Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Hafod Ithel

 

29.09.20  Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700) 

LIDAR image of Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

Prior to visiting this hill it had been reclassified from a Sub-Trichant to a Trichant based on Joe Nuttall’s summit analysis programme and then LIDAR analysis firstly by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by me.  

The work done by Jim Bloomer instigated this hill’s inclusion in the listing of Tumps and it appeared under the name of Llangwyryfon Hill.  This name seems to have been transposed from the near windfarm which is named Llangwyryfon Wind Farm on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps. 

For its inclusion in the Y Trichant I examined older Ordnance Survey maps including the Six-Inch series and then turned my attention to the Tithe map.  The latter names the land where the summit of the hill is situated as Hafod Llyn, and this name was duly used for the Y Trichant listing. 

Today I wanted to visit the hill and if circumstance permitted find the local farmer to make place-name enquiries.  I’d driven the short distance from the base of Gaer Fawr (SN 649 719) having had a beautiful misted ascent of the hill.  By the time I parked close to the entrance road to Pwllclai farm (SN 628 709) it was 10.15am.  As I gathered my rucksack, camera and map two vehicles appeared from the farm; a tractor followed by a large 4x4 with an attached trailer. 

As the tractor turned right I held my hand up to say hello, the farmer did likewise.  They stopped almost immediately to open a gate that gave access up the hill.  I locked my car and quickly scampered up the lane calling out as I did so.  Arriving at the tractor I asked permission to use the track to visit the hill, the farmer; Ieuan Jones said by all means.  I asked how far up the hill they were going, to the top came the reply.  I asked if I could jump in the back of the trailer for a lift, Ieuan said in you go and suggested I should stand and hold on to the front of the trailer as it drove up the track. 

The start of the journey up Hafod Llŷn

The next ten minutes or so felt as if I was in a chariot as the 4x4; driven by Ieuan’s wife Avril, bumped its way up the track.  I tried to take some photos, but quickly realised that by doing so I almost flipped out of the trailer.  I took three and then stopped and clung on for my life. 

Avril drove almost to the summit of the hill, stopping beside a caravan and what turned out to be a water slide and small pool that they had constructed for their grandchildren during lockdown.  I descended from the trailer with a broad smile on my face and said hello to Avril and thanked her for taking me up the hill.  Ieuan soon appeared and we stood and chatted for quite some time. 

Ieuan and Avril Jones

During the conversation I explained my interest in hill names and asked what name they knew this hill by; the reply made me smile; Hafod Llŷn.  I showed them my notes for the hill with this name written out and told them that it appears on the Tithe.  Ieuan explained that the name is Hafod Llŷn and not Hafod Llyn, the former relates to Pen Llŷn (Lleyn Peninsula in north-west Wales), whilst the latter would relate to a lake.  The translation of this name can be the summer dwelling of the Llŷn.  The word Llŷn being used as from this vantage point you can see the great sweep of Cardigan Bay taking in the Pembrokeshire coast all the way north to the Llŷn Peninsula. 

I mentioned that I wanted to survey the summit of the hill and they directed me to the best ascent route for the short distance from where we were standing to its high point.  I left after we had chatted for about 20 minutes with a promise of a cup of tea when I arrived back from the summit. 

It was only a short distance to the top of Hafod Llŷn, and once there I spent a few minutes assessing the summit area before setting up the Trimble on top of my rucksack, measuring the offset between its internal antenna and the ground at its base, waiting for the 0.1m accuracy level to be attained before data should be logged and then gathering the allotted data. 

Gathering data at the summit of Hafod Llŷn

To the north-east the profile of Gaer Fawr stared back, now on grand display with the morning’s mist having been burnt off.  To the south-west the moorland top of Hafod Ithel; my next planned hill of the day, rose above its surroundings. 

Once data were gathered and stored I closed the equipment down, packed it away and headed down to re-join Ieuan and Avril.  I was soon sitting on a fold-up camping chair with a warm mug of tea in hand.  Life sometimes brings simple pleasures, and the experience of meeting Ieuan and Avril and the hospitality shown me was certainly one of these. 

Enjoying a panad with Ieuan and Avril

We sat and continued our conversation for another 30 minutes or so, but eventually I had to get going as I had a track to walk down and more hills to visit and survey.  I left having thanked them and headed for the track. 

I arrived back at my car at 12.00 midday, the walk had taken 1¾ hours, with much of this spent in the back of a trailer and chatting with Ieuan and Avril whilst sipping on a very welcome mug of tea.  A great way to spend a couple of hours! 

 

Survey Result: 

 

Hafod Llŷn (significant name change)  

Summit Height:  330.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 62592 70023 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  300.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62234 69672 & SN 62235 69675 (LIDAR)

Drop:  30.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  9.25% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) (Sub-Trichant reclassified to Trichant)

 

 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

 

 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis instigated by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme, and then by LIDAR analysis conducted initially by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips, and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey.

LIDAR image of Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13th May 2017.

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Hafod Ithel group of hills, which are situated in the western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B3), and it is encircled by minor roads and farther afield it has the B4576 road to its west and the A485 road to its east, and has the village of Lledrod towards the east.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented and transposed name of Moel Cwm Crown, with an accompanying note stating; Name from cwm to the North-West.

Moel Cwm Crown

330m

SN626701

135

213

Name from cwm to the North-West

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose the name of a near cwm and prefix it with the invented word of Moel.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

As this hill comprises bounded land the Tithe map was consulted.  The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales.

Extract from the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 362 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Hafod Llyn in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Lledrod and in the county named as Cardigan.

Extract from the apportionments

When visiting this hill I met Ieuan and Avril Jones; the local farmers who live at Pwllclai.  Avril kindly drove me up this hill with me clinging on in the back of a trailer and stopped beside a caravan and what turned out to be a water slide and small pool that they had constructed for their grandchildren during lockdown.  I descended from the trailer with a broad smile on my face and said hello to Avril and thanked her for taking me up the hill.  Ieuan soon appeared and we stood and chatted for quite some time.

Ieuan and Avril Jones

During the conversation I explained my interest in hill names and asked what name they knew this hill by; the reply made me smile; Hafod Llŷn.  I showed them my notes for the hill with this name written out and told them that it appears on the Tithe.  Ieuan explained that the name is Hafod Llŷn and not Hafod Llyn, the former relates to Pen Llŷn (Lleyn Peninsula in north-west Wales), whilst the latter would relate to a lake.  The translation of this name can be the summer dwelling of the Llŷn.  The word Llŷn being used as from this vantage point you can see the great sweep of Cardigan Bay taking in the Pembrokeshire coast all the way north to the Llŷn Peninsula.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Hafod Llŷn, and this was derived from the Tithe map and confirmed by local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Hafod Ithel

Name:  Hafod Llŷn

Previously Listed Name:  Moel Cwm Crown

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  330.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 62592 70023 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  300.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62234 69672 & SN 62235 69675 (LIDAR)

Drop:  30.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2020)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700) – Sub-Trichant reclassified to Trichant

There has been a reclassification to the list of Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey.

LIDAR image of Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

This was initiated by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme that used LIDAR with an alternative height map (DEM) allowing identification of summits and cols and thereby drops.  The resulting spreadsheet that Joe produced contains over 29,600 hills.

This spreadsheet is being evaluated by a number of people, and for this particular hill it was Jim Bloomer who initially assessed the data on the spreadsheet produced for this hill against that produced via LIDAR.

Myrddyn Phillips then evaluated the details for this hill via LIDAR analysis and confirmed its height and drop and hence its reclassification to Trichant status.

The criteria for the list that this reclassification applies to are:

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales – Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13th May 2017.

The name the hill is now listed by is Hafod Llŷn and this was derived from the Tithe map and local enquiry, and it is adjoined to the Hafod Ithel group of hills, which are situated in the western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B3), and it is encircled by minor roads and farther afield it has the B4576 road to its west and the A485 road to its east, and has the village of Lledrod towards the east.

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website this hill was included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for the accompanying main P30 list.

When the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the details for this hill were re-evaluated and it was listed with an estimated c 27m of drop based on the 330m summit spot height and an estimated c 303m bwlch height, with the latter based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 300m – 310m that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

LIDAR summit image for Hafod Llŷn

LIDAR bwlch image for Hafod Llŷn

The result produced by LIDAR analysis gives this hill a 330.7m summit height, and as the summit has now been surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 it is this result that is being prioritised for listing purposes.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Hafod Llŷn

Therefore, the reclassification of this hill from Sub-Trichant status is due to LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, resulting in a 330.6m summit height and a 300.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 30.6m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Trichant.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Hafod Ithel

Name:  Hafod Llŷn

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  330.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 62592 70023 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  300.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62234 69672 & SN 62235 69675 (LIDAR)

Drop:  30.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2020)