Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Mynydd Bach

 

15.10.20  Hafod Ithel (SN 610 677, previously Trimbled) 

I’d waited many years to visit this hill, and sixteen days after doing so I was heading back to it driving on the same narrow lane leading up its western flank in the good company of Charles Everett.  And like me sixteen days ago; this would be the first visit to Hafod Ithel for Charles.

At the memorial to the Four Poets

When I visited this hill in late September the forecast for blue skies had been overtaken by grey cloud pushing northward from the Preseli hills to the south.  Today, those blue skies were now above and the hill was bathed in early afternoon sunshine.

Locking the car I followed Charles and sauntered the short distance toward the memorial to the Four Poets; T Hughes Jones, B T Hopkins, E Prosser Rhys and J M Edwards.  This is positioned close to a slender rib of rock and sits proudly and unobtrusively amongst the landscape. 

Leaving the memorial we walked back down the path leading past my car and continued up on to the moor on the good path leading direct to the trig pillar atop the high point of Hafod Ithel. 

Charles heading for the summit of Hafod Ithel

Below us Llyn Eiddwen glistened, glinting and playing in the light.  To our north-east the rusted autumnal colour led the eye to the wind turbines close to the summit of Hafod Llŷn.  It was good to be here again, even though it was only a short time since my first visit. 

Llyn Eiddwen

Approaching on the path from the south were two people and they soon joined us at the summit.  We chatted for a number of minutes and they told us they had come from Lampeter for the day and were on a five mile circular walk. 

Looking toward Hafood Llŷn

Before leaving the summit Charles and I discussed whether the high point of the hill comprises an ancient tumulus.  I have found no proof of this either from old Ordnance Survey maps or historic records, but the ground hereabouts does lend itself to some form of human interference as it looks to be artificially raised. 

Leaving the summit it was only a short walk back on the greened path to my car.  Hafod Ithel was the sixth hill of a planned nine during the day, and or next; Banc Uchaf (SN 617 743) was due north and involved more navigating by Charles to find our way through the myriad of narrow lanes that dot the landscape hereabouts. 

 

Survey Result: 

 

Hafod Ithel  

Summit Height:  360.4m (converted to OSGM15, from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 61062 67794 (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Bwlch Height:  204.4m (converted to OSGM15, from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 64577 68898 (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Drop:  156.0m (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Dominance:  43.29% (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey) 

 

For details of the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey of this hill 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

 

 

 

 

 

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Mynydd Bach

 

29.09.20  Hafod Ithel (SN 610 677) 

I’d wanted to visit this hill for many years but until today had never done so.  Although, in part, I wanted to visit its summit, after all this would be another P30 bagged and surveyed, it was its connecting bwlch that was the real interest for me. 

The summit of Hafod Ithel (SN 610 677)

Hafod Ithel is the highest hill in the area of land to the west of the Elenydd and north of Mynydd Preseli and the hills of Pembrokeshire.  Its connecting bwlch is to its east and could be one of two points with a land mass between which has the summit of Banc y Maen Rochorlem (SN 675 691) as the highest.  This latter hill was also on the day’s surveying agenda, but that could wait until after visiting the summit and bwlch of Hafod Ithel.

For many years the only source available for hill list compilers who wanted to document the drop of Hafod Ithel were Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  These are the 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.  Both scales of mapping have contours between 200m – 210m for the two bwlch options for Hafod Ithel, with the 1:25,000 Explorer map giving a 202m spot height positioned at SN 64839 68745 beside a stream and probably not at the critical point for the westerly bwlch option, and a 204m spot height at SN 69535 68656 positioned on a road and in all likelihood not at the critical point for the easterly bwlch option.

The land mass that takes in Banc y Maen Rochorlem connects with land to its immediate north which then extends westward to the sea and also extends northward toward and following the Afon Ystwyth.  Therefore, the area taking in this land mass has a number of qualifying P30s that could, in effect, have either Hafod Ithel or Carn yr Hyrddod (SN 790 704) as their parent hill.

Since the days of hill list compilation using just paper maps, there has been a welcome revolution.  This takes in independent surveyors, online mapping and LIDAR.  The latter does not at the moment cover the whole of Wales, however it does cover the easterly of these two bwlch options and I LIDARed this a number of months ago, the result came to 206.210m at SN 69578 68344.  Therefore, the westerly option for the bwlch now required surveying with the Trimble GeoXH 6000.

Even though the summit of Hafod Ithel and Banc y Maen Rochorlem are covered by LIDAR, I still wanted to survey each with the Trimble and the first on my surveying agenda was Hafod Ithel.

The ascent of this hill can be an easy one and with a number of hills planned to visit during the day, this was my preferred option.  I parked beside the narrow road that winds its way over the western flank of the hill and followed a greened vehicle track on the moor to the summit. 

The memorial to the Four Poets overlooking my parking place

The summit of Hafod Ithel is crowned by a triangulation pillar and within a few minutes of arriving on top I’d positioned the Trimble aligned with the high point of the hill and waited for the allotted data to be gathered and stored. 

Gathering data at the summit of Hafod Ithel

During data collection I wandered below the high point looking back at the wind turbines near the summit of Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700), a summit I had just visited and surveyed.  Away to the south grey bulbous cloud hugged near the tops of the Preseli hills, whilst below the watered depths of Llyn Eiddwen glistened. 

Llyn Eiddwen

Once I closed the equipment down and packed it away, it was only a short distance back down the greened track to the car.  Before leaving I visited the memorial stone to the Four Poet’s which sits proudly beside a rib of rock. 

The memorial to the Four Poets

I now navigated the narrow lanes to and beyond the small community of Bronant and parked on a grass verge close to the farm of Pwllpridd.  From here I walked back up the lane to a track that headed down toward the area of the bwlch.  The grey cloud that had hugged the Preseli tops had pushed northward and the forecast continuing sun for the day was now partly obliterated. 

The track wound its way down to an avenue of trees and grazing fields.  Beyond was a mass of reed grass leading to a small conifer plantation.  The reed grass indicated bog and this looked extensive.  However, this route in to the area of the bwlch took me down toward it and bi-passed what looked like horrendous underfoot conditions. 

Arriving at the bwlch I first investigated the area of extensive reed grass and stepped over a drainage ditch come steam to get there.  Prior to visiting I’d looked at the 5m contouring that used to be available on the OS maps website and used this as an indicator for where the critical point lay as the 205m contours almost joined and the ten figure grid reference I had noted indicated the critical point to be back the way I had come. 

Striding back over the murky stream come drainage ditch I zeroed in to the point where the OS Maps 5m contouring gives as the bwlch.  This was close to a gate and a muddied land bridge that crossed a wide drainage ditch. 

The bwlch of Hafod Ithel

I took two data sets, one from where the 5m contouring indicated the critical bwlch was positioned and the next on the same valley to valley fence line and an equal distance on the opposing side of the gate. 

Gathering data at the first of two surveys at the bwlch of Hafod Ithel

During data collection I stood back away from the reed grass and assessed the lay of land at it came from the small conifer plantation toward the gate.  I judged land a few metres from either side of the gate descended north-westward and from its east descended toward the extensive reed grass beside the conifer plantation. 

Gathering data at the second of two surveys at the bwlch of Hafod Ithel

As the Trimble beeped away I sat on the lower part of the gate and waited for the allotted data to be gathered and stored.  This bwlch must only be frequented by an occasional passing farmer and if not for the wide drainage ditch it would no doubt be a quagmired bog. 

Happy with the two Trimble placements that can be compared for the height on the valley to valley traverse I packed the equipment away and retraced my inward route back to the car. 

 

Survey Result: 

 

Hafod Ithel  

Summit Height:  360.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 61062 67794

Bwlch Height:  204.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 64577 68898

Drop:  156.0m

Dominance:  43.29%

 

For details on the 2^nd visit to Hafod Ithel

 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

 

 

 

 

 

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Mynydd Bach

13.05.16  Foel y Mwnt (SN 193 520)

Foel y Mwnt (SN 193 520)

The land around Mwnt entices one in with quiet lanes seemingly disappearing into themselves and a gentle way of life.  Nothing ever moves in Mwnt, except for an occasional local and holidaymaker, with life slow paced on all but a rare occasion.

Mwnt is only a small community that was once an ancient Parish and my reason for visiting it was because of its hill, which is named Foel y Mwnt.  This hill is steep sided and placed next to the sea as it laps inland against its northern coast.  It overlooks Mwnt beach which nestles in its secluded cove, beautiful in appearance it portrays welcome and sun drenched days when laziness and quietness are sought.  The beach is serenely positioned and was included in a 2011 Daily Mail article as the top of its list of Europe’s top ten loveliest hidden beaches.  Although not knowing what the other nine beaches were, I would not argue with their listing as it is rather wonderfully situated.

Mwnt beach - beautifully situated

When I arrived at the car park the sun shone down upon a land becalmed in its warmth.  The ascent of Foel y Mwnt is a relatively easy affair with three paths heading towards its slopes; I chose the central one which directed itself straight for the summit. 

As I crossed the bwlch I stopped and looked at Eglwys y Grog (Church of the Holy Cross) which is probably a 14^th century construction and which is now white washed.  This Church is like the beach, and to an extent also like the hill, as it nestles in its spot, looking unobtrusive and in keeping with the position it finds itself in.  I thought it looked rather Irish, probably more so Celtic.  Inside it was peaceful and old, with a welcoming touch.

Eglwys y Grog (Church of the Holy Cross)

As I headed toward the central path a single figure stood close to the summit and proceeded to slowly walk eastward, and sat looking out with binoculars in hand to the land below.  By the time I reached the top I was sweating and it took me a minute or so to reclaim my breath before saying hello.  We introduced ourselves and commented on how wonderful the hill was; Rodney Gotto said that he’d visited it on a number of occasions, and as I set the Trimble up we talked about the equipment and its function and this led us onto hill surveying.  During the time that the Trimble gathered its all-important five minutes of summit data we chatted about the distance that we had travelled to get to where we now were, and Rodney said that he had come from Welshpool, I had a sudden double take and asked him; ‘from where?’ ‘I live in Welshpool’, came the reply, well I had to giggle and soon we were talking about local people that we both knew and where we both lived.

Rodney Gotto - a resident of Welshpool

Gathering data at the summit of Foel y Mwnt

Picking the Trimble up from its position aligned to the highest part of the hill I looked westward down the coast beyond the glistening sea toward Ynys Aberteifi (Cardigan Island) and thought back to my visit from September of last year, which had proved another marvellous island experience, with it being late in the day as the sun sank ever deeper and illuminated colour bounced across the land.

Ynys Aberteifi (Cardigan Island)

After I packed the Trimble away we walked down the hill together taking the path that curves around its eastern side as our preferred descent route.  We said our goodbye’s at the bwlch and Rodney sauntered back to his car whilst I assessed the lay of land and took a further two data sets from the area of the bwlch.

Gathering data at the bwlch of Foel y Mwnt

The Trimble set-up position at the bwlch of Foel y Mwnt

Afterward I visited the Church and then made my way back to my car to change and check the map for my onward route to the west of St David’s for my night time sleeping spot.  As I arrived at St Justinian’s the sun ebbed downward and blazed golden across the sky, a fitting end to a wonderful day.

The end of the day

Survey Result:

Foel y Mwnt

Summit Height:  77.0m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 19347 52072 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  33.6m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 19509 51931 (LIDAR)

Drop:  43.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  56.41% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet.

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Mynydd Bach

12.09.15  Ynys Aberteifi (SN 158 514)   

Ynys Aberteifi (SN 158 514)

Situated within 200 metres of the mainland, Ynys Aberteifi is the only major island on the great sweep of western coastline of Wales.  It rises to a map height of 52m and comprises 38 acres.  The Island is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and is commonly referred to as Cardigan Island in English.

Our trip to this island was arranged by Adrian Rayner who had sought and been granted permission to visit by the owners, Adrian arranged our trip with A Bay to Remember, who operate boats out of Gwbert, which is a couple of miles north of Aberteifi (Cardigan).  The small family run business was set up in 2007 and run two boats; we had the pleasure of being shipped to the island in their 12 person RIB.

Departure time was set at 5.30pm and I arrived with plenty of time to spare and relaxed in the afternoon sunshine listening to the car radio.  One by one the others arrived with John Mackay, Marian Mackay, Alan Holmes and George Morl appearing from the direction of the beach next to where the Rib was moored in the estuary, Gordon Adshead soon arrived, followed by Douglas Law and Alex Cameron with Mark Trengove and Adrian Rayner pulling into the small lane leading down to the slipway and finally Rob Woodall and Smudge arrived.  There was debate whether to leave cars on the sands but due to high tide we were advised to park above the estuary.

Walking across the sands with the late afternoon sun sinking behind dotted cloud we met up with the two designated operators from A Bay to Remember, they patiently went through safely procedure and gave us our life jackets and on we clambered.  I sat at the back with Mark and within a few minutes the RIB was being manoeuvred out of the narrow estuary and into the open sea.

Heading over the sands towards the RIB

(L-R) Gordon, Mark, George, Alex, Alan, Smudge, Marian, Rob, Adrian, Doug and John

We kept close to the coastline as the RIB sped its way north and as we rounded the rocky jut of Craig y Gwbert, Ynys Aberteifi came into view.  The island was bathed in late afternoon light with its lower southerly coast gauged out into rocky crags and its upper grasslands pleasantly sloped up toward its slightly rounded summit.

Following the coastline north toward Ynys Aberteifi

Close to the eastern coast of the island the Dinghy that had followed us pulled toward the side of the RIB and Adrian, Rob, George, Mark, Gordon and me clambered aboard and were whisked off toward the slanting lower rock of the island.  As with most of these island trips the safest place to deposit visitors is on a flattish lower rock that usually then slants upward shelf-like until the safely of the grass above is reached.  This landing was no different, however the rock on previous island landings had always been wet and slippy, whilst today’s was dry and a delight to stand on.

Adrian securely on the island with the Dinghy heading back to collect the remaining six people from the RIB

As we made our way up the rock the Dinghy quickly swept back to the RIB and Doug, John, Marian, Smudge, Alex and Alan were aboard and whizzing toward the island.  As Adrian and Rob headed up the grass toward the top, a large flock of Geese rose from the summit area and wagh-onked their way across the sky, slowly darting in quickly formed formation flying landward and then circling back over the island.  Their continued call and flight was captivating and added to the serene nature of our surroundings.

Safely on the Dinghy the last of the party prepare to head toward Ynys Aberteifi

Standing on the summit and looking out to the flatbed of sea with the sun casting silver sheen across its limitless depths was a wonderful experience, these island trips are always special with each having their own individual atmosphere, but they seem to be over so quickly and as a number of summit photographs were taken, people started to roam and investigate whilst I positioned the Trimble on the highest point of land under helpful instruction from Alan.

Gordon on the lower grassed slopes

Call of the wild as Geese fly over the island

Smudge, Gordon and Doug with the shapely profile of Foel y Mwnt in the background

Rob and Adrian heading for the summit

As it gathered its five minutes of data I stood and looked out to sea and watched a gull fly through the silvered horizon where land meets the depths of ocean.  When the Trimble had gathered its allotted data I pressed ‘Done’ and took a photograph of Alex, Adrian, Alan and Mark at the summit, with Adrian holding two fingers aloft signifying this to be his two hundredth island that he had visited, a remarkable achievement.

Gathering data at the summit of Ynys Aberteifi

Becalmed tranquility

(L-R) Alex, Adrian, Alan and Mark at the summit of Ynys Aberteifi

Leaving the summit we headed over to the northern highpoint which according to the map is 9m lower than the island’s summit.  By now the sun had sank behind cloud and the prospect of a magical and illuminated sunset was tempting, but we couldn’t linger as many of the party were booked on the Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid island trip for tomorrow and had hours of driving ahead of them to get to their club huts, Youth Hostels and such like.

Looking toward the northerly highpoint

Alex videoing the scene

(L-R) Alex, Mark, Rob, Adrian and Alan on the northerly highpoint

Leaving the northern part of the island

Heading down toward the rock shelf

We found the narrow rib of rock leading down to the rock shelf and waited to be picked up by the Dinghy and transported back to the RIB.  Once the first set of six were safely dropped off on the RIB the Dinghy sped back to gather up the remaining six.

Getting onto the Dinghy

Approaching the RIB

The Dinghy picking up Smudge, Doug, John, Adrian, Alex and Rob

Once all aboard the RIB we were taken around the northern coast of the island, by now shower cloud had formed out to sea and pushed westward past us, but as we sped around the rock strewn island of Silian a rainbow flashed down from the sky illuminating the small island followed by the western tip of Ynys Aberteifi.

Silian and rainbow

The RIB ground to a halt as we all stared and soaked in the view as Silian looked as if it was alight and bellowing forth the rainbow, a quite magical site, as the RIB started its engines and headed toward the estuary the rainbow circled around the main island before disappearing from view.

Evening light on Ynys Aberteifi

It had been another magical island trip and all due to the logistical and patient expertise of Adrian who had gained permission for us to visit the island and organised the trip, thanks Adrian.

 

Survey Result:

Ynys Aberteifi (significant name change)

Summit Height:  52.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 15812 51487

Bwlch Height:  N/A (sea)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  N/A (sea)

Drop:  52.5m

Dominance:  100.00%

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