05.04.18 Bryn (SJ 085 168) and Ffridd Top Llety (SJ
089 167)
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| Ffridd Top Lletty (SJ 089 167) |
I’m writing this as the
rain teems down and the sky is a leaden grey, such a contrast to a few mornings
ago when the sky radiated blue and spring warmth rejuvenated the land.
This walk was prompted
by an email from Charlie Leventon who had recently visited this hill, and
wondered about its high point and name.
These queries relate to the hill being given twin 347m map heighted
tops, with one of these spot heights appearing on the Ordnance Survey
Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the Geograph website.
The hill is currently
listed as Bryn both in the original Welsh 300m P30 list that appears on Geoff
Crowder’s v-g.me website and also in the Tumps, with the latter data
originating from the former. However,
although the word Bryn appears near this hill’s summit, map position indicates
that it is more applicable to an old farmstead and not necessarily to the hill
itself.
Prior to the walk I consulted
the Tithe map as the land where these two tops are positioned is bounded, and
at the time of the Tithe the land where the westerly top is situated was known
as Cae Mawr and the land where the easterly top is situated was known as Cefnydd. I had also analysed these tops via LIDAR and
the easterly was shown as higher, if confirmed by the Trimble this would mean a
relocation of the current prioritised summit.
With an 11.00am
appointment in Welshpool and four surveys and hopefully place-name enquiries to make I needed
an early start, and by 7.20am I was standing in a dew laden and slightly
frosted field waiting for the Trimble to gather its allotted five minutes of
data. As the Trimble beeped away
collecting its 300 datum points the sun edged its way over the hill ridge to my
east and shone through branches still not budded. This field and the point where the Trimble
was positioned is the critical bwlch for the higher of the two tops and I had
fun getting here as I drove up what I thought was the correct minor lane
leading toward the bwlch, only to end up on a narrow concrete track with grass
in the middle and ditches either side awash with water and mud that led to a
closed gate and who knows what beyond, thankfully I extricated myself from what
may have been a difficult situation for my car.
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| Gathering data at the bwlch of Ffridd Top Llety |
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| The Trimble set-up position at the bwlch of Ffridd Top Llety |
Once five minutes of
data were stored I closed the Trimble down, packed it away and walked back to
my car which was parked beside the drive / track entrance to Cefnllwyni, an old
farm where I had parked a couple of years ago when surveying the hill to the
west.
Next stop was the small
car park in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, it was 7.45am by the time I set off
walking up the track leading to the westerly of the two tops and I wondered if
I had sufficient time for all the surveys I wanted to conduct.
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| Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa |
New born lambs were
shielded by proud mother’s as I made progress uphill, blue blazed overhead from
a radiant sky and the motorised chugging of a tractor in a near farmyard was
the only sound that interrupted an otherwise peaceful land.
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| Not very old and being shielded by its mother |
I find a beauty in the
simplicity of surveying, it affords time to stand and think, it also gives time
for well-earned rests, and this morning as the Trimble gathered its data from the
high point of the westerly top I stood and savoured the view with the high Aran
and the Berwyn ridges floating above the greened and browned intervening land,
nothing seemed to stir except for the distancing of the sound of the tractor
and the movement of sheep and new born lambs.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Bryn |
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| The enclosed field on the left is nowadays known as Bryn |
It wasn’t far to the
easterly top and I walked over the connecting bwlch between each on my way,
this I would survey on my return. The
LIDAR grid reference for the summit led me to its high point and soon the
Trimble was positioned atop my rucksack gathering data.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Ffridd Top Llety |
As data were gathered I
headed down to the corner of the field to take photographs and soak in the
scene were green met blue and all slumbered under an early morning that proved
positively blissful.
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| The enclosed field on the right is nowadays known as Ffridd Top Llety |
Once five minutes of
data were gathered I closed the Trimble down and took more photos, the
snow-capped and frosted ridge of the Berwyn to the north proved a welcome
addition, adding perspective with height and distance to an otherwise greened
landscape.
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| The high Berwyn |
Just one survey remained
and that was the connecting bwlch between these two tops, again the ten figure
grid reference produced by LIDAR led me to the correct position and within a
few minutes the Trimble was set-up gathering its customary five minutes of
data.
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| Gthering data at the bwlch of Bryn |
As I retraced my way
back over the summit of the westerly top and then down its slopes I heard a
quad bike whizzing around the near farmyard, I hoped it would not disappear
down the road as I now wanted to make place-name enquiries with the local
farmer. Thankfully as I neared the gate
giving access around the side of the village school to the car park, two quad
bikes headed my way, I flagged for them to stop.
After explaining my
interest in upland place-names, the farmer; Martin Davies kindly gave me ten
minutes of his time as he and his colleague were heading up the track to
retrieve a new born dead lamb.
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| Martin Davies |
Martin gave me many
field names which will be documented in a forthcoming post, with the two
relating to the tops I had visited being; Bryn for the westerly summit and
Ffridd Top Llety for the easterly summit.
Both names directly relate to buildings and both names are different to
what these bounded fields were known as in the time of the Tithe, however one
field name remained the same, this was the field where we were standing and
Martin said its name is Cae Llan, and this when examined on the Tithe is
recorded as Cae y Llan.
Names change as indeed
do known summit heights, but occasionally some remain the same. Martin had now clarified the name of the
bounded land where each summit is positioned and processing the data will
probably confirm what LIDAR has already established as far as what summit is
higher.
Survey Result:
Bryn
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 08501 16870
Bwlch Height: 334.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 08858 16808
Drop: 12.1m
Dominance: 3.49%
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 08997 16748
Bwlch Height: 276.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 10314 17448
Drop: 69.6m
Dominance: 20.09%
