28.12.16 Mynydd Epynt (SN 961 464), Esgair Fawr (SN 927 433), Esgair Cerrig (SN
952 432), Twyn Rhyd Car (SN 960 422) and Drum Ddu (SN 979 447)
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| Esgair Fawr (SN 927 433) |
As I clambered out of my
car the chill breeze hit me and I shivered, and kept on doing so for the next
ten minutes, but the view was sublime as a cloud enshrouded valley gave way to
rising hill sides and the first throes of a rising sun edged the south-western horizon
with a prospect of a good day ahead.
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| The cloud enshrouded valley |
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| The rising sun |
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| Banc y Cwm (SN 968 469) |
I was meeting two
friends for a walk over Mynydd Epynt, a land out of bounds for much of the
year, but one whose hills are accessible over the Christmas period and we
planned to take full advantage of the weather and the fact that the military do
not frequent these hills at this time of year and visit as many Pedwarau as
time would permit.
Once we had left a car next
to the Drovers Arms we slowly made our way back on the frost encrusted road to
the high point where a track gave access to Mynydd Epynt, which according to
the map is the highest point of the hill range.
It was good to be on this
hill range again as I’d only been on the land that is out of bounds once before,
and that was a number of years ago on four of the north-easterly hills with two
being within the Danger Area.
As we reached the summit
of the first hill a Landrover pulled up and an enquiring farmer wondered if we
knew where we were and more importantly where we were going, we chatted with
the farmer and enquired about place-names whilst I set the Trimble up beside
the small concrete pillar that marks the high point of the hill and proceeded
to gather five minutes of data.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Mynydd Epynt |
It was a stunning
morning as the sun had now burst through any low lying cloud and the blue sky
heralded a good day on the hill. Our
next hill was almost 5km south-westward, and the majority of the route was on
the paved road that follows the northern escarpment of Mynydd Epynt and which now
forms a part of the Epynt Way; this long distance path was created by the
Ministry of Defence in 2004 and gives the public welcome access to a part of
this hill range.
The road was a ribbon of
white and stretched out toward the square blocked conifer plantations near the
summit of Esgair Fawr, our second hill of the day. To our north-west the valley was still
submerged in mist and remained so all day, a testament to an ethereal
other worldliness embedded in dulled cold.
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| The paved road following the northern escarpment of Mynydd Epynt |
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| The mist enshrouded north-western valley |
As we neared the trig
pillar atop Esgair Fawr I knew I was in for a long day as a combination of
cough, head cold, wonky knee, hip and neck, too much food intake over Christmas
and lack of mountain fitness due to not being on the hill for a number of weeks
meant that my two friends spent most of the day being patient, and having to
wait for the sloth like creature that followed in their wake.
At least Trimbling each
summit gave me a ten minute rest, but once data were gathered from the ground
beside the trig pillar atop Esgair Fawr we plodded back across the upper hill
onto the paved road and retraced our route to a prominent obelisk where we
followed a track to the south-east that took us down to the connecting bwlch
with our third hill of the day; Esgair Cerrig, we were now in the impact zone
and dotted around us were discarded ordnance, but as long as you paid attention
there doesn’t seem to be a major problem with walking these hills.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Esgair Fawr |
Over the last few weeks, a colleague of mine had examined LIDAR data which has resulted in many reclassifications
of hills, he had produced results for many of the summits and bylchau around
the Epynt, and so I had decided to concentrate the Trimble surveys on the
summits, and any bylchau where LIDAR data did not cover, and the next bwlch was
one such example.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Esgair Cerrig |
As the Trimble gathered
data we had a glance at a wooden structure comprising two heads which was no
doubt used for target practice, it felt odd to see something like this on a
hill, but the ascent toward the summit of Esgair Cerrig brought home the nature
of what happens on these hills as shell casings and various bits of ordnance
were scattered amongst the moorland surroundings, but above all it was the bomb
craters that stood out as one after another scattered the hillside, a place not
to venture unless free of its usual goings on.
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| Target practice |
The examination of LIDAR
data had pinpointed the summit of Esgair Cerrig to be in the south-western part
of its 450m uppermost map ring contour and not on the north-easterly part where
the 456m spot height appears on current Ordnance Survey maps. On our way to the high point we passed a
rusting old tank and I set the Trimble up beside the debris of a bomb crater, I
suppose there’s a first time for anything when out on the hill.
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| 'Head for the tank' |
By the time I reached
the summit of Twyn Rhyd Car I was slobbered and felt like curling up and
falling asleep, however its summit needed Trimbling and there was still a long
way to go to get back to the car at the Drover’s Arms.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Twyn Rhyd Car |
We had one hill left to
visit; Drum Ddu, and its summit lay distant, shimmering on the horizon a long
way away, I knew I would suffer, and I did, but the valley we descended into was
a pleasure to visit, it proved a quiet place with a prominent forgotten farm
house named Byllfa-uchaf on the map, and we used this to aim for. I tried to appreciate my surroundings, and
although I did, my head was down and my body trance like as I plodded slowly
after two ever smaller figures who had found an excellent narrow path on a
raised earthen embankment that bi-passed much of the bog and tussocks. After crossing a stream I lay on the opposing
hillside and looked down the river valley as it extended south toward the grey
silhouetted profile of the Beacons.
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| Drum Ddu looked a long way away |
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| The river valley extending south toward the Brecon Beacons |
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| The wilds of the Epynt - a beautiful land |
All
too soon we were away hunting out a path that led up toward the summit of Drum
Ddu, this uphill seemed never ending and my reserves of energy were now near
empty and I had to stop and regain a semblance of dignity and breath even on the
relatively flat sections, however the old adage of just take one step at a time
is apt in such situations, even when feeling in a mess on the hill, and
eventually I dragged my body to the trig pillar at the summit of Drum Ddu, and
once five minutes of data were gathered from the highest ground at its base I
became quite chatty and followed my two friends down the track to the awaiting
car.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Drum Ddu |
The inner realm of the
Sennybridge Training Area is one to visit when conditions are good and the
military are not there. I would not
recommend visiting when the weather is inclement and the thought of doing so
when live-firing is taking place would be utterly foolhardy. The whole of the Epynt deserves exploration
and it is a shame that such upland beauty is now out of bounds for much of the
year.
Survey Result:
Summit Grid Reference: SN 96124 46428 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 277.9m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 84054 43300 (LIDAR)
Drop: 197.8 (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 41.58% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Summit Height: 475.3m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 92746 43357 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 439.2m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 95188 45390 (LIDAR)
Drop: 36.1m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 7.59% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Summit Height: 456.4m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Height: 420.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 95137 44068
Drop: 35.6m
Dominance: 7.81%
Twyn Rhyd Car
Summit Height: 453.5m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 96038 42263 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 419.0m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 95698 42538 (LIDAR)
Drop: 34.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 7.60% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Drum Ddu
Summit Height: 473.9m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 97932 44744 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 438.2m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 96230 45879 (LIDAR)
Drop: 35.7m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 7.54% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
