Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Welsh P15s

 

Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102) – Welsh P15 addition 

There has been an addition to the list of The Welsh P15s, 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 Ffridd Mathrafal (SJJ 114 102)

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

The Welsh P15s – Welsh hills with 15m minimum drop, irrespective of their height, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Sub-P15s, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills with 14m or more and below 15m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 10^th May 2019. 

The Welsh P15s by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Ffridd Mathrafal, and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Esgeiriau Gwynion group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the A495 road to its immediate south, and has the town of Llanfair Caereinion towards the south south-west.

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was not included in the main P15 or Sub P14 list, as with an uppermost 140m ring contour and bwlch contouring between 130m – 140m that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, it was deemed not to have sufficient prominence to be listed. 

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 Welsh P15 status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 150.0m summit height and a 132.8m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 17.2m 0f drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Welsh P15. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Esgeiriau Duon 

Name:  Ffridd Mathrafal 

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  150.0m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 11408 10233 (LIDAR)                                                  

Bwlch Height:  132.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 11315 10265 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  17.2m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2025)