Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 30-99m Twmpau

Penpontbren Mochno (SN 630 925) – Double 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 from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Penpontbren Mochno (SN 630 925)

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 with 30m minimum drop, this height band of hills has two accompanying sub lists, the first of which is 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, and the second sub category is entitled the Double Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 20m and below 30m 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 now listed by is Penpontbren Mochno and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the B4353 road to its north and west, and the A487 road to its east, and has the small community of Borth towards the south south-west.

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 24m of drop, based on the 26m summit spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map and the 2m bwlch spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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 Double Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 26.9m summit height and a 2.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 24.8m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Double Sub-Twmpau. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr 

Name:  Penpontbren Mochno 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  26.9m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 63095 92547 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  2.0m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62775 92295 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  24.8m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2025)