10.03.15 Cefn Hepreas
(SO 267 787), Llanfair Hill (SO 255 785), Llanfair Hill (SO 254 794), Pt. 425.6m (SO 243 802) and Stoney
Pound Hill (SO 234 808)
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| Llanfair Hill (SO 254 794) |
Another foray to the
beautiful Shropshire hills, this time to the west of Clun. I parked on the grass verge a few metres to
the east of Springhill Farm (SO 255 808) where three or four cars can just be
squeezed away from the narrow lane that overlooks the River Clun to the north.
The first hill I wanted
to visit was Cefn Hepreas and I had planned to use footpaths that headed
downhill toward a farm named Burfield, but as I had a last study of the map I
decided to walk on the lane toward Llanfair Hill and use the Jack Mytton Way,
which is a 150 km (93 mile) long distance path, and contour around the northern
bulk of Llanfair Hill.
As I set off the sounds
and warmth of spring permeated the quiet Shropshire hills, there’s always an
awakening this time of year with new growth and sounds not seen or heard since
the autumnal months.
Just to the east of the
lane the earthen bank of Offa’s Dyke reared up, in some parts it was overgrown
with gorse and heather, but mainly it was just of grass. The Dyke is named after Offa, the 8th
century King of Mercia who is reputed to have ordered its construction. In its time it delineated the lands of
Anglican Mercia from those of the Welsh kingdom of Powys. Its construction must have taken many years
and it is one of the ancient historical jewels of Britain.
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| The earthen embankment of Offa's Dyke delineates the old boundary of Anglican Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys. Nowadays this part of the dyke overlooks the sleepy Shropshire countryside |
I turned off the lane
just beyond Springhill Cottage onto the Jack Mytton Way, this headed east and
straight through part of the Dyke as it snaked its way up and over the
landscape. When constructed the Dyke was
in parts 20m (65ft) wide (including its flanking ditch) and 2.4m (8ft)
high. As I walked up it and peered out
and watched it forever meander onward I wondered what the ancient landscape
must have once looked like and how the kingdoms of Britain were separated by
its construction.
Beyond the Dyke my
chosen route skirted the northern flank of Llanfair Hill and swung southward
toward Cefn Hepreas, in part this route was on a good path, and then through
muddy fields with friendly horses before I crossed a boggy stream and walked up
the steepening slopes to the summit of the first hill of the day.
As the Trimble gathered
data from what I judged to be the high point of Cefn Hepreas I sauntered a few
metres down the hill to take photos of Rock Hill (SO 278 792) which stood
across an intervening valley.
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| Gathering data at the summit area of Cefn Hepreas with Rock Hill in the background |
Once the Trimble had
been packed away I walked down to the connecting col with Llanfair Hill, which
proved to be a methane gassed bog, and the more I walked up and down trying to
judge the place where the hill to hill and valley to valley traverse met, the
more methane was discharged from its boggy realm. Once I picked my spot I stomped the reed
grass down and set the Trimble up, by now my watch had stopped so I catalogued
the time of each survey from the clock in the Trimble.
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Somewhere in the bog is the Trimble gathering data at the col area of Cefn Hepreas
|
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| The view of Cefn Hepreas from its connecting col |
The next hill I wanted
to visit was Llanfair Hill which is given a 432m summit spot height on Ordnance
Survey maps, about 1 km south of the 432m point the Ordnance Survey also spot
height another point with a height of 431m with a 430m trig pillar also close
to this point. Because of the margin of
uncertainty applied to the surveying method the Ordnance Survey use to obtain
their beige coloured spot heights, it means that the lower spot heighted hill
could in fact be higher on the ground, because of this I wanted to survey each
of these three points.
As the Trimble gathered
data at the 431m map heighted point, followed by the high ground beside the
trig I looked out toward where the 432m map height point on Llanfair Hill is
situated and visually dismissed these first two points as being lower. As data were gathered I stood and waited,
listening to the spring song of Skylarks as they heralded the changing season.
Beyond the trig a track
heads north adjacent to the Dyke, which looked impressive against the blue of
sky as its rounded shape bulged out of the land. There are one or two gates that give access
to the Dyke from this track and before using the second one which would give
access to the top of Llanfair Hill I chatted with one of the local farmers who
was delivering a number of sheep from his wagon out onto their grazing
field. We chatted for a few minutes and
he kindly told me where the gates were positioned so I could visit the summit
of Llanfair Hill.
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Offa's Dyke with the summit area of Llanfair Hill in the background
|
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| Delivering sheep to their grazing field |
Considering the relative
expansive nature of the summit area of Llanfair Hill, its high point is easily
identified, and once five minutes of data were collected I re-traced my steps
back through the gates onto the track which led down to the hill’s connecting
col. I’d driven a Google car up this
track the previous evening and noted that the more easterly option for the col
looked lower when compared to the more westerly option with each having a small
395m contour ring between them.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Llanfair Hill (SO 254 794) |
Both options were
Trimbled but each required patience as the Trimble took an age to attain its
0.1m accuracy before data can be logged, with the second more westerly option
for the col taking over 25 minutes for it to slowly creep down to the required
accuracy. During this I chatted with a
local couple who were out walking their dog and enjoying the day’s sunshine.
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The critical col of Llanfair Hill (summit at SO 254 794)
|
I met another couple as
I headed up the connecting track to my next hill of the day; they were from
Cornwall and spent much of the conversation passing comment on how wonderful
the Shropshire countryside was. The next
point surveyed was the summit of a 400m Sub-Four and I placed the Trimble on a
flattened mole hill and waited for the allotted data to be gathered.
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| Gathering data at the summit area of the 400m Sub-Four |
This hill’s connecting
col is adjacent to the old farm of Stoney Pound and is due north-west of its summit,
driving the Google car around these lanes had indicated that the critical col
was placed on the road. When I arrived I
assessed the lay of land and placed the Trimble on one corner of the crossroads
and began my long wait. I stood beside a
large tree close to the Trimble and hoped that this quiet corner of Shropshire
would remain so for the next few minutes.
I checked the Trimble every few minutes as its required accuracy slowly
crept down to 0.1m. The accuracy figure
shown in the Trimble ‘bounced’ back up twice, indicating that satellite
coverage was not ideal, this was expected as there were a number of mature
trees and hedges all in close proximity to where it had been placed. However, I was in no rush. Two cars passed, one drove into the drive of
Stoney Pound and I stood beside the Trimble when it did so, the second pulled
up next to me and I chatted with the driver and explained what I was doing as
he went into the adjacent field and re-appeared with a number of dead moles. After a long wait the magical figure of 0.1m
appeared on the Trimble’s screen and I quickly pressed ‘Log’ and waited for
five minutes of data to be collected.
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| Risking its life AGAIN - gathering data at the critical col of the 400m Sub-Four |
Just one hill and survey
remained and that was the high point of the day; the 437m map heighted summit
of Stoney Pound Hill. I walked up the
lane from the crossroads and gained access to the summit over a gate. By the time data were collected a slight
chill has settled on the land, I packed the equipment away and headed back over
the fields to the lane.
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| Last survey of the day - at the summit of Stoney Pound Hill |
I now had just over a
mile to walk back on the lane to my car.
This was cut short as a car pulled up and offered me a lift, I
accepted. The person who kindly offered
me a lift was Wayne Smith and we chatted about the hills, Wayne has completed
the 600m summits of Wales as listed by Terry Marsh in his excellent guides.
As Wayne dropped me off we
stood beside my car admiring the hills and chatted about all manner of hill
related stuff, Wayne left with a scrap piece of paper full to overflowing with
names, websites and publishers of hill lists.
Before leaving, Wayne
showed me the book he had written to ‘The Drovers’ Roads of the Middle Marches’
which is published by Logaston Press, check the book out on Amazon, it receives
five stars from everyone that has reviewed it.
As we stood and chatted Wayne pointed out that the lane we were standing
on was an old drover’s road and these usually headed from west to east.
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Highly recommended for those wanting walks to historical routes through the hills
|
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| The author of the book - Wayne Smith |
It had been another very
enjoyable day in the hills with first visits to another three of The Fours and
one Sub to add to the total, and meeting Wayne was an ideal end to my latest
foray to the Shropshire hills.
Postscript:
Since the survey of these hills full LIDAR coverage is now
available. The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique
produced highly accurate height and positional data that is now freely
available for England and Wales. Consequently the numerical details
for these hills have been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR
height and position for some of these hills being prioritised over that
produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000.
Survey Result:
Cefn Hepreas
Summit Height: 412.4m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 26727 78732 (LIDAR)
Col Height: 366.9m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 26301 78758 (LIDAR)
Drop: 45.5m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 11.02% (LIDAR)
Llanfair Hill
Summit Height: 430.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Col Height: 415.3m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 25209 78802 (LIDAR)
Dominance: 3.54% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Llanfair Hill
Summit Height: 432.2m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 25480 79432
Col Height: 394.0m (converted to OSGM15)
Col Grid Reference: SO 25060 79639
Drop: 38.2m
Dominance: 8.84%
Summit Height: 425.6m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 24371 80264 (LIDAR)
Col Height: 397.5m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 23931 80943 (LIDAR)
Drop: 28.1m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 6.60% (LIDAR)
Summit Height: 438.3m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 23445 80810 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Col Height: 376.9m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 22872 80617 (LIDAR)
Drop: 61.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Dominance: 14.03% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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