Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Welsh P15s

Allt y Brain (SN 660 927) – 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 Allt y Brain (SN 660 927)

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 Allt y Brain, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps, and it is adjoined to the Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the B4353 road to its south-west and the A487 road to its east, and has the town of Machynlleth towards the north-east.

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was not included in either the main list or the accompanying sub list, and was subsequently documented with an estimated c 8m of drop, based on an estimated c 27m summit height and an estimated c 19m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 10m contouring 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 addition of this hill to Welsh P15 status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 35.4m summit height and an 18.5m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 16.9m 0f drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Welsh P15. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr 

Name:  Allt y Brain 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  35.4m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 66012 92718 (LIDAR)                                                  

Bwlch Height:  18.5m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 66123 92883 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  16.9m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2025)