Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 30-99m Twmpau

 

Belan Bank (SJ 318 157) – 30-99m Sub-Twmpau addition 

There has been 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 from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Belan Bank (SJ 318 157)

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.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, 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 Belan Bank, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps and the Tithe map, it is adjoined to the Stiperstones group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with the Afon Hafren (River Severn) to its north and the B4393 road to its south, and has the small community of Crew Green towards the south-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 this hill was still not listed, with its details subsequently documented as an estimated c 17m of drop, based on an estimated c 83m summit height and an estimated c 66m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 10m contouring. 

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 addition of this hill to 30-99m Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in an 82.7m summit height and a 60.9m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 21.9m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a 30-99m Sub-Twmpau. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Stiperstones 

Name:  Belan Bank 

OS 1:50,000 map:  126

Summit Height:  82.7m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 31880 15779 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  60.9m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 32051 15734 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  21.9m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (January 2025)