Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 30-99m Twmpau

Coed y Chwarel (SH 539 394) – 30-99m Sub-Twmpau addition 

There has been confirmation of an addition to the list of 30-99m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Coed y Chwarel (SH 539 394)

The criteria for the list that this addition applies to are:

30-99m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Coed y Chwarel, and it is adjoined to the Moel Hebog group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and it is positioned with the A497 road to its north and a minor road to its east, and has the town of Porthmadog towards the east.

When the original 30-99m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category.

After the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the details for this hill were re-evaluated and it was listed with an estimated c 25m of drop, based on the 59m summit spot height that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25000 Explorer map, and an estimated c 34m bwlch height, based on interpolation of 5m contouring between 30m – 35m. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

Therefore, the confirmation of the addition of this hill to 30-99m Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 58.4m summit height and a 34.8m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 23.6m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a 30-99m Sub-Twmpau. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Moel Hebog 

Name:  Coed y Chwarel 

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height:  58.4m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 53911 39499 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  34.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 54045 39449 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  23.6m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (April 2024)