Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Courthouse Bank (SJ 247 183)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, and the following details are in respect of a hill that was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 20^th March 2015.

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

100m Twmpau - All Welsh hills at and above 100m and below 200m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.

The hill is a part of the Carnedd Wen range, which is an extensive group of hills situated in the southern part of north Wales, and it is positioned between the small communities of Llanymynech to the north-east, Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain to the north-west, Ardd-lin (Arddleen) towards the south and Four Crosses to the east.

The summit of Courthouse Bank

The hill appeared in the 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under an invented name of Court House Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from house to the South-West, with Court House being the name of a house.  During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to invent a name for a hill if no name seemed to appear for it on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them, occasionally I used other names and for those that were English ones, I usually added the suffix of Top.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with research either conducted locally or historically an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

Court House Top

150c

SJ248183

126

240

Name from house to the South-West

The name this hill is now listed by is Courthouse Bank, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website.  This mapping became publicly available after the original P30 lists were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website.

Detail from the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website

Since the publication of these P30 lists there have been a number of historical Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these include the Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, much of the place-name information on these maps were the source for what now appears on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website.

Detail from the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map, with the name Courthouse Bank first appearing on the 1887 map on the National Library of Scotland website

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carnedd Wen

Name:  Courthouse Bank

Previously Listed Name:  Court House Top

 

Summit Height:  149.5m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  126

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 24787 18328 

Drop:  33.6m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the survey of Courthouse Bank

Myrddyn Phillips (July 2016)

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Carnedd Wen

08.08.15  Gravel Pit Field (SJ 225 167), Gravel Pit Field (SJ 233 171) and Gors Leasow (SJ 228 180)  

Courthouse Bank (SJ 247 183)

Our next three hills formed a neat triangle as we continued east and then north with the first of the three having been listed as The Mount in the P30 lists that appear of Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, and which is now listed as Gravel Pit Field, with this name deriving from the Tithe map.  This hill is listed as being 154m high on current Ordnance Survey maps after the 153.951m flush bracket height adjoined to its triangulation pillar which is situated in a hedge beside the narrow lane which heads from west to east across the summit ridge.  This trig pillar is listed as Mount Farm in the OS Trig Database and the name I had previously used for the hill of The Mount comes from the farm to the south of the summit.

As I drove east from our last hill; Y Gaer (SJ 204 155), Alex navigated and once at the top of the road beside the summit of our next hill he said ‘there it is’, I looked and then looked a bit more, but still could not see the trig pillar, I had to go straight up to the hedge and peer in to it, to get a view, and then it was only a partial one as the rest of the trig pillar was submerged in the hedge.  We parked opposite the trig next to a gate and it was obvious that ground in the adjacent field on the opposite side of the lane from where the trig was situated was higher than it.

Somewhere in there is a trig pillar.  Can you spot it?

Once in the field we chose the spot for Trimble placement and as I set the equipment up Alex went to examine the trig pillar.  As the Trimble gathered its five minutes of data Alex walked down the road and we chatted through the hedge.  After the Trimble was packed away I clambered over the gate and went to have a quick look at the trig from the opposite side, even from its adjacent field it was still submerged in the hedge but at least more of it was on view.

Gathering data from the summit of Gravel Pit Field

A bit more of the trig pillar is on view from its adjacent field

Our next hill lay a mile to our east and is given the name of Ty Top in the P30 listings on Geoff’s website, this name appears on the map but in all likelihood it applies to a hoses which is situated just below the summit of the hill, again the Tithe map names the field where the summit of this hill is situated as another Gravel Pit Field. 

We parked very near to the summit of the hill on the opposite side of the road from where a gate gave access onto the summit field.  Alex slowly walked ahead as we were being watched by a grazing herd of cows and our route up the field lay straight through them.

Approaching the summit of the second Gravel Pit Field

As the Trimble gathered its data I took a number of photos of Alex standing between the Trimble and the cows, with one of them being inquisitive enough to slowly edge its way forward toward Alex for an enquiring sniff and rub of its head.  Across the Severn Valley the Breiddin leapt up from the landscape with Rodney’s Pillar firmly pointing skyward.

Gathering data at the summit of  the second Gravel Pit Field

The summit of this hill would only take a couple of minutes to visit from where we had parked, but it was good to take our time and wait for the Trimble to do its stuff, during the time when it gathered data I looked around and summer bounced back at me with dulled greens and warm blue skies, it was good to be out on the hill, even though some of our chosen ones for the day were no more than quick visits to high fields.

As we got back to the car I stopped a passing tractor and chatted to one of the local farmers, he had never heard a name for this hill or the field where its summit is situated, he happily waved his goodbye’s, laughing as he did so, saying ‘I’m making hay while the sun shines’, we both smiled at this as we got back into the car and headed off to the next hill.

I drove through the small community of Deuddwr toward our next hill which is listed as Bryn Trewylan in the P30 lists on Geoff’s website, this is another partly invented name taken from Trewylan Hall which is situated to the south of the hill’s summit, with the hill now listed as Gors Leasow based on detail from the Tithe map.  We wondered what way to approach the hill and as there was no ‘private’ sign on the continuation of the paved road to the Hall I drove down it.  Our preferred option for ascent was to follow the edge of forestry to the east of the summit but there wasn’t a suitable parking place so we continued to the Hall, parked, grabbed our stuff and walked on a footpath which gave access to the hill from its south-west.

During these little bagging trips Alex was visiting the hills without a rucksack whilst I went fully prepared with over trousers and Goretex jacket and a multitude of other stuff!  The footpath led us up into a field where we broke out from the adjacent forestry and walked up to a gate, passing on our way a beautifully and naturally carved dead tree that hung itself above the ground.

On our way up Gors Leasow

The beautifully shaped dead tree

Beyond lay a steep grass slope that took us to the summit, we spent a number of minutes assessing the land before I placed the Trimble on what we judged to be the high point, as it gathered data I stood watching a number of cows against a near fence as they stood watching me, all in the heat of the afternoon sun as the day was turning out to be a warm one.

Gathering data at the summit of Gors Leasow

After we had retraced our steps Alex navigated us to the base of Courthouse Bank (SJ 247 183) which I had visited earlier in the year on 20^th March to watch the partial eclipse of the sun.  I parked beside a gate straight at the base of the hill and watched Alex run up it as I very happily remained at the car, standing beside it soaking up the sun and taking a few photos of Alex on the summit, about five minutes after setting off he was back at the car.  Next stop was the forested summit of Bryn Mawr which will be detailed in the next Trimble blog post.

Alex at the summit of Courthouse Bank

Survey Result:

Gravel Pit Field (significant name change)

Summit Height:  154.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 22598 16703 (summit relocation confirmed)

Drop:  c 47m

Dominance:  30.33%

Gravel Pit Field (significant name change)

Summit Height:  153.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 23345 17175

Drop:  37m

Dominance:  24.11%

Gors Leasow (significant name change)

Summit Height:  161.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 22864 18055

Drop:  c 51m

Dominance:  31.57%

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

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Carnedd Wen

20.03.15  Courthouse Bank (SJ 247 183)   

The summit of Courthouse Bank (SJ 247 183)

The last time I had seen a weather forecast for this morning it said that a cloud bank was pushing south and would be over the part of Wales where I live during the morning hours.  When I woke up to bird song and bright skies it was a surprise, I also didn’t know what time it was as my watch had stopped when out on the hill yesterday.  I soon found out it was 7.00am and as I opened my bedroom curtains blue sky invaded.

With over two hours until the partial eclipse of the sun was to take place I quickly sorted my walking gear and started looking at maps for a suitable wee local hill to visit and watch as the moon slowly sank over the sun.  I’d watched the 11^th August 1999 eclipse with friends from high on the Black Mountains and had watched the transit of Venus across the sun from the summit of Mynydd yr Hewyrch, time and inclination dictated that this morning’s destination was to be a little less ambitious.

After studying the maps I decided on Courthouse Bank which is a local P30, I decided on this hill as I had not visited it, it had a public footpath to its summit and had no specific absolute height on any map that I had seen, it was also only 20 minutes by car down the road from where I live.

I parked just off the lane at the start of the driveway that goes upto a property named Courthouse.  The next few minutes were spent walking up three different driveways trying to find the public footpath that led up the western ridge of this small hill.  I asked one occupant who was busy emptying his bins where the footpath lay, he directed me back to where I had parked and said that he thought it was at the back of the Courthouse.  I then quickly walked back down his drive, investigated his neighbours drive, backtracked again and walked up the drive next to where I had parked.  All these properties are rather grand with the backs of these houses adjacent to the footpath and where I wanted to be.

The back of the Courthouse looked promising and I opened a gate into a paddock which gave access to a field which had a number of horses in it.  Just as I was shutting the gate a voice rang out ‘excuse me, where are you going?’, I said hello and chatted to the woman who had seen me walking around the back of her property, I explained I was looking for the public footpath and she kindly directed me back to her neighbours house, which was the second property I had investigated.  As I walked back up her neighbours drive the woman directed me around the back of a garage to where she thought the footpath lay.  She had pre-warmed me that it was full of brambles, she was not mistaken.  The footpath to this hill approaching from the west is not recommended as gorse and brambles pre-dominate.  I disappeared around the back of the garage, clambered over a fence and bi-passed the brambles by climbing another fence, I was now in the upper part of the back garden of the first property that I had investigated, the one where the man was sorting out his weekly refuse collection.  I crouched down and quietly walked up to the next fence which gave access into a field.  I was now adjacent to the path which was on the other side of a fence and looked as if it had not been used in decades.

Within a few minutes I was at the summit of Courthouse Bank, the high point is beside the ridge fence, ten or so metres away from a mature tree.  The summit is rather attractive with a slightly rising ridge which steepens on its north and south sides.  It looked particularly welcome on such a morning with the sun ablaze and blue skies above. 

The summit ridge of Courthouse Bank

Across the Severn Valley the Breiddin were a greyish tinge of a silhouette and to the north the shapely wooded summit of Bryn Mawr (SJ 251 190) looked down on the mid Wales landscape.

Bryn Mawr (SJ 251 190)

Once I had chosen the spot for the Trimble I set it down on the ground, pressed ‘Log’ and left it to gather its data.  It was now 9.07am and the sun was a white streak of light in the sky, I then put on my Eclipse Shades and looked up, the moon was slowly edging its way down across the north-easterly part of the sun, which through the shades took on an orange colour with the moon blacking out its bulk, this was not evident from the naked eye as the sky was clear of clouds.  It was also not evident from photographs taken directly into the sun, these came out showing the orb as a bright white mass with no partial eclipse evident,  what was needed was slight cloud cover, but alas bright blue skies were the order of the day.  The only way I could take a photograph which showed the partial eclipse was through the eye piece of the Eclipse Shades.  By doing this the sun appeared small and crescent shaped with the moon merging into the black coloured sky.

The only way I could photograph the partial eclipse of the sun was through the eye piece of my Eclipse Shades, in the background is the Breiddin

At 9.20am the partial eclipse was nearest its fullest for this part of the country

At 9.30am the sun was no more than a crescent shaped disc and the land had dimmed of bright colour

At 9.30am the fullest eclipse for this part of the country occurred, just before this I turned the Trimble off after it had collected 20 minutes of data.  By now the landscape had taken on a dimmed coloured effect, one that resembled the heralding of dusk, it felt unerringly odd at this time of day and especially so on such a beautiful and clear spring morning.

Gathering data at the summit of Courthouse Bank

By the time I left the summit of Courthouse Bank I’d been on top for over 30 minutes happily watching the transit of the moon across the sun, considering the coincidence of the mathematics, distances and sizes of the objects involved it was a stunning thing to watch.

I now wanted to visit this hill’s critical bwlch which is positioned to the west of the hill; I straddled the ridge fence and wandered down another field in a dimly lit trance as a tractor across the way chugged about its business.  Finding the footpath towards the bottom of this field which would take me over the connecting bwlch proved fun and involved back tracking on a couple of occasions and clambering down through undergrowth to straddle another fence.  Once on the expansive field of the bwlch its position was relatively easy to judge and after five minutes of data were collected I packed the Trimble away, climbed a roped up gate and sauntered into the farmyard of Coed Mawr.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Courthouse Bank

Busy at work were the Pryce brothers; Alun, Dave and Neil.  I stopped and chatted for a while, Alun said that they had viewed the partial eclipse through their welding goggles.

Busy at work at Coed Mawr farm, the Pryce brothers; (L-R) Alun, Neil and Dave

After ten minutes of conversation with Alun, Dave and Neil I continued through the farmyard and walked down onto the continuation of the Courthouse Lane, turning left took me back to my car.  As I walked up the lane the first Daffodils where pushing out from their slumbering bulbs as birdsong rang out from the blue sky, the changing of the season seemed complete with spring now here.

Survey Result:

Courthouse Bank (significant name change)

Summit Height:  149.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 24787 18328

Bwlch Height:  115.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 24276 18362

Drop:  33.6m (100m Twmpau status confirmed)

Dominance:  22.45%

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