18.05.25 Pen y Crug (SO 029 303)
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| Pen y Crug (SO 029 303) |
Hill celebrations are
always wonderful occasions. They are
culminations of what for many people are years of ticking off hills in a
list. They are also occasions when old
and new friends meet, and if combined with beautiful weather, as today was,
they can be a shear joy to experience.
Today was the finish of
Mark Trengove’s Welsh Hump completion.
For the uninitiated, a Hump is a 100m prominence hill. There are 368 qualifying Welsh hills that
meet this criterion and the one Mark had singled out for his last was Pen y
Crug, which connects with the Mynydd Epynt group of hills. Although much of this hill range is out of
bounds due to a military training area, Pen y Crug is positioned on the
southern periphery and well away from any out of bounds land.
I had been up the hill
once before, in September 2017, when Lou and I ascended from the south-east on
a good track that turned to a friendly green path leading up through the
autumnal colour to the trig pillar that sits atop the summit. On this day the tops of the higher Beacons
were just skimmed with cloud, otherwise the hill gave excellent views. Today the sky was an unadulterated blue with
skylarks singing above and a welcome slight breeze cooling proceedings. It was a perfect day for a hill celebration.
Mark drove from Mold to
Welshpool, from where I then drove south to the car park at the base of the
hill to its north. This was close to its
bwlch and gave me a chance to experience the hill from a different perspective
and approach, which I always enjoy.
Our meeting time was
midday and we arrived with 20 minutes to spare.
Soon cars started to appear, Rick and Jenny, Brent Lynam, Alex Cameron
and Tony Jenkins soon arrived, followed by Barry Smith, Chris Bienkowski,
Adrian Rayner and Keith Anderson. It was
good to see all, many who I had not seen for quite sometime.
I made an excuse to
wander off to take a few photos of the hill, and asked Mark to keep everyone at
bay for a few minutes; this gave me opportunity to head in to an adjacent field
to get a few photographs, but also gave opportunity to gain a few minutes on
everyone else and sneak away for a leisurely plod up the path leading to the open
hillside above.
It felt good to be out
in the sunshine, slowly wandering taking in the surrounds with skylarks
singing, bees buzzing and bluebells and greenery all around, and all with the
backdrop of the blue sky. The path led
up with greened hedgerows either side and manicured grazed fields beyond. The enclosed path gave views directly toward
the higher hill, which loomed above in a gently curved profile.
The path led to a gate
which gave access to the open upper hill, from where an earthen dried path
contoured up giving extended views past hillsides of bluebells to the light
grayed ridges of the Black Mountains away to the east.
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| The view east toward the Black Mountains |
My pace was leisurely
and all too soon I was caught by the throng of people following. We soon crested the ridge that affords views
south toward the higher Beacons. Beyond
the greened path led toward the ancient embankment and ditches that encircle the
upper hill.
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| I was soon caught up |
Arriving at the summit
we waited for Mark, who sauntered up behind us.
As he approached the high point there was a guard of honour waiting for
him, with raised walking poles leading him over the summit of the hill toward
the trig pillar. He’d completed the
Welsh Humps.
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| Mark approaching the summit of Pen y Crug |
All hill lists can take you
on a journey to places that otherwise you would not visit; this is part of
their appeal. There is of course the
small bonus that hills can afford tremendous experience and I’m sure the Welsh
Humps have given Mark some excellent days on the hill.
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| The guard of honour leading Mark to the summit |
The next hour was one of
those special occasions on the hill, with lots of conversation small glasses of
Welsh whiskey, cake, strawberries and lots of nibbles and photos.
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| Mark celebrating his completion of the Welsh Humps |
During our time on the
summit someone mentioned that Pen y Crug was also Adrian’s 7,000 Tump. Another remarkable achievement and soon
Adrian was beside the trig pillar kindly posing for a few photos. He had kept this quiet, allowing for Mark’s
celebration.
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| Adrian at the summit of his 7,000th Tump |
After we had finished
off much of the celebratory food and drink things started to be packed away and
as we waved Rick and Jen off down the hill, the rest of us followed ten minutes
or so afterward.
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| A nice touch brought by Mark for cake adornment |
Leaving the summit we headed
north down the upper part of the hill until connecting with the earthen
ramparts, and then followed these around the hill, before connecting with our
inward route and following this back down through the heat of the afternoon to
the awaiting cars below.
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| At the summit of Pen y Crug, from left to right we have; Bryher, Rick, Jenny, Barry, Alex, Keith, Adrian, Tony, Brent, Chris and Mark |
It had been an excellent
time on the hill and was rounded off with a visit to a pub on the outskirts of
Brecon for a good meal and more interesting conversation.
Survey Result:
Pen y Crug
Summit Height: 331.2m (converted to OSGM15) (previous
Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 02927 30312 (previous Trimble GeoXH 6000
survey)
Bwlch Height: 219.9m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 02162 30880 (LIDAR)
Drop: 111.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
Dominance: 33.62% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch) (Lesser Dominant addition)
For details on the summit survey of Pen y Crug
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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