22.10.18 Pen Mynydd (SH 514 748) and Cae Mawr (SH 506
745)
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| Cae Mawr (SH 506 745) |
The small community of Penmynydd
is the ancestral home of the Tudor’s and as its name implies it is the top of the mountain, this is figuratively
speaking as although its upper lands give extensive views, these are of rolling
agricultural lands and not ones of dramatic cliffs and crags.
Pen Mynydd was the first
of a number of hills I hoped to visit and Trimble during the day as I made a
sweep of the south-eastern corner of Ynys Môn. The hill’s high point is recognised as being
its triangulation pillar, or at least land beside it, as it is perched on a
high concrete plinth which elevates its height above the ground.
I parked beside the
access track leading to the high mast which is positioned adjacent to the field
at the immediate south of the trig pillar.
From here it was only a matter of a minute or so in to this field.
As I entered the field
the top of the trig hovered above the gorse hedge which makes up a part of the
field boundary with the narrow road that heads from Penmynydd toward
Rhoscefnhir. Away to the south-east the
higher Eryri peaks were enshrouded by cloud with the first direct light
breaking through as a yellowed glow.
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| Tryfan from Pen Mynydd |
I judged the highest
natural land to be positioned a few metres from where the trig pillar is
positioned, although the field is relatively flat and makes an arc away from
this position and back toward the mast.
As a fence post was directly over the point I’d judged to be the highest
I placed the Trimble on top of it, measured the offset between its internal
antenna and the ground at its base and waited for the allotted data to be
gathered and stored.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pen Mynydd |
During data collection I
stood away from the equipment and watched as the sun broke through the cloud
and also kept an eye on a small herd of cows that slowly munched their way
through the morning’s grass close to the entrance in to the field.
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| The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Pen Mynydd |
Once data were gathered
and stored I exited the field and visited the trig, afterward I walked the
short distance down the road to Parciau farm and spoke with Huw Roberts, who
told me that the field was a part of Tyn Llan land and that Selwyn Hughes
should be able to help me with confirming its name.
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| The Trig pillar at Pen Mynydd |
I then drove back down
the narrow lane to where it meets the B 5420 and parked just off the road and
walked up the B road to an old gate which gives access to a field where the
rubbled remains of a quarry are situated.
The high point of this field is at the top of the small quarry and is
given an uppermost 105m contour ring on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, as
opposed to the 106m height given to the trig pillar.
I soon had the Trimble
positioned on what I judged to be the highest natural rock beside a small mound
of rubble and activated it to gather data once another small herd of
inquisitive cows had paid their customary visit and a few minutes later ambled
off. As data were collected I sat a few
metres away from the equipment content with my morning’s lot whilst bathed in welcome
sunshine.
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| Another small heighted hill and another herd of friendly cows |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Cae Mawr (SH 506 745) |
Once the Trimble was
packed away I wandered back to my car and drove the short distance to Tyn Llan
where I met Selwyn’s daughter; Gwenno.
She had recently moved back to the family farm having lived and farmed near
Harllech and she kindly gave me a number of field names for the land positioned
around the trig pillar which she knew as the Golygon, which included the name
of Top Cae Mawr for the field where I had gathered data from.
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| Gwenno Pugh |
All that remained was a
visit to Tom Thomas who farms from Dragon-wen and who was introduced to me by
Gwenno as Tom Dragon. It is Tom’s land
where the second top I had just surveyed is positioned. I met Tom beside the road next to his farm
and we sauntered over to the fence adjacent to the field where I had just
gathered data at the old quarry, this
field was named Bonc at the time of the Tithe, it is now known as Cae Mawr, and
it is as its name implies; a large field.
Thanking Tom for his
time I then checked the map for onward directions and headed north-westward
toward my next hill.
Survey Result:
Pen Mynydd
Summit Height: 106.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) (surveyed as
higher than Cae Mawr [SH 50676 74554])
Summit Grid Reference: SH 51454 74800 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 72.9m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 52054 76272 (LIDAR)
Drop: 33.9m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 31.76% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Cae Mawr
Summit Height: 106.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) (surveyed as
lower than Pen Mynydd [SH 51454 74800])
Summit Grid Reference: SH 50676 74554 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: c 97m (interpolation)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 50946 74626 (interpolation)
Drop: c 10m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)
Dominance: 9.17% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)
