22.04.23 Pt. 564.9m (SN 783 838) and Foel Wyddon (SN 788 836)
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| Foel Wyddon (SN 788 836) |
Today’s hill was another
in my tantalisingly ever reducing haul of remaining Welsh 500m P15s. Its name is Foel Wyddon and it is positioned
directly above and west of Eisteddfa Gurig, therefore connecting with the
Pumlumon massif. It is also another one
of those relatively recent entries to the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list
with Aled having found its qualifying credentials in 2017.
Although Aled had
visited this hill there was a near sub that he wanted to investigate and so
with Trimble in hand and a series of ten figure grid references noted, we set
off from the top of the A44 road as it makes its way over from Llangurig in the
east to Aberystwyth in the west, after of course paying the £5.00 parking fee.
There are a number of
tracks that head in to the hills from the farm at the top of the road and it
was one of these that conveniently lead us up toward our hills. Except for the occasional hum of distant
traffic on the road below, the only other significant sound was welcome as
there was a constant backdrop of song emanating from Sky Larks. These little birds were on form this morning,
singing away across the moor land.
The track culminated at
a gate leading in to forestry, the first hill we visited is listed in the Welsh
Highlands as a sub and it looked as if its high point was in a section of
felled conifers. Its connecting bwlch
was beside a puddle on the track and we decided to leave its survey until after
visiting its summit.
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| The green path and section of felled forest |
A green path headed in
to the forested section which as this point comprised the remains of felled
trees. To our left a small channel
headed up and we opted for this instead of continuing on the main path, which
if we had done so we hoped would lead to mature conifers that were easy to walk
through, or alternatively we could have walked up the felled section adjacent
to the mature trees.
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| The small channel indicated a relatively easy way to the summit |
Our route up proved
relatively easy, but walking across sections of felled forest is never quick,
which suited me fine this morning. Reaching
the area of the summit the high point outside of the near trees was relatively
easy to pinpoint and we soon had the Trimble set up to gather data. During data collection I followed Aled in to
the trees to investigate other potential high points. We easily reached what we considered the high
point within the trees, which we judged similar in height to where the Trimble
was now gathering data from. Emerging back
out of the trees and after allotted data were gathered and stored, I closed the
equipment down and we retraced our route back to the gate and the track and
puddle where this hill’s connecting bwlch is positioned.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Pt. 564.9m (SN 783 838) |
During bwlch data
collection I stood beside the gate and chatted with Aled. From this vantage point the higher Pumlumon
hills were on grand display towering above our lowly position. After five minutes of data were gathered and
stored I switched the Trimble off, packed it away and we continued down our
inward track to another gate which gave access to the slopes of Foel Wyddon.
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| Aled setting the Trimble up to gather data at the bwlch |
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the bwlch of Pt. 564.9m |
Our onward route passed
over the connecting bwlch and we quickly assessed it for its critical point
before heading up to its summit. The
summit of Foel Wyddon consists of rough grass, as indeed does the hill, it has
an attractive small grassed ridge and when there, we decided to gather data
from two points, with the second our favoured position for its high point.
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| Gathering data at the lower of the two positions surveyed for the summit of Foel Wyddon |
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| Gathering data at the higher of the two positions surveyed for the summit of Foel Wyddon |
All that remained was
the descent back to its bwlch and its survey.
It was relatively easy to pinpoint its critical position and having done
so we compared it to the ten figure grid reference ascertained from LIDAR
analysis, before setting the Trimble up to gather its fifth and last data set
of the day.
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the bwlch of Foel Wyddon |
Once allotted data were
gathered and stored we headed back to the gate and the track leading us down to
the farm house and the awaiting car at Eisteddfa Gurig.
Survey Result:
Pt. 564.9m
Summit Height: 564.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 78376 83898
Bwlch Height: 550.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 78650 84107
Drop: 13.9m
Dominance: 2.47%
Foel Wyddon
Summit Height: 536.2m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 78813 83668
Bwlch Height: 520.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 78783 83858
Drop: 15.3m
Dominance: 2.85%
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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