10.08.23 Little Hill (SO 171 537, only bwlch surveyed) and Gwaun Ceste (SO 158 555)
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| Gwaun Ceste (SO 158 555) |
Over recent years LIDAR
has resulted in many hill reclassifications, it is not overstating to say that
the use of LIDAR has revolutionised hill classification. It is also responsible for many summit
relocations, and today it was a potential summit relocation that I wanted to
investigate with the aid of the Trimble GeoXH 6000 in hand.
The hill in question is
Gwaun Ceste, which I had visited on two previous occasions, the last of which
was in July 2015. I had then taken data
from the high point beside the triangulation pillar, which consists of a patch
of grass encircling the trig beside a morass of moorland, mainly consisting of
heather. It was this position that was
then recognised as the high point of the hill.
However, LIDAR gives another position 0.26m higher than the data set
produced by the Trimble. This new
position is approximately 180 metres to the south-east of the trig pillar, and
it consists of heather.
%20-%20LIDAR%20summit%204.jpg) |
| LIDAR summit image of Gwaun Ceste (SO 158 555) |
Over recent weeks the
weather had been inclement with some beautiful blue skied days interspersed
amongst many wet ones; today the forecast gave for dry conditions with warm
sunshine. It was the ideal day to head
up to Gwaun Ceste and take a series of data sets from these two positions.
I considered a circular
walk, similar to the one I had done with Nicola Morris in 2015 when we also
visited the two Pedwar hills that are named Little Hill. However, my priority was the surveys of Gwaun
Ceste and therefore I started my walk from the top of the minor road that heads
from the small community of Glasgwm toward Llanfair Llythynwg (Gladestry) in the east.
After arriving and
parking my car I took a series of photographs of a number of sheep, many lazing
on and beside the minor road, a large tree cast shade at this time of the
morning and they were happily shielded from the brightness and warmth of the
sun.
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| Lazy morning for the sheep |
The approach to Gwaun
Ceste from this direction is similar to many hills in Radnorshire as a good
track gave access avoiding the moorland surrounds. This headed around the western shoulder of
the lower of the two Little Hill hills.
These tracks are a godsend as many similar heighted hills comprise
moorland with rough grass but mainly heather predominating and the tracks give
relatively easy access to the higher ground.
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| The track heading toward Gwaun Ceste |
My first task was to
re-survey the bwlch of the lower Little Hill, my planned route passed over it
and according to LIDAR my previous Trimble survey was approximately 30 metres
from its critical point. As I approached
the bwlch the southern flank of Gwaun Ceste rose above, it looked picturesque
at this time of day with blue sky above, direct sunlight on it and a foreground
of purpled heather.
%20-%20LIDAR%20hill%201.jpg) |
| LIDAR image of Little Hill (SO 171 537) |
Using the Trimble as a
hand-held GPS it was easy to zero in on the grid co-ordinates that LIDAR give
for this bwlch. Once at the critical
point I positioned the Trimble atop my rucksack; took the measurement offset
between its internal antenna and the ground at its base and once the 0.1m
accuracy level was attained I set it to gather data.
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| Gathering data at the bwlch of Little Hill |
This was a stunningly
beautiful place to be at this time of the morning. No one else was about and with the tranquil
warmth generated from the sun and just the hint of a breeze it certainly felt
good to be out. Once allotted data were
gathered and stored I closed the equipment down, took a few photos, packed it
away and started on the main uphill section of the day.
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| The Trimble set-up position at the bwlch of Little Hill |
Ahead were two main
options, a steep green path that Nic and I had taken on my last visit and a
track heading north-westward gaining height as it did so. I decided on the former, with the latter
hopefully found for my descent. The
continued ascent proved steep, but as ever with one or two stops to regain
breath height was soon gained.
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| Looking back on the bwlch area of Little Hill |
The green path merged on
to a track which near the LIDAR high point of the hill headed away toward the
east. It was at this point that I headed
over the moor on to a series of sheep paths, the going hereabouts was never
difficult and with the aid of the Trimble used as a directional device the
LIDAR high point was soon reached. This
is positioned in a morass of heather, to the north-east the trig stared back at
me, over such a distance it was almost impossible to judge purely by eye which
point was higher.
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| Gathering data at the LIDAR summit of Gawun Ceste with the trig pillar summit in the background |
I wanted to take two
data sets from this position, and do likewise with the high point beside the
trig pillar. Each in relation to the
other would then give a good indication of true height and importantly true
summit position. With each survey taking
around ten minutes to set up and gather data, it meant I would be on the summit
area for about 40 – 50 minutes. I’ve
experienced such time restraints due to surveying many times before, and these
are now the norm when I go hill walking.
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| The Trimble set-up position at the LIDAR summit of Gwaun Ceste |
As the LIDAR summit
position comprises heather I wanted to take the survey measurement down to the base
of peat, on the second survey I positioned the Trimble on what looked to be the
high point of this ground and found that it comprised a root ball of a clump of
heather, and wondered if LIDAR had modelled this instead of the adjacent peat
at its base. The Trimble result compared
to LIDAR position and height will answer this question.
Once the two data sets
were gathered at the LIDAR summit I headed over to the trig pillar. Once there I looked back on where I had just
been, and again from here it was hard to judge what position was higher. Thankfully the high point beside the trig
pillar consisted of one or two slight bumps on an otherwise small area of grass
and earth. Again I took two data sets,
each about a metre apart.
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| Gathering data at the trig pillar summit of Gwaun Ceste with the LIDAR summit in the background |
During data collection I
looked at my map and followed my downward route on it toward where a footpath
was indicated. This was at a fold in the
map, which wasn’t ideal. As I hadn’t
taken this route before I did not want to end up on a track losing height and
ending up in the valley below. I
therefore decided to keep high on my descent and use any sheep track I could
find. In hindsight I would not recommend
this.
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| The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Gwaun Ceste |
As data were collected
beside the trig pillar I happily stood in the heather below the equipment so as
not to disturb satellite reception, and scribbled all necessary information in
my survey log book which will be documented at a later stage and put in the Trimble
Survey Spreadsheet hosted on my Mapping Mountains site. In the distance the peaks of Bannau Brycheiniog
stood out, their blue tinged profiles easily recognisable, to my north-east the
higher hills of Fforest Glud again stood out whilst to my south the bulk of the
Black Mountains were a wedge of land.
Away to my west and north-west there were many hills, some I could name,
but many others I could not. I felt
privileged to be out in such a place.
As the last of the
individual allotted data were gathered and stored I approached the equipment
and closed it down. It was now time to
head down and hopefully find a good path, this proved relatively easy to begin with
as I decided to use what initially proved a good sheep path, unfortunately this
all too soon petered out and my continued progress soon turned in to a slow
bracken bash with some growing as high as my chest.
I found an occasional
sheep path to continue on, but these soon bisected and again petered out, much
of the going was pathless, some relatively easy over low moor, whilst some
quite horrendous and especially with the strengthening heat which started to
sap my energy levels.
I eventually emerged
looking out over the connecting bwlch to Little Hill which I had surveyed
earlier in the morning. As I lost height
I spotted two walkers making their way up the track I should have been on, I headed
in their direction and once on the track sat to recover my breath.
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| Looking across to Little Hill (SO 171 537) |
From here the going down
proved slow, my energy levels had plummeted which is a concern I’ve lived with
for two years or more, however experience has told me to take my time and
continue very slowly and this is what I did.
I was in no rush and sat
and rested on another couple of occasions, the last listening to summer sounds
of distant bleating sheep, the near buzzing of flies and the gentle wisp of
breeze as it cascaded over the land. Above
was blue sky with dappled white and light grey of the occasional cloud, with
the foreground dominated by a many hued green with the lower moor soon giving
way to the customary dappled and patch-worked fields.
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| Looking across at the other Little Hill (SO 142 537) |
Back at the car I
chatted to a couple who were resting having reached the top of the road, they
were on a two day cycle ride with heavy panniers on their bikes. Soon after they waved and headed down the
road I heard the sound of a vehicle coming down the opposing track to the
south.
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| Aaron Brookshaw - the local Gamekeeper |
The vehicle was driven
by the gamekeeper to these moors, Aaron Brookshaw, after I introduced myself
and explained my interest in hill names; we spoke for 10 – 15 minutes. These unplanned encounters with people who
work the land that our hills are situated on are always worthwhile. They can give a wealth of locally known
information, from feature names to the names of hills and it was no different
with Aaron. After he left, I changed and
headed to Llanidloes to visit Eryl and Rita, before continuing to Newtown to watch
Oppenheimer in the Regent Cinema, in all it proved an excellent way to spend
the day.
Survey Result:
Little
Hill
Summit Height: 469.2m (converted to OSGM15, from previous
Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 17175 53749 (from previous Trimble GeoXH
6000 survey) (summit relocation)
Bwlch Height: 422.7m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 16357 54404
Drop: 46.5m
Dominance: 9.91%
Gwaun
Ceste
Summit Height: 542.1m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 15821 55547 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 376.9m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 16953 58220 (LIDAR)
Drop: 165.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
Dominance: 30.47% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
