12.060.21
Colfa Hill (SO 194 553, previously Trimbled), Cefn Hir (SO 205 550), Caety
Traylow (SO 197 561) and Cnwch Bank (SO 186 554)
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| Cefn Hir (SO 205 550) |
With the weather set
fine, albeit warming up in the afternoon, I headed back to the Radnorshire
hills in the company of Aled. Today we
wanted to visit the hills around and including Colfa Hill. This small grouping of hills form a block of high
land between the main Fforest Glud massif to the north and Gwaun Ceste and
Glascwm to the west and south-west respectively.
We had a number of
surveying objectives that unusually didn’t include the highest hill; Colfa
Hill, which had been surveyed with the Leica GS15 and Trimble GeoXH 6000 in
October 2015, this was also the last survey that John, Graham and I did
together.
Having asked permission
to park on a small strip of tarmac adjacent to the narrow lane and a house
close to Colfa Farm, we were walking by 9.10am following a track up to a path
through the periphery of a near wood and then out on to fields and eventually
the open hill.
Ahead lay the
continuation of the track heading off in to the distance with infant fern
sprouting their new and fresh greens and darkened heather all intimating that
in these parts if a path or track is found it is best to follow it. As height was gained the view soon opened up
and in the distance the distinctive profile of the Malvern Hills was easily
picked out.
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| Always a welcome sight to see when on the hill |
We soon stopped to watch
three moorland ponies who nonchalantly looked our way, two white and one brown;
they stood close to a sea of fern on a small patch of cropped grass with the
near hillside descending to the valley below and distant hills forming a
backdrop. It was a lovely scene to behold
early in the morning, where except for a welcoming cooling breeze and the ever
present song of the Skylark nothing seemingly stirred.
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| One of the moorland ponies on our way to Colfa Hill |
Leaving the ponies we
continued on the track toward a small pool.
We had a number of options how to visit the hills on our circuit with Colfa
Hill; our high point of the day, either being the first or third hill to visit. From beside the small pool the triangulation
pillar on top of Colfa Hill looked ever so close and as the track headed up
toward it we decided to visit this hill first.
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| The small pool on the way to Colfa Hill |
I hadn’t visited Colfa
Hill since surveying it with John and Graham in October 2015, prior to this I
had visited the hill on three occasions and therefore this was my fifth
visit. A surprising total when I checked
my tick-lists. As the summit had already
been surveyed with the Leica and Trimble I did not gather further data and
stood enjoying the view after taking a few photos of Aled beside the trig
pillar.
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| Aled at the summit of Colfa Hill |
Leaving the summit of
Colfa Hill we soon found an overgrown track heading in the direction of our
next hill; Cefn Hir, which lay ahead of us as a patchwork of browns and greens
with patches of cut heather giving a hope of relatively easy underfoot
conditions leading to its summit.
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| Heading toward Cefn Hir |
The track wound its way
around the upper part of a steep sided dingle that glowed back as sunlight and
shade worked magical tricks upon the land.
From here we set off over patches of heather toward the connecting bwlch
which was the first point to survey. Two
positions were surveyed for the critical point, both on the valley to valley
traverse.
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| Nearing the bwlch of Cefn Hir with Mynyddoedd Duon in the background |
After packing the
equipment away we re-joined the track and were soon standing on the summit of
Cefn Hir. We spent a few minutes
assessing the lay of land for the high point and having decided the summit lay close
to the edge of a patch of cropped heather the Trimble was soon set up gathering
its allotted data. During data
collection Aled sat looking out to the wilds of deepest, darkest England which
spread out before him, whilst I stood scribbling all necessary detail in my
surveying notebook.
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| The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Cefn Hir |
When the sun is out and
a cooling breeze skims across the tops, the Radnorshire hills are always a
delight to visit. They are quiet places,
with few hill walkers, but they give a tranquil habitat where peace of mind is
easily found with contentment of place and view that much other upland in Wales
cannot match.
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| Looking beyond the Mawn Pools to our route from Cefn Hir |
Our route now headed
north-westward toward the summit of Caety Traylow with another more than
welcome track leading us toward its high point.
This track stretched out across the moor, a beacon not to waver
from. We stopped beside the Mawn Pools
which nowadays is mainly a flat bedded land of cotton grass and no doubt bog,
but a pool still exists, although probably much smaller than in years gone by. Following the land of the Mawn Pools west
would lead to the bwlch of Caety Traylow, but first its summit was to be
visited and surveyed.
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| LIDAR summit image of Caety Traylow |
We left the track to
head off over small patches of heather and bilberry to the summit of Caety
Traylow, this was the only point on the day’s walk that was covered by
LIDAR. Having arrived at the summit and
assessing the lay of land we were of the opinion that slightly higher ground
was to be found about three metres from where LIDAR gives the position of the
summit, and this is where the Trimble was set up. During data collection I sat with Aled and
ate an egg sandwich; a much needed bit of replenishment as the heat was slowly
but surely taking its toll.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Caety Traylow |
The next point on the
day’s surveying agenda was the bwlch of Caety Traylow which looked as if it was
placed in a bog. This is the
continuation of the land heading up from the Mawn Pools which we had passed on
our way to the hill’s summit. On our way
to the bwlch a lone walker was spotted heading up a track between the summits
of Caety Traylow and Colfa Hill. As we
approached the area of the bwlch the same walker was heading back down, and
except for this sighting we just had Skylarks as company, these little birds
gave a background of ever present song; a joy to here at this time of year.
I used the ten figure grid
reference from the spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map
Local that was hosted on the Geograph website to zero in to the position of the
bwlch. However, land hereabouts
comprised heather, reed grass, tussocks, a number of small grassed channels and
small stagnant pools, therefore its critical position may be best decided upon
when LIDAR is available for this area.
As the Trimble quietly beeped away gathering data I sat on a tussock savouring
the position I was now in, if not for this esoteric pastime of surveying hills
I would never have visited this place.
Probably for good reason, as I suspect during much of the year this
bwlch is a quagmire of bog, thankfully today it was relatively dry and a
delight to visit.
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| Gathering data at the bwlch of Caety Traylow |
Just one hill remained to
survey; Cnwch Bank, which forms the descending westerly ridge of Colfa
Hill. Using this ridge as our descent
gave an alternate route down as otherwise we would have doubled back on our
inward route. It also gave an opportunity
to add accurate heights for this low prominence hill for both its summit and
bwlch.
We took two data sets
from the bwch of Cnwch Bank on the hill to hill traverse and a further two data
sets for its high point, with the first of the latter sets our preferred
position for this hill’s summit. As the
Trimble gathered the last of these data sets I knew the heat had battered
me. Unfortunately my body does not react
well to heat, it never has, however enjoyable a warm summer day can be and
especially so when on the hill. Over
many years I have accustomed myself to be wary of undue exercise when summer
temperatures increase, therefore nowadays I try and pick routes with less
mileage than perhaps a few years ago; just enough to enjoy, but not too much to
hinder.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Cnwch Bank |
As we left Cnwch Bank, we
also left behind the welcome breeze and although the descent down the hill’s
southerly ridge was on a beautiful green track, the lack of breeze meant that
for me it was like descending in to a hot cauldron. I felt battered and this was to continue for
the next hour or so.
The route down was
beautiful; it was like descending in to summer.
Stilled mature trees canopied the land with yellowed buttercups swarming
across near fields. The only vestiges of
cloud were high in the sky and delicate wisps leaving a deep blue colour
dominating. The scene was to be
savoured, but it was also warm and I suffered, so much so that our plan to
visit Glascwm and Black Hill later in the afternoon was shelved. I think if I had attempted these two hills I
may have ended up in serious trouble.
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| Colfa Hill with conditions beginning to get uncomfortably warm |
The track led down to
Middle Fynnonau where we stopped and chatted to a woman, it was a welcome
rest. Beyond, the track headed through a
ford with a footbridge near at hand. The
sun continued to beat down.
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| The ford beyond Middle Fynnolau |
Eventually the rough
track merged with a narrow paved lane, this led back on to the lane where the
car was parked. Between us and it was a
slight uphill, by now I was wilting under the heat and just wanted to stop and
bury my head in a bucket of water.
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| The Church of St David's at Colfa |
The much needed rest
came with the peaceful surrounds of St David’s Church. I sat inside this building recovering a
semblance of decorum and turned my brow beaten mind away from the increasing
temperatures outside and just sat and slowly recovered. Remnants of painted frescoes adorned the
walls with an old skull and crossbones standing out; a sign of the
inevitability of death and the hope of resurrection.
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| The skull and crossbones in Colfa Church |
Leaving the Church it
was only a short distance to Colfa Farm where we met Jane Lloyd. We stopped and talked with Jane for a number
of minutes. She had lived at this farm
all her life with her parents moving here from Herefordshire. She led us across the hills and named all the
ones we had visited earlier in the day.
She seemed quite impressed with our route; I was tempted to say ‘so was I’.
It was a pleasure
meeting Jane and she kindly posed for a few photos just before we set off
toward the awaiting car. I so enjoy
meeting people from the farming community, many have a great wealth of
knowledge for the hill or mountain that they work. This knowledge is to be savoured and also
saved as it forms a part of our rich heritage and culture and spans the time
between historic and present times.
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| Jane Lloyd of Colfa Farm |
Arriving at the car was
a delight, it took an inordinate amount of time for me to change in to dry and
clean clothes. I was in no rush, I
munched on an apple that Aled offered me, waved at farm vehicles as they passed
on the narrow lane, luxuriated in getting my walking boots off and then feeling
the warmth of the sun on my body that up until now had wilted under its heat.
The day was rounded off
with a good meal in the beer garden in the Severn Arms in Pen-y-bont, the pub
where Linda and I had also eaten on my last walk a week or so ago.
Survey Result:
Colfa Hill
Summit Height: 532.2m (converted to OSGM15, from previous
Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey) 532.2m
(converted to OSGM15, from previous Leica GS15 survey)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 19449 55397 (from previous Trimble GeoXH
6000 and Leica GS15 surveys)
Bwlch Height: 387.8m (converted to OSGM15, from previous
Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey) 387.7m
(converted to OSGM15, from previous Leica GS15 survey)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 17968 55359 (from previous Trimble GeoXH
6000 and Leica GS15 surveys)
Drop: 144.4m (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000
survey) 144.6m (from previous Leica GS15
survey)
Dominance: 27.16% (from previous Leica GS15 survey)
Cefn Hir
Summit Height: 510.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 20521 55051
Bwlch Height: 495.1m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 20261 55163
Drop: 15.4m
Dominance: 3.01%
Caety Traylow
Summit Height: 522.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 19789 56130
Bwlch Height: 501.2m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 19299 55578
Drop: 21.1m
Dominance: 4.05%
Cnwch Bank
Summit Height: 508.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 18692 55406
Bwlch Height: 500.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 18806 55498
Drop: 8.2m
Dominance: 1.62%
For details on the survey of Colfa Hill
For further details please
consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
