04.03.22 Drum Ddu (SN 971 604) and Pen Llys (SN 998 584)
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| Drum Ddu (SN 971 604) |
Drum Ddu looked rather
inviting as I parked my car and headed up the continuation of the narrow road
that abruptly ends at the farm of Blaenglynolwyn. The hill loomed above with a distinct
darkened upper section, which was apt considering its name; black ridge. However, although the hill looked inviting my
body and mind have become accustomed to wanderings on lower heighted P30s over
recent years and even the ascent of a 500m hill can now look daunting!
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| Pen Llys (SN 998 584) |
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| Old sign |
I stopped at
Blaenglynolwyn to gather my breath and talk with a builder who was having his
morning sandwiches in his van. He lived
in the area and I told him where I planned on going, he told me he had been to
the top of Cadair Idris but never Yr Wyddfa, I encouraged him to pick a good
day and go.
A steep track continued
from the farm and as it levelled off I headed right toward a gate which gave
access on to a muddied track contouring south-west and as it did so gaining a
little height. I soon left it and picked
up a sheep track through the copious amounts of bracken. I wondered about trying to follow the public
footpath marked on the Ordnance Survey map that heads directly north from close
to this point. If I could find it, it
would gain height toward the broad north-easterly ridge of this hill. However, slithers of green amongst the bracken
encouraged me upward following sheep tracks as I did so.
I soon emerged beyond
the bracken on to the upper moor and again picked up a small path that headed
toward the remains of an ancient cairn which is marked on Ordnance Survey maps. From here a path on the moor led to the broad
upper ridge.
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| Heading up to the high moor |
By now the sunny
intervals of earlier in the morning had given way to increasing amounts of
darkened cloud. As I crested the upper
ridge rain drops started to fall and I could now look out toward the north and
further west where huge shower clouds of silvered grey massed across the
hills. I turned my back to the rain and
headed toward the large ancient cairn positioned at the summit of the hill.
Approaching the summit
cairn the rain turned to hail, I continued on without donning my waterproofs,
hoping that it would relent by the time I had reached the top. The hail continued and by now my thin gloved
fingers where getting decidedly chilly.
I stopped at the cairn and put my over trousers and Goretex jacket on
and a few minutes later the hail and rain stopped!
Prior to me visiting
this hill, Aled Williams had analysed it via LIDAR and I had come prepared with
a ten figure grid reference for the summit.
As the last of the hail slowly gave way to clearing skies I assessed the
lay of land at the cairn which has now been incorporated in to a large wind
shelter, I chose the spot for Trimble placement and compared it against the
grid reference produced by LIDAR, they matched to within one metre. I then quickly set the equipment up and
waited as it gathered its allotted data.
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| LIDAR image of Drum Ddu (SN 971 604) |
It was a fine summit to
find myself on with the continuation of the ridge toward Y Gamriw and Waun Sarn
looking particularly wild and lonely. I
had been on these hills a few times over the years and they are best kept to
when the land has been dried by summer heat; otherwise they can prove a
quagmire to negotiate.
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| The lonely Elenydd |
On my way up Drum Ddu I
had listened to a Sky Lark; my first of the year, serenading the impending
spring. These little birds are always a
delight to encounter with their song a constant backdrop on many hills during
the spring months.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Drum Ddu |
Once the Trimble had
gathered summit data I closed it down, packed it away, took a few photographs
and a compass reading for a direct descent and looked back at the remains of
the ancient summit cairn before I finally turned my back to it. I had been on this hill once before, in
August 2001 when along with Eryl, Darrin and Lisa we had a two car five hour
linear walk over Gorllwyn, Waun Sarn, Y Gamriw and Drum Ddu. On that day it was hot and muggy, today my
fingers were chilled to the point that I found operating my camera difficult.
My direct route down
took me near the ancient cairn I had passed on my ascent, beyond which I picked
up a good path, followed by a green track that led down to the track leading to
Bryncoch farm. The paved lane leading
from the farm took me down to the narrow road which gave access toward public
footpaths leading toward Pen Llys, my second hill of the day and the last on
this particular walk.
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| The way to Pen Llys |
By now I felt a little
knackered, age and its affects are creeping up on me and my pace has slowed
compared to just a few years ago. My
body dictates my pace, and even though my mind wants to go quicker it knows it
can’t. A steady plod is now my favoured form
of walking.
Following public
footpaths close to the farm of Brochen I headed toward the upper part of Pen
Llys via three gates. I made relatively
good progress to its top, with a foot stile over an intervening fence giving
access to the remains of the ancient hill fort that incorporates the whole
upper part of the hill.
The high point of Pen
Llys was easy to identify and I soon had the Trimble positioned on top of my
rucksack, with its internal antenna aligned with a small embedded rock which
just poked through moss and grass which I judged the high point. After noting the measurement offset I set the
equipment to gather summit data.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pen Llys |
Prior to visiting this
hill I had analysed it with LIDAR, using both DTM and DSM. Taking the former qualifies this hill as a sub
with below 30m of drop, whilst the latter qualifies it as a P30 with just over
30m of drop. The Trimble summit data
combined with LIDAR bwlch data will confirm one way or the other.
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| LIDAR image of Pen Llys (SN 998 584) |
Once data were gathered
and stored I closed the equipment down, packed it away and retraced my inward
route down the hill to the narrow lane close to the farm of Brochen, as I did
so spots of rain gently fell, thankfully I was on the periphery of the main
shower cloud which had quickly materialised to my south-east. The flecks of rain eventually headed west and
I reached my car having dried off from the hail and rain encountered on top of
Drum Ddu.
Later in the afternoon I
had friends to visit in Llanidloes; Eryl and Rita, followed by a dinner party
at Suzanne’s. But before each, I wanted
to visit two other hills close to Llanidloes, both gave easy ascents; I just
hoped that the showers which were now gathering kept at bay for the remainder
of the afternoon.
Survey Result:
Drum Ddul
Summit Height: 536.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 97117 60437 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 409.3m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 95501 60549 (LIDAR)
Drop: 127.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
Dominance: 23.75% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
Pen Llys
Summit Height: 291.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 99830 58439 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 261.3m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 99569 85893 (LIDAR)
Drop: 30.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch) (200m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 200m Twmpau)
Dominance: 10.47% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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