trimble beeped away gathering individual data I
headed down the continuation of the field to see if I could access it from this
direction. I couldn’t due to wired
fences and therefore made my way back to join Alex.
Once the Trimble was
packed away I decided to walk down the track to the farm to make place-name
enquiries whilst Alex headed back to the car to get a brew on. Having knocked at the front door of the old
farm and getting no reply I slowly made my way back up the track and decided to
get a third data set from where we both considered the highest part of natural
ground was positioned at the base of the small vegetated knoll.
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Gathering data at the base of the knoll
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After the third data set
was taken I sauntered back over the hill and joined the access track and headed
down to the narrow lane and the car where Alex duly gave me a welcome large cup
of tea.
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Getting the brew on
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We stood and chatted
whilst sipping on tea and tucking in to the variety of food on offer which
included Alex’ Mum’s bara brith and an assortment of crisps, boiled eggs,
sandwiches and bananas.
During our lunch break a
tractor appeared chugging up the lane, once it safely negotiated the narrow gap
between the paved section of road and my car I flagged it down. The person driving the tractor was the local
farmer; Owen Evans and he told me that unsurprisingly the hill has no
individual name, but the field where the summit of the hill is situated is
known as Top Field.
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Owen Evans
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The day was proving
productive with lots of hills being visited and chance encounters with
farmers. The summit of our next hill was
beside a track leading to a farm. I
wanted to visit this farm to make place-name enquiries as I’d passed this way a
few weeks before and due to the oppressive heat I decided to press on rather
than face the re-ascent of the steep track leading down to the farm house.
Survey Result:
Top Field (significant name change)
Summit Height: 333.3m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 07082 05572 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) (summit relocation confirmed)
Bwlch Height: 301.1m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 06237 05273 (LIDAR)
Drop: 32.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch) (Sub-Trichant reclassified to Trichant)
Dominance: 9.65% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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