Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Humps

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587) – Recommended Subhump deletion

This is the thirty second in a series of Hill Reclassification posts that detail hills whose status has either been altered in the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) through map study and / or surveys that I have instigated, or it is the recommendation that their status is altered.

The remains of Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587)

Many preceding posts detailing these alterations to the Humps are retrospective as these hill reclassifications were either initiated from studying the Ordnance Survey Interactive Coverage Map that is hosted on the Geograph website, or initiated from a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000, and for this recommended deletion that affects the Humps the survey of this hill took place on the 11.01.14 with LIDAR analysis conducted on the 20 & 21.09.18.

The listing of Humps was published in book format by Lulu in 2009 and entitled More Relative Hills of Britain, its author; Mark Jackson gives credit to a number of people who contributed toward the formation of this list, these include; Eric Yeaman, Alan Dawson, Clem Clements, Rob Woodall, Bernie Hughes, Pete Ridges and others.  When the list was published in book format there were 2987 Humps listed with their criteria being any British hill that has 100m or more of drop, accompanying the main list is a sub category entitled Subhumps, with the criteria being any British hill that has 90m or more and below 100m of drop.

More Relative Hills of Britain by Mark Jackson

The details for the recommended deletion appear below:

There has been a recommended deletion to the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) instigated by a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 which took place on the 11.01.14 and subsequent LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

This hill has a convoluted history of classification within the Humps and prior to LIDAR analysis the hill had previously been listed as a Hump with a 327m summit height and 110m of drop, due to the hill being quarried its drop value was reduced in April 2011 to c 100m based on a reduction in its estimated summit height to c 317m, with it still retaining its Hump status.  The hill was then reclassified to a Subhump in January 2013 based on a 222m bwlch height which gave the hill c 95m of drop.  As well as the summit being reduced in height due to quarrying, there is a road cutting to the east of the hill which if taken as a part of the hill’s drop would increase this value.  The hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 resulting in a 312.6m (converted to OSGM15) summit height and a 222.7m (converted to OSGM15) height to what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch, and a 215.6m (converted to OSGM15) height to the road cutting, resulting in an 89.9m and 97.1m drop respectively.  With the hill being temporarily deleted from Subhump status on the 13.09.14 based on the drop value being taken to what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch.  The re-instatement of this hill to Subhump status was based on the survey taken to the road cutting and was accepted by Mark Jackson and it was added to the listing of the Humps on 22.12.15.

The hill is adjoined to the Fforest Glud range of hills and is situated overlooking the A 44 road to its east, and has the small community of Walton towards the north-north-east and Old Radnor towards the north-west.

The recommendation of this hill’s deletion from Subhump status is based on LIDAR analysis coupled with the summit survey using the Trimble GeoXH 6000.  LIDAR gives the summit of this hill as 319.4m at SO 25177 58811, whilst the survey with the Trimble produced a summit height of 312.6m (converted to OSGM15) at SO 25135 58770, the discrepancy in height is due to quarrying activity between the date that LIDAR was produced and the survey using the Trimble.

The listed drop valley of this hill will be based on the height and position of its bwlch.  An on-site inspection of this bwlch during the survey with the Trimble concluded that the natural bwlch had been terra-formed and lay in a Chapel, this is placed beside a minor road, which is placed above the A44 road which forms a cutting, all three are placed on the hill to hill traverse associated with this hill.  Therefore there are three options for the height and position of this bwlch.  Their respective Trimble and LIDAR data are given below:

Option 1 – natural bwlch:

Trimble:  222.7m at SO 25888 59083

LIDAR:  222.8m at SO 25887 59097

Option 2 – minor road beside Chapel:

Trimble:  not surveyed

LIDAR:  222.6m at SO 25899 59099

Option 3 – A44 road cutting:

Trimble:  215.6m at SO 25946 59114

LIDAR:  215.4m at SO 25943 59107

LIDAR contouring suggests that the natural bwlch of this hill is intact and placed beside the Chapel and an on-site inspection confirms this consists of grass.  Therefore as the A44 road cutting is man-made and the natural bwlch still exists the third option for the bwlch is dismissed.  However, the height of the minor road (option 2) beside the Chapel is lower on the hill to hill traverse compared to option 1, but LIDAR implies and the on-site inspection concluded that this minor road also forms a slight road cutting and therefore it is also considered man-made.

LIDAR image of the bwlch of Old Radnor Hill

Therefore, as LIDAR contouring implies that the natural bwlch of this hill is intact it is recommended that this hill is deleted from the status of Subhump based on Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch data.

The full details for the hill are:

Name:  Old Radnor Hill

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

OS 1:25,000 map:  201

Summit Height:  312.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 25122 58775 (as listed in the Humps, with the Trimble survey taken to SO 25135 58770)

Bwlch Height:  222.8m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 25887 59097

Drop:  89.9m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (November 2018)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Humps

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587) – Subhump addition

This is the nineteenth in a series of Hill Reclassification posts that detail hills whose status has been altered in the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) through map study and / or surveys that I have conducted.

The remains of Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587)

This and forthcoming posts are retrospective as many of these hill reclassifications were initiated from studying the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping that is hosted on the Geograph website, or in this instance from a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000, and for the reclassifications that affected the Humps the survey of this hill took place on the 11.01.14.

The listing of Humps was published in book format by Lulu in 2009 and entitled More Relative Hills of Britain, its author; Mark Jackson gives credit to a number of people who contributed toward the formation of this list, these include; Eric Yeaman, Alan Dawson, Clem Clements, Rob Woodall, Bernie Hughes, Pete Ridges and others.  When the list was published in book format there were 2987 Humps listed with their criteria being any British hill that has 100m or more of drop, accompanying the main list is a sub category entitled Subhumps, with the criteria being any British hill that has 90m or more and below 100m of drop.

More Relative Hills of Britain by Mark Jackson

The details for the reclassification appear below:

There has been an addition to the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) instigated by a survey with the Trimble GeoXH that was conducted on the 11.01.14.

The hill had previously been listed as a Hump with a 327m summit height and 110m of drop, due to the hill being quarried its drop value was reduced in April 2011 to c 100m based on a reduction in its estimated summit height to c 317m, with it still retaining its Hump status.  The hill was then reclassified to a Subhump in January 2013 based on a 222m bwlch height which gave the hill c 95m of drop.  As well as the summit being reduced in height due to quarrying, there is a road cutting to the east of the hill which if taken as a part of the hill’s drop would increase this value.  The hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 resulting in a 312.6m (converted to OSGM15) summit height and a 222.7m (converted to OSGM15) height to what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch, and a 215.6m (converted to OSGM15) height to the road cutting, resulting in a 89.9m and 97.1m drop value respectively.  With the hill being temporarily deleted from Subhump status on the 13.09.14 based on the drop value being taken to the highest remaining natural ground nearest to where the critical bwlch once lay.  

  

The hill is adjoined to the Fforest Glud range of hills and is situated overlooking the A 44 road to its east which increases its prominence if this road cutting is included as a part of the drop value, and has the small community of Walton towards the north-north-east and Old Radnor towards the north-west.

The re-instatement of this hill back to Subhump status based on the survey taken to the road cutting was accepted by Mark Jackson and it was added to the listing of the Humps on 22.12.15.

Gathering data with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 at the road cutting to the east of the hill

The full details for the hill are:

Name:  Old Radnor Hill

Summit Height:  312.6m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

OS 1:25,000 map:  201

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 25122 58775 (as listed in the Humps, with the Trimble survey taken to SO 25135 58770)

Drop:  97.1m (converted to OSGM15, as listed in the Humps)

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2017)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Humps

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587) – Subhump deletion

This is the eighteenth in a series of Hill Reclassification posts that detail hills whose status has been altered in the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) through map study and / or surveys that I have conducted.

The remains of Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587)

This and forthcoming posts are retrospective as many of these hill reclassifications were initiated from studying the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping that is hosted on the Geograph website, or in this instance from a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000, and for the reclassifications that affected the Humps the survey of this hill took place on the 11.01.14.

The listing of Humps was published in book format by Lulu in 2009 and entitled More Relative Hills of Britain, its author; Mark Jackson gives credit to a number of people who contributed toward the formation of this list, these include; Eric Yeaman, Alan Dawson, Clem Clements, Rob Woodall, Bernie Hughes, Pete Ridges and others.  When the list was published in book format there were 2987 Humps listed with their criteria being any British hill that has 100m or more of drop, accompanying the main list is a sub category entitled Subhumps, with the criteria being any British hill that has 90m or more and below 100m of drop.

More Relative Hills of Britain by Mark Jackson

The details for the reclassification appear below:

There has been a deletion from the listing of the Humps (HUndred Metre Prominences) instigated by a survey with the Trimble GeoXH that was conducted on the 11.01.14.

The hill had previously been listed as a Hump with a 327m summit height and 110m of drop, due to the hill being quarried its drop value was reduced in April 2011 to c 100m based on a reduction in its estimated summit height to c 317m, with it still retaining its Hump status.  The hill was then reclassified to a Subhump in January 2013 based on a 222m bwlch height which gave the hill c 95m of drop.  As well as the summit being reduced in height due to quarrying, there is a road cutting to the east of the hill which if taken as a part of the hill’s drop would increase this value.  The hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 resulting in a 312.6m (converted to OSGM15) summit height and a 222.7m (converted to OSGM15) height to what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch, and a 215.6m (converted to OSGM15) height to the road cutting, resulting in a 89.9m and 97.1m drop value respectively. 

The hill is adjoined to the Fforest Glud range of hills and is situated overlooking the A 44 road to its east which increases its prominence if this road cutting is included as a part of the drop value, and has the small community of Walton towards the north-north-east and Old Radnor towards the north-west.

The deletion of this hill from Subhump status based on the survey taken to what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch and was accepted by Mark Jackson and it was deleted from the listing of the Humps on 13.09.14.

Gathering data with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 at what was judged to be the highest remaining natural ground of the critical bwlch

The full details for the hill are:

Name:  Old Radnor Hill

Summit Height:  312.6m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

OS 1:25,000 map:  201

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 25122 58775 (as listed in the Humps, with the Trimble survey taken to SO 25135 58770)

Drop:  89.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2017)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Trichant

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 587)

There has been a Significant Height Revision initiated by a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 to the listing of the Y Trichant, with the following details being retrospective as the survey that resulted in this height revision was conducted on 11^th January 2014.

The name of the hill is Old Radnor Hill and it is situated in the southern part of the Fforest Glud range of hills, which is known in English as the Radnor Forest, this range of hills is in the heartland of mid Wales and the survey was conducted on a fine and bright winter’s day.

The hill is listed in the Y Trichant, these are the hills in the 300m height band of the Twmpau  (thirty welsh metre prominences and upward) and it is situated south-east of Maesyfed (New Radnor), with the nearest major road being the A44 which skirts the hill on its northern and eastern side.  The A44 road to the east of this hill comprises a road cutting which would significantly increase this hill’s drop value if the natural bwlch is considered to no longer exist and if the nearest point to it is not taken as that for the drop value of the hill.

The summit height of Old Radnor Hill has been dramatically decreased over time due to it being quarried.  However, prior to the survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 its listed height was an estimated c 317m based on the uppermost contour on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping hosted on the Geograph website showing part of a 315m contour ring.

This hill's new summit height is 312.6m, which is 4.6m lower than its previously estimated listed height and 2.4m lower than the 315m uppermost ring contour on the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping on the Geograph website.

The full details for the hill are:

Cardinal Hill:  Gwaun Ceste

Summit Height (New Height):  312.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Name:  Old Radnor Hill

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 25135 58770

  

Drop:  89.9m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

The quarried remains of Old Radnor Hill

For details on the survey that significantly revised the summit height of this hill

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2015)

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Fforest Glud

11.01.14  Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 588)

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 588)

Old Radnor Hill (SO 251 588) is currently listed as a Subhump with a 317m summit (SO 25122 58775) and 222m bwlch (SO 258 591), giving a drop of 95m.  Until recent times the hill was listed as a Hump with a 327m summit (SO 252 588) and a drop of 110m, giving a bwlch height of 217m.  The reason for the dramatic decrease in height is the Gore Quarry as the old high point is no more and the whole inner section of the hill has been dug out leaving a gaping hole full of quarry workings.

What is left of the hill is positioned in the quiet countryside of Radnorshire, between the villages of Walton and Old Radnor.  As the old summit no longer exists I wanted to survey the remaining high point and establish an accurate height for it, and also investigate the area of the bwlch and see if I could pinpoint where the critical bwlch is and survey it for absolute height.

I approached the hill with intention of visiting the summit first, but driving to the Gore Quarry entrance to familiarise myself with the layout of the bwlch before finding suitable parking for the ascent.  My first surprise was the public road through the quarry is now closed to the public and only accessible to quarry personnel and emergency vehicles.  I quickly turned around and headed back toward Walton and the narrow lane to Old Radnor.

Parking can be found near houses just north of Yatt Farm; from here I headed up on a footpath through a wood and stopped to talk to a woman and her son, who were on their way down.  The young boy kindly told me the way to the top and the woman explained about the quarry and the southerly narrow road now being closed to the public.

Exiting the wood the footpath continued around the southerly slopes of the hill, but as the young boy had said; a bulldozed earthen track bisects it and heads up to the remaining high point.  Within a few minutes the top is reached with a barbed wire fence halting progress to the quarry edge, here a signpost proclaims ‘DANGER this site is not a play area STAY OUT caring for your safety’.  I’m afraid I didn’t stay out and stepped over the fence as others had no doubt done so before me, as the wire fence was now sagging somewhat and gave relatively easy access to the lip of the quarry and the remaining high point of Old Radnor Hill.

The welcoming sign at the remaining high point of  Old Radnor Hill.

Toward the north, the left as one stands on the edge of the drop, is another high point.  I descended a metre or so and used the top of one of the wooden fence posts to align my tiny spirit level with the near high point and the more northerly one, the summit by the sign proved the higher.

During this process I kept looking down in to and across the quarry for any activity, as it was a Saturday it seemed no one was working.  I then dug below the grass to the earth and laid the Trimble on the high point and waited for it to reach its required 0.1m of accuracy before activating it to gather data.  I then retreated to the safer side of the fence and admired the view.  To the south-west is the Dolyhir Quarry obliterating another hill.  However, quarries do not predominate and the hills were on grand display in the afternoon’s sunshine.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the current high point of Old Radnor Hill.

After 11 minutes I switched the Trimble off and retraced my inward route back to the car and drove toward the Gore Quarry entrance on the north-east side of the hill.  The eastern side of the hill has a road cutting through it which transports the A44 southward towards Kington.  The quarry is entered from a small slip road that has access from north and south.  I parked next to the Quarry entrance and started investigating the land beside the upper part of the slip road.  The first surprise was an island of seemingly abandoned and hedged off land between the A44 and the slip road that is higher than the quarry entrance where I’d parked my car.  This is part of the ‘natural’ land as it made its way downward toward the bwlch on the hill to hill traverse.  Examining maps beforehand had pinpointed where the critical bwlch may lie if indeed it was based centrally on both hill to hill and valley to valley traverses.  This is beside a meeting of fences next to the quarry and a large building.  I quickly looked for this spot but decided to wander down to the road cutting and investigate that first.

Thankfully there is plenty of space either side of this road to potter about safely without being squished to smithereens. I found what I thought to be the high point of the road and dug to the earth below the thick grass and set the Trimble gathering data as cars whizzed past.  During data gathering I clambered up the cutting’s incline and sat in the afternoon’s sun feeling content.  Six minutes of data collected I headed back to the slip road and the proper investigation started.

The Trimble gathering data at the high point of the road cutting.

Although I didn’t venture in to the quarry I did look around it from its perimeter, it is extensive with roads, buildings and workings and no sign of any ‘natural’ ground in evidence.  To an extent that last sentence is subjective, as what is ‘natural’ in such an environment?  No gaping holes have been quarried out in the area of the bwlch (except for the road cutting!), but the land has been terra-formed by roads, buildings and their foundations, car parks and the like.  Is any of this natural?  If the ‘natural’ bwlch is under this area it has not been dramatically increased in height by the intrusion of man, but to my eye ‘natural’ ground no longer existed in the area of the quarry.

I then looked at my map (the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map is better than the Ordnance Survey enlarged mapping on the Geograph website for pinpointing a centralised point as the more enlarged map has contours disappearing in the area of the quarry workings, whereas the 1:25,000 map has continuous contours).  Walking in a southerly direction I crested the high point of the slip road and visited the field adjacent to the quarry.  This is south of the quarry entrance and just west of the slip road.  It is in the corner of this field where I hoped a centralised ‘natural’ critical bwlch may still exist.  From a southerly direction the land came up to the corner of this field, but to the eye it seemed to continue in a slight rise in to the area of the quarry.  Part of the land beyond the field has a large chapel on it which is adjacent to the slip road.

I placed the Trimble and gathered data in two different spots in this field, one near the corner and one nearer the slip road; the latter seemed the better position on the hill to hill traverse.  Both positions were close to the fence and had trees overhead.  Ten and twelve minutes of data was collected respectively.  

The Trimble gathering data in the corner of the field.

During the process of data gathering I kept assessing the field and its upward slant toward the quarry, the area next to the fence levels off and could be where the ‘natural’ bwlch position is still clinging on for dear life, but the land seemed to continue in a slight (very slight!) rise beyond the boundary fence to land beside a Chapel.

Trimble in the field.  Is this the position of the 'natural' critical bwlch for Old Radnor Hill?

Same position as above, but different view.  Looking across and down the field.

The clue to where the natural bwlch is positioned may lie in the high point of the slip road, as this high point is on the hill to hill traverse and when found all you have to do is follow it by eye either in to the field or beside the Chapel (if the ‘natural’ bwlch remains) or in to the Chapel building / quarry (if the ‘natural’ bwlch no longer remains).  It followed the latter (only just), implying that the ‘natural’ bwlch no longer exists.  However, since this survey LIDAR contouring is now available and this implies that the natural bwlch is intact and is positioned on grass beside the Chapel.

Survey Result:

Old Radnor Hill

Summit Height:  312.6m (converted to OSGM15) (significant height revision)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 25135 58770

Bwlch Height (beside road):  215.6m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference (beside road):  SO 25946 59114

Bwlch Height (in field):  222.7m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference (in field):  SO 25888 59083

Bwlch Height (beside Chapel):  222.8m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference (beside Chapel):  SO 25887 59097 (LIDAR)

Drop:  97.1m (beside road) (Subhump status reinstated) 

Drop:  89.9m (in field) (Subhump deletion confirmed)

Drop:  89.9m (beside Chapel) (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch) (Subhump deletion recommended)

Dominance:  28.74% (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch) 

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}