Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Pumlumon

05.11.16  Drosgol (SN 717 885)    

Drosgol (SN 717 885)

Drosgol is an unassuming little hill that is situated amongst the eastern lands of the Pumlumon range.  These lands descend west to fertile grazing fields before towns are encountered and the natural barrier of the sea.  These hills can portray a remote and slightly wild persona where meeting another person on them is somewhat of a rarity, they are all the better for it.

Today’s walk was a special occasion as Rob Woodall had chosen Drosgol as his last 300m P30 in the whole of Wales and England with their respective totals being 1332 and 1130.  In old money these can be considered the 1,000ft hills.

The meeting point was arranged to the south-west of the hill, at the end of a narrow paved lane that confidently aimed due east from the confines of Tal-y-bont, where adequate parking was found on a gravelled area adjacent to a disused mine.  When I arrived Adrian Dust was waiting beside his car, he’d already visited a number of hills earlier in the day and had his sights set on Moel Golomen; a 317m map heighted hill on the ridge to the south of the Afon Cyneiniog.

The upper reaches of the Cyneiniog valley with Moel Golomen in the background

We chatted for a while before Adrian set off, I then took shelter in my car as a brisk shower sped south across the hills.  Once the rain had stopped I set off down the continuation of the narrow lane to a green path that climbed steadily toward the summit of Drosgol.  I’d set off an hour before the meeting time of 3.00pm as my right knee was still proving problematic and I also wanted to survey the hill’s bwlch and its summit before everyone reached the top.

As I gained height I found a sheep track contouring round the western side of the hill toward the bwlch which nestled between Drosgol and its higher neighbour; the Sub-Pedwar of Llechwedd Cwm Byr.  Arriving at the bwlch I positioned the Trimble on top of my rucksack to give it elevation above its immediate surrounds, measured a 0.45m offset between its internal antenna and the ground at its base and proceeded to gather five minutes of data.  Except for an occasional flurry of wind, all was quiet and undisturbed.

Looking toward the critical bwlch of Drosgol

After packing the equipment away I slowly plodded up to the summit and took two data sets, with the second being at the top of an attractive rock bluff.  As the Trimble gathered its customary five minutes of data the sun burst through the thickened grey blue sky giving depth to the landscape, the near forestry radiated its autumnal colours as delicate yellows merged with those of orange as the predominant greens flanked their surrounds.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Drosgol

The wooded colours of autumn

Gathering data at the summit of Drosgol

Once the surveys for the day were complete I had a bite to eat and waited on a rocky hummock and watched as small figures emerged on the upper ridge, all heading toward the summit.  Alex was first to arrive with Adrian and Jon, closely followed by Matthew and Rob.

Heading for the summit

The next half hour or so gave us magical light as the late afternoon sparkled.  Once everyone had arrived Rob headed toward the summit and stood on top, another fine achievement completed amongst many that he has done.

Adrian admiring the view

Rob heading for the summit

Whiskey and cake were passed round as we stood on top and basked in the late afternoon sunshine.  Photos were taken and a few minutes of video.  These celebrations are special events, shared amongst good hill walking friends who gather in appreciation of a person’s determination and enthusiasm to finish a list of hills.

Rob and friends on the summit of Drosgol

Rob on the summit of Drosgol having completed the Welsh 300m P30s

As the sun ebbed behind a large bulbous cloud out to the west we headed back to the valley and the awaiting cars, I slowly made my way down at the rear trying to protect my knee and stopped on occasion to photograph and admire the delicate sun burst and cloudscape forming out to the west, a beautiful scene to end the day.  

A beautiful cloudscape to end the day

    

Survey Result:

Drosgol

Summit Height:  367.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 71769 88547 

Bwlch Height:  326.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 71621 88808

Drop:  41.4m

Dominance:  11.26%

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet

Rob Woodall Completes the 1,000ft Hills

Rob Woodall – UKHillwalking Article

UKHillwalking recently published an article on Rob Woodall’s completion of the Welsh, English and Manx 1,000ft Hills.  The original article and a link to it on the UKHillwalking website appear below.

Rob Woodall Completes the 1000ft Hills

by Myrddyn Phillips 09/Nov/2016

On 5th November bagging-meister Rob Woodall climbed his final summit of a truly epic hill list - the 1000 foot hills of Wales, England and the Isle of Man. There are 2462 of them! Myrddyn Phillips was there on the day, and has sent us this brief account. 

There are numerous challenges that a hill bagger can choose to take on, from the best known, such as the Munros, to lists far more obscure and difficult. Among baggers, Rob Woodall is one of the leading exponents of the weird, the wonderful and the epic having, among other accolades, been the first person to complete the 1556 Marilyns (see here), and having visited all of Britain's remaining trig pillars - over 6100 of them.

Rob Woodall (bottle in hand) and friends celebrate his 2,462nd 1,000-er

These self-set British challenges would be enough to last most keen walkers a lifetime. But Rob is no ordinary hill bagger. His exploits also take him worldwide in search of the Ultras, the planet’s peaks of 5000ft prominence. 

But closer to home, one beauty of British hill listings is that there are so darn many of them. Bagging them all could be construed by some as an affliciton, but for those in the know a list is just an aid in exploration, and that exploration can take a person on an extremely fulfilling route whose memories last a lifetime.

After Rob's past achievements, what challenges remained to him? Well, in old money there are always the 1000ft hills of Wales, England and the Isle of Man. In metric terms these are the hills at or above 300m, each wih a minimum prominence of 30m. They may mostly be small, but there are plenty of them - 2462 in fact! No small task, then.

Inevitably, there's a lot of common ground with other lists, including many summits that also feature among the Hewitts, the Deweys, Y Pedwarau, The Fours, Y Trichant and the 300m hills of England. Until Rob turned his sights to them, only one other person had claimed them all - the rather elusive Andrew Allum, another hill bagger extraordinaire.

En route to Drosgol

Rob’s last 1000ft hill was Drosgol (SN717885), a rather unassuming summit in the western Pumlumon range in central Wales which is situated east of the small towns of Tal-y-bont and Borth, and which rises above the Afon Cyneiniog at the head of a quiet valley whose narrow paved lane ends near a disused mine. This was the meeting point last Saturday the 5^th November for the ascent of Rob’s final 1000ft hill.

From the disused mine the route to the summit is relatively easy as it follows a grassed path beside bracken to an attractive summit comprising a rocky bluff, and it was here that at approximately 4pm Rob touched the highest point to complete yet another self-set challenge.

He was joined on the walk by eleven friends who all celebrated with copious amounts of cake and a dram or two of Penderyn Single Malt Whisky. Even the weather was kind with late afternoon sunshine breaking out to bathe the summit in November warmth.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Rob’s bagging exploits continue with the Humps (Hundred Metre Prominence summits numbering nearly 3000) and the Simms (600m minimum height with 30m minimum prominence) keeping him happily occupied, as well as those more exotic trips farther afield with the Ultras. 

The original article published on the UKHillwalking website

Rob Woodall completes Y Trichant – the Welsh 300m P30s

Congratulations to Rob Woodall who earlier today on the 5^th November 2016 completed Y Trichant – the Welsh 300m P30s on Drosgol (SN 717 885) above the Afon Cyneiniog valley to the east of Tal-y-bont and Borth.  In doing so Rob became the 2^nd person to complete this set of hills, but as he says ‘Andrew Allum is the first known completer but this is the first known completion party!’

Rob and friends celebrating on the summit of Drosgol, having completed the Welsh 300m P30s

Rob was joined by a number of friends for the walk and celebrated at the summit with a bottle of Penderyn Single Malt Whiskey, a wee dram was had by all and with the copious amounts of cake it proved the ideal way to try and keep warm as a late afternoon chill set in.

Prior to finishing the Welsh 300m P30s, Rob had completed the 467 English P30s.  His Welsh total amounts to 501 which has come from the listing of these hills on the Hill Bagging website, whereas the total for Y Trichant is more as Pen y Gaer (SO 139 976) is included having been surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 with its height after conversion to OSGM15 being 300.002m.

Y Trichant is the working title of the Welsh 300m P30 list which was originally published on Geof Crowder’s v-g.me website.  The qualifying criteria are any Welsh hill at or over 300m and below 400m in height and which has a minimum drop of 30m.

Although Rob has completed Y Trichant, his totals for the hills at or over 300m make impressive reading as he has completed the 1130 English P30 hills and the 1331 Welsh P30 hills, another phenomenal achievement by Mr Woodall!

Congratulations to Rob and many thanks for the invitation to join the summit celebrations.