New 2,000ft mountain top discovered in Wales

 

New 2,000ft mountain top discovered in Wales

There has been a new 2,000ft mountain top discovered in Wales.  The hill has been formed from quarrying and is positioned above Blaenau Ffestiniog in north-west Wales.  This area of Wales has been mined extensively for slate and the newly discovered hill is part of the Chwarel Graig Ddu quarry.

Chwarel Graig Ddu (SH 725 455)

We had been aware of this hill and its potential for the last two years as online mapping with 5m contouring shows it to have a summit over 610m in height and a drop exceeding 15m.  What was needed was a visit to the adjacent hillsides to confirm its existence.

This inspection was carried out in spring 2022 and confirmed the existence of the Chwarel Graig Ddu top.  Based on online mapping, this top meets the requirement of our Welsh Highlands list, which combines a minimum height of 500m with a minimum drop of 15m and has been extensively written about on the Mapping Mountains site.  The hill is solid and stable as it has a quarry road passing over its summit.  Here are the details of the top:

 

Chwarel Graig Ddu 

Summit: 613m (SH 725 455) 

Bwlch:  592m (SH 724 457) 

Drop:  21m 

 

And for those who like their Welsh mountains tops to be at and above 2,000ft (609.6m) in height with 15m minimum drop, this hill also qualifies under these criteria.  By doing so Chwarel Graig Ddu could well be the last of the Welsh 2,000fters to be discovered. 

 

Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips (May 2022)

 

 

For the Grough article on the newly discovered 2,000ft Welsh mountain top

 

For the Cymru Fyw article on the newly discovered 2,000ft Welsh mountain top

  

For the BBC Wales news article on the newly discovered 2,000ft Welsh mountain top