Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

 

Breiddin (SJ 295 144) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

Breiddin (SJ 295 144) with the distinctive Rodney's Pillar on the left of the photo

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales – Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017, and the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of the list appearing on the 1^st January 2022. 

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill 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 a minor road to its north-west and south, the A483 road farther to its west and the A458 road farther to its south-east, and has the town of Y Trallwng (Welshpool) towards the south-west. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

The hill appeared in the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Breidden Hill, which is a prominent name that appears adjacent to the summit of this hill on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Breidden Hill

365m

SJ295144

126

240

Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar. aka Rodney's Pillar

The intricacies of language and prioritising one in favour of another for listing a hill is fraught with complication, with originating Cymraeg names being anglicised and also originating English names being cymricised, examples such as these are more common in border country and especially so for anglicised forms.  There is no steadfast rule that fits all, but as a standard a name that has its origins in the Welsh language and where this is substantiated by either historic documentation and/or contemporary usage should be prioritised in favour of a contemporary anglicised or English version of the name.  Likewise, if a name exists where an element of it is in English and if this name applies to a hill that is situated in a Welsh speaking part of Wales it is standard practice to use a full Welsh term for the name.  It is also standard practice to use a Welsh name for a hill if another name exists that has originated in a different language.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Breiddin and this was derived from a variety of sources, it being the accepted Welsh composition of the name of this hill. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Stiperstones 

Name:  Breiddin 

Previously Listed Name:  Breidden Hill 

OS 1:50,000 map:  126

Summit Height:  366.6m (converted to OSGM15)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29510 14414 

Bwlch Height:  260.4m (converted to OSGM15) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 29166 13081 

Drop:  106.2m 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (March 2025)

 

 

 

 

Beginnings - Article for Man Crates

I was recently approached by Alexandra who is the Community Manager for Man Crates.  This company is based in America and it provides gifts for men in crates that need to be opened with a crowbar!  One of the products that Man Crates offers is an Outdoor Survival Crate, and the company was interested in receiving articles from outdoor enthusiasts based on one formative experience from their early years.

I submitted the following article.

Beginnings

The first time I visited any form of hill that could be described as being a ‘mountain’ was with friends when we ascended Yr Wyddfa, otherwise known as Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in the country where I live; Wales.  I’d been to its summit once before with my parents and brother when we caught the train on the rack and pinion railway that ascends to a few feet of its summit.  But this was going to be a new experience for me, as it meant hours of walking uphill into an increasingly cold environment, and to do so rather unprepared as neither did we have adequate protective clothing or proper walking boots.  I remember reaching the summit and feeling partly elated, but also very tired as the cloud descended and greying wind blew in.

There was no eureka moment for me after this visit, I was glad that I had managed to walk up Wales’ highest mountain but the thought of repeating such a thing, and to do so for the act of enjoyment seemed foolhardy.

Yr Wyddfa in winter refinement

It would be another three years before a friend suggested we visit another mountain, this time it was in the company of a number of girls, this seemed to encourage me as I forgot how painfully tiring my ascent of Yr Wyddfa had been.  This visit was to Cadair Idris which is one of the highest mountains in the southern part of Eryri (Snowdonia).  This ascent was going to be very different as we had come prepared with a tent and a large quantity of beer, which seemed only fitting for the endeavour we wanted to experience.

Thankfully the weather for this hill walk proved blissful and by the time we had positioned our ‘party tent’ next to Llyn Cau; a mountain lake nestled below Mynydd Pencoed and a cirque of cliffs, the sun had shone all day and there was a vividness to the colour with deep blues above being merged with the hill colours of greys, browns and greens.  As the last of the beer was drunk the six of us tried to settle down for the night.  The morning proved as beautiful as the preceding evening with warm sunshine meeting us as we scrambled up the steep stone shoot to the summit of Cadair Idris.

Mynydd Pencoed reflected in Llyn Cau

Two years later and I repeated this ascent with another friend, both of these visits to Cadair were done with very little equipment that could be considered as appropriate, as I wore Doc Mart shoes and a thin t-shirt and didn’t even take any water or food with me on the second visit, let alone a rucksack to carry any spare clothing in.  However, something had happened on these two visits to Cadair Idris, something that at that time was hard to quantify.  But now I can look back and understand the processes at work.  I had encountered something very different to the life and times I was used to, these were mainly urban and centred around good music, lots of nights out, lots of drinking with a fair mixture of other narcotic experiences mixed in with a good recipe of being politically aware and slightly rebellious – good times indeed!  But the experience of the beauty of visiting Cadair Idris and its glacier carved high cwm with its torn cliffs, mountain lakes and summit views made a lasting impression, and one that has not receded over time.

At that stage my joy for the mountains had only just been touched, as it would be another three years before I bought a good pair of walking boots and invested in water proofs, maps and rucksack.  This was prompted by a love of travel and as I set about planning a six year adventure around the world, I suddenly realised that to embark on such a trip, it was probably wise to get fit, and as two good friends were occasionally going out walking on the hills I decided to join them.  I went to buy my first pair of walking boots on the same day that another friend did likewise, miraculously we both bought Zamberlan boots from the same shop, on the same day, without the knowledge that the other person was going to do so.

Very soon the four of us were visiting all kinds of hills and in all kinds of weather.  Rain or shine I wanted to get out, visit new places and experience new ground.  I enjoyed this so much that my six year trip around the world was put on hold as I realised that the enjoyment I was experiencing on my native hills would be hard to replace.

Since this time the hills have given me so many special times and so many vivid experiences, days when the colour almost screams out to be touched, and those quieter moments when one looks down on the intricacies of life at ones feet, with detail of colour and movement in small pools, or blades of grass being delicately blown, or when the beauty of an ice crystal reflects a myriad of colour.  All of these have been savoured and more.  Wales is blessed with some of the finest scenery in the whole of Britain; it has an abundance of variety to its uplands from the rock carved giants of its north, to the openness and wilderness of its central heartlands to the old red sandstone hills of its south.  I have walked all, but still only know a fraction of what the country has to offer.

Sunrise over my local hills - the Breiddin

The enjoyment and sometimes emotional need to visit the mountain environment does not stop at the border between Wales and England, there is no division as far as mountains are concerned, with one of the beauties being visiting hills in different countries, and although I cannot match some of the multi hill bagging exploits that many people are now experiencing, I have gained a broader mind by trekking in Nepal, Morocco, Cuba, Egypt, Vietnam, Peru, Bolivia and continental Europe, but it is the beauty of my own country; Wales, that draws me back time and time again.  It is this beauty that will remain in me when my time on this planet is up, this beauty will enhance my dying day in a realisation that I have found something that I will be forever thankful for, and that is the beauty of the hills.

Myrddyn Phillips

Mapping Mountains - Trimble Surveys - Stiperstones

17.12.13  Pritchard’s Hill (SJ 316 147), Kempster's Hill (SJ 318 143), Bulthy Hill (SJ 312 136), Cefn y Castell (SJ 305 133), Middletown Hill (SJ 298 130), Moel y Golfa (SJ 290 125), New Piece (SJ 295 136), New Piece (SJ 297 141) and Breiddin (SJ 295 144)

Cefn y Castell (SJ 305 133)

Freshly enthused with the prospect of determining the absolute height of many a hill can give added impetus to revisit areas that have not been visited for many a year.  It was with this added enthusiasm that I set out for some of my local hills; the Breiddin.  I’d done a circuit of all the P30’s and Subs in this compact hill group a few years ago and had always wondered if I would repeat it.  With the forecast of winter sunshine and with confidence in using the Trimble I decided that five P30’s and two Subs, including one Marilyn and two marginal HuMPs was the order of the day.

The route took me up through patches of woodland where on my last visit I’d disturbed two deer, a rare sight on hills in mid Wales, to the grassy summit of Pritchard’s Hill (SJ 316 147).  Footpaths on the map indicated that I had to venture in to the back garden of a house before walking down a track to gain the lower slopes of Kempster’s Hill.  I was soon confronted with ‘Oh you, what are you doing there!’  This was the owner of the house who had spotted me from the end of the track, I sheepishly approached and apologised for any disturbance and then spent the next ten minutes in conversation about the local names of the hills.

By now the sun was up casting lengthy shadows on the ground as patches of mist in the valley below were edging their way around bends in the River Severn.  Gaining the summit of Kempster’s Hill (SJ 318 143) the open land of Shropshire was on view with sunlight enhancing the ridge of the Stiperstones.  I surveyed the high point and look forward to the result as no absolute height appears on the map for this hill.

On the summit of Kempster's Hill (SJ 318 143) looking towards Cefn y Castell

My next objective was Cefn y Castell (SJ 305 133), otherwise known as Middletown Hill.  Passing over Bulthy Hill (SJ 312 136) I decided to give it a quick survey.  Five minutes later I packed the Trimble in its protective case and carried on up the ridge to the summit of Cefn y Castell. 
 

The Trimble ventures in to deepest, darkest England on the high point of Bulthy Hill (SJ 312 136)

Gathering data on the summit of Cefn y Castell (SJ 305 133)

The time was now approaching 10.30am and a bank of cloud had appeared skimming the upper reaches of Cefn Digoll (Long Mountain).  This soon expanded to envelop the top of Moel y Golfa and the Breiddin with wisps of cloud gently rolling down the valley either side of where I stood.

The bank of cloud enveloping the summit of Moel y Golfa

I chatted with a man walking his two dogs on the way down to a 307m sub-hill and gathered data at its bwlch and summit, before assessing the bwlch of Cefn y Castell which has a 271m spot height on the narrow road on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping on the Geograph website.  This area has a parking ground for cars and I decided that the safest place for the Trimble was adjacent to this area on a grass verge.  It also seemed to be the point of the critical bwlch that could be deemed as ‘natural’.

The next hill was the highest and the only Marilyn of the day; Moel y Golfa (SJ 290 125).  The last time I had visited was with Bob Kerr who was staying over during his visits to film and be interviewed on his attempt of the Seven Summits (the continental high points).  On that particular day we sought shelter just below the summit amongst trees as there was a brisk wind that would destroy the audio on the small digital camera I conduct the interviews with.  Today the summit was peaceful with the bank of cloud greying the valley and the sun breaking through to highlight the colours on the higher land.  Twas a fine time to be out on the hill.

The Trimble on the summit of Moel y Golfa (SJ 290 125)

As each summit and bwlch was visited I collected a minimum of five minutes of data and continued this process as I attempted to decipher where the critical bwlch position was for the Breiddin.  Was it beside a tree in a field or on a gravel track or in another field full of sheep with rummaging pigs alerting local farmers of my presence?  I opted for data collection beside the tree and on the gravel track and quickly headed in to the Breiddin Forest where a series of wooded green tracks and the customary forest track took me over the summit of New Piece (SJ 295 136) toward its bwlch and then the summit of New Piece (SJ 297 141) a sub P30 hill whose name was later found from Tithe maps.

The forested summit of New Piece (SJ 295 136)

Next stop was the Breiddin and its large monument named Rodney’s Pillar.  I had a good look around the base of the monument and assessed the height of the natural rock on its four sides.  This is where a level and staff comes in to its own as judging by eyesight alone is not ideal.  The Trimble was set up and activated and gathered over 13 minutes of data as I pottered around with the camera and visited a nearby panoramic viewfinder.

The Breiddin (SJ 295 144) overlooking the flat lands of the Shropshire plain

The downward route through the forest was on a good green track all the way down the ridge toward the Admiral Rodney pub to the awaiting car.  I’d been out over seven hours and collected data at sixteen points.  A Marilyn, two marginal HuMPs, a further two P30’s and two subs and all except for one critical bwlch (the one for Moel y Golfa) had been surveyed.  It proved a great day on the hill.

LIDAR image of Pritchard's Hill (SJ 316 147)

Postscript 

Since visiting these hills full LIDAR coverage is now available.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height and positional data that is now freely available for England and Wales.  Consequently the numerical details for these hills have been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR height and position being prioritised for some of these hills.

Survey Result:

Pritchard’s Hill

Summit Height:  172.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 31608 14759 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  151.75m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 31481 14542 (LIDAR)

Drop:  20.9m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) (100m Sub-Twmpau addition) 

Dominance:  12.08% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Kempster’s Hill

Summit Height:  246.1m (converted to OSGM15) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 31830 14342

Bwlch Height:  197.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 31428 13989

Drop:  48.2m

Dominance:  19.58%

Bulthy Hill

Summit Height:  291.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 31260 13672 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  275.8m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SJ 31179 13634 (LIDAR)

Drop:  15.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) 

Dominance:  5.36% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Cefn y Castell (significant name change)

Summit Height:  367.8m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 30523 13332

Bwlch Height:  271.3m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 29697 13022

Drop:  96.5m

Dominance:  26.23%

Middletown Hill

Summit Height:  306.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29869 13016

Bwlch Height:  280.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 30065 13115

Drop:  26.3m (Sub-Trichant addition)

Dominance:  8.58%

Moel y Golfa

Summit Height:  403.2m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29074 12528 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Bwlch Height:  140.8m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 32605 11659 (LIDAR)

Drop:  262.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  65.09% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

New Piece

Summit Height:  321.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29558 13655 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  281.1m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 29789 13876 (LIDAR)

Drop:  40.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  12.59% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

New Piece (significant name change)

Summit Height:  320.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29767 14148

Bwlch Height:  295.0m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 29686 14281

Drop:  25.2m

Dominance:  7.87%

Breiddin (significant name change)

Summit Height:  366.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29510 14414

Bwlch Height:  260.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 29166 13081

Drop:  106.2m

Dominance:  28.96%

For details on the bwlch survey of Moel y Golfa

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}