Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Pembrokeshire Islands

24.07.16  Green Scar (SM 796 226)    

Green Scar (SM 796 226)

Another island adventure organised by Adrian Rayner off the Pembrokeshire coast in the capable hands of Venture Jet, we met just before 9.00am at St Justinian’s which is situated west of St David’s and is the departure point for boats visiting Ynys Dewi (Ramsey) and where the RNLI Lifeboat Station is situated.  The weather was not ideal with coastal drizzle and grey murk predominating, however it was good enough to set off and with three islands scheduled to visit we skimmed across the water toward the first; Emsger (South Bishop).

Leaving St Justinian's aboard the Venture Jet RIB with (L-R) Tony, Alex, Adrian, George and Alan

I’d visited Emsger (South Bishop) once before in mid-May of this year when the sea was calmer and the blue sky and sun gave us a window of opportunity for an unrushed visit.  Today as the RIB headed off in to the bleakness and the lighthouse atop the island came in to view the waves chopped against the steep lower rock of the island and the swell did not look inviting.

As we neared the landing place the RIB was maneuvered in to place and three people stood up; Alex, Doug and Tony, with Alan and George deciding to sit this one out as the landing looked a little unwelcome due to the swell.  Also on board were Adrian, Rob, Jon and myself and as we’d all visited the island in May we also decided to remain on board.

As the boat neared the landing place and instruction given for Alex, Doug and Tony to each in turn make the step ashore, the boat reared up as the swell hit the island, all three made it and the RIB was then positioned away from the rock and remained relatively sheltered from the waves hitting the west of the island.

We couldn’t linger as there were another two islands to attempt a landing on, and so within a few minutes of being dropped off Alex, Doug and Tony were back down waiting to be plucked off the rock and make the step from solid ground back on to the RIB.  The RIB was again maneuvered in to place as the swell reared up necessitating  it to back off and try again, this happened a few times before instruction was given to come aboard.  As Alex made the step from relatively dry land toward the RIB the swell took the boat away from the landing spot and although Alex made it safely on board, he only just did so.  This proved a foreteller of what was to happen next as the RIB again approached the rock and Doug waited, as he made his move the swell took the RIB away from the rock and Doug stepped out in to thin air and disappeared in to the sea.

As it was raining I was protecting my camera and didn’t turn round to see where Doug was, but he was definitely sea bound.  I sat and hoped that he was OK.  The RIB was quickly driven away from the rock protecting Doug from being squashed between both and turned round to be beside him, the life jacket worked perfectly and had inflated on impact.  Within a minute or so Doug had been brought on board and he quickly stripped off two outer layers and put on a dry fleece and outer water proof jacket that were stored on board.  Thankfully he was all right, dampened by the experience we continued east toward our next island; Green Scar.

Doug after his dunking back on board and in dry clothes

Green Scar lies off the southern coast of St Brides Bay and is adjacent to the harbour feeding south from the small community of Solfach (Solva).  Today it was a forlorn place, devoid of sunshine it reared up out of a grey landscape where sky and sea met.

We were brought around to the eastern part of the island seeking shelter from the westerly bash of sea upon rock.  The island was another impressive bastion of lower rock crowned by greenery with a multitude of Gannets circling overhead, and the occasional Cormorant resting on the rock.

The eastern part of Green Scar

There weren’t many places to land safely but eventually a spot was singled out that was relatively sheltered and where the rock would not bottom out the RIB when nestled against it for our landing.  The main problem was our onward route beyond the landing spot as there wasn’t much to cling on to when dropped off, but soon Jon and Rob were on the island and finding hand and foot holds and by the time I joined them they were above the main difficulty and on slanting rock which gave relatively safe passage toward the summit of the island.

Much of the ascent required a steadying hand on rock, and these were covered in bird goo, as indeed was much of the island, it seemed to ooze out of every crevice and added some unwelcome interest to the ascent.  The high pint has the remains of a small cairn on it and soon the Trimble was positioned in place gathering its customary five minutes of data.

Gathering data from the summit of Green Scar

During Trimbling time the others investigated the westerly arm of the island which was connected to its higher easterly bulk by what looked like a slender land bridge.  As they neared its high point the last of the 300 data points were stored and I switched the equipment off. 

Looking toward the westerly point of the island

Although the ground beyond the westerly arm looked easier for us to get back on to the RIB, the others slowly made their way back across the slender land bridge and we descended through the bird goo to the waiting RIB.  The slither down the final rock and the last landlocked point where just one foot was resting before that final step out in to the void wasn’t as bad as I had expected and we all made it safely on board.

Only Gewni remained to visit, this is a tidal island to the north of Green Scar and Rob and a few others had previously investigated its connection to the mainland and thought it precarious.  By the time we arrived beside the island and investigated the landing opportunities the grey conditions pervaded all around, we remained on this side of the island and went back and forth looking for a safe place to land but it was decided that the day’s conditions weren’t conducive and the island and its summit would have to wait for another day.

Gewni (SM 797 236)

To the right of the arch is where Gewni is connected to the mainland at low tide

Going through the arch

Therefore we skimmed back to St Justinian’s with two out of three islands visited, one person a little wetter than planned and another part of this beautiful coastline investigated.

(L-R) Tony, Alex, Adrian, George, Alan, the skipper, Jon, Doug and Rob

 

Survey Result:

Green Scar 

Summit Height:  36.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 79641 22648

Bwlch Height:  N/A

Bwlch Grid Reference:  N/A

Drop:  36.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Dominance:  100.00%

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet.

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Pembrokeshire Islands

15.05.16  Carn Ysgubor (SM 699 246), Carn Llundain (SM 696 234), Foel Fawr (SM 705 225) and Pt. 23.8m (SM 706 236)

Foel Fawr (SM 705 225)

Ynys Dewi (Ramsey or Ramsey Island as tautologically given on current Ordnance Survey maps) is the fourth largest island in Wales after Ynys Môn (Anglesey), Ynys Gybi (Holy Island) and Skomer.  It lies off the Pembrokeshire coast in south-west Wales and is positioned on the northern side of St Brides Bay.  Its name is testament to its association with Dewi Sant (Saint David) as is association with that of his confessor; Saint Justinian, as it is from St Justinian’s that boat trips to the island depart.

I’d chosen a perfect day for my visit as when I awoke the chill of a starlit night had brought unbroken blue sky and a welcome warmth to the air by the time of the 10.00am departure.  The only boat company with permission to land passengers is Thousand Island Adventures, and for those interested in contacting them, their telephone number is 01437-721721.

The RNLI Lifeboat station at St Justinian's, St David's

Boarding the boat to Ynys Dewi (Ramsey)

As the boat pulled out from the bay Ynys Dewi looked tantalisingly close, elongated in shape from north to south it has three hills of note that I wanted to visit and Trimble, two are over 100m in map height, whilst its southerly outlier; Foel Fawr has a drop very close to 30m and therefore its resulting Trimble data was of particular interest.

The northern part of Ynys Dewi from the east

The eastern profile of Carn Ysgubor

The boat trip only takes a few minutes and once docked we clambered off and made our way up steps and a paved track to an outlying building where Sarah gave us an introductory and informative talk about the island, this came with a pamphlet by the RSPB which included a map of the island with the pathways shown in blue and red, this proved a helpful addition to the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map I had brought, on which paths are hard to distinguish from the placement of near contour lines.  On my way to the outlying building I noted that there were two lumps of rock and earth adjacent to where the boat had docked, if time permitted I thought I should Trimble both on my return for the 4.00pm departure, the furthest east was an island now joined to the rest of Ynys Dewi by the steps and track, whilst its adjacent neighbour looked slightly lower in height and was joined to the mainland by an approximate 1.5m – 2m high pebbled bit of land.

Once Sarah had told us all about the island I followed the continuation of the track as it made its way up to the aptly named ‘The Farmhouse’, from here the track turned in to a delightful green path leading past walled enclosures and over radiantly green fields to the steepening slopes of my first hill of the day; Carn Ysgubor.

Carn Ysgubor stands as the island’s northern outlier and given a map height of 101m, according to the map its connecting bwlch to its higher neighbour; Carn Llundain is narrow with its valley to valley contours almost meeting, and as I approached it I noted that there were two places where its critical bwlch may be positioned, both would need Trimbling.

Carn Llundain above Aber Mawr from its connecting bwlch to Carn Ysgubor

Beyond the bwlch the path continued upward through twigs of moorland surrounds which on such an island was a welcome addition to its vegetation.  The summit of the hill is crowned by a largish cairn with embedded rocks around its periphery; I thought two points needed Trimbling, each on opposite sides of the cairn and both of similar height.  As the Trimble gathered the second of these summit data sets the first people appeared on the horizon, I sauntered over and explained what I was doing and they kindly waited until the five minutes of allotted data had been gathered.

The set-up position for the first data set taken from the summit area of Carn Ysgubor

The set-up position for the second data set taken from the summit area of Carn Ysgubor

Leaving the summit I quickly retraced my steps back to the bwlch and positioned the Trimble on top of my rucksack at the first position that needed Trimbling.  As the equipment gathered its all-important data I stood below it and took in the scene of cliffs and blue sea.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Carn Ysgubor

The vantage point of these two positions for critical bwlch gave me superb views back to Carn Ysgubor being flanked by its immediate southerly cliff face, a towering face of verticality edged against the tranquil waters of Aber Mawr and a contrast to the relative salubrious surrounds of its summit.

Carn Ysgubor (SM 699 246)

To my south Carn Llundain bulged up beyond the immediate greenery of field which filled the foreground, this was my next hill and at a map heighted 136m, the highest point of the island.  The path leading to it from this connecting bwlch was an absolute delight; it was a sheer pleasure to be on it as no one else was around, except for one distant picnicker cast adrift on a grassy ridge above a horrendous vertical drop to the sea below. 

A lovely place for a picnick

Carn Ysgubor stands proud and framed by the blue of sea and sky

As the warmth of the sun beat down I continued on the path, past small hill meadows of tiny wild flowers as gulls and ravens and an occasional chough with its distinct red coloured legs darted past me, it was good to be here, and as the day continued I thought about these places, these island places, their distinct habitat and their inner feeling, that feeling that they give, and I considered their essence, and wondered about an apt description that I would give if anyone was inclined to ask, and I decided upon one word, a word that summarises my feelings, that word is – uplifting.

The red-billed Chough

Nearing the summit of Carn Llundain I checked my watch, it was nearing 12.00 midday and as I touched the large cairn and trig pillar on the summit the next boat leaving St Justinian’s was approaching the island, on board were Adrian and Ayako, who planned on catching me up as I Trimbled my way around the island.  They had four hours on the island and the three of us were booked on the 4.00pm departure.  I hoped that the next survey would not take long as I still had Foel Fawr to investigate and those two lumps of rock and earth next to where the boat docked.

The 12.00 midday boat to Ynys Dewi with Adrian and Ayako on board

I scratched around the base of the summit cairn for quite some time, and not wanting to disturb it I did not investigate its inner realms, but happy that I’d found the highest embedded rock at its base I positioned the Trimble on top of my rucksack above it and set it to gather data.  Wanting to position the front of the Trimble landward it meant that it was positioned between the cairn and trig pillar but its 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged was achieved remarkably quickly and after 300 data points were collected I switched it off, packed it away and walked over to the lower 128m map heighted southerly summit and drank in the view.  By now the early morning sunshine had turned hazy, but it was still a wonderful day to be out in such a place.

Gathering data from the summit of Carn Llundain

On my way to the southerly summit I spotted two roe deer lower on the hill’s eastern slope, almost camouflaged against the dulled colour of heather, they stood peering up at me, with an occasional flick of their heads as they nibbled on some juicy tit-bit.

A narrow path led from the lower southerly summit back to the main path and down toward the south-westerly spit of land that pokes out to sea.  The main path bisects hereabouts with one branch heading eastward toward the harbour and the other hugging the coastline ever southward, I opted for the path beside the coast and followed it to the top of a minor bump which was covered in delicate blue flowers and gave views toward Foel Fawr.

The next stretch of path was magical as Foel Fawr rose pyramidal against a backdrop of impressively shaped islands with Ynys Gwelltog particularly daunting, a great lump of beautifully carved steep rock capped with a greened summit, beyond was Ynys Cantwr and Ynys Bery, all invitingly close in distance but much farther away in reality, all a dream for budding ascensionists with one if not two distinctly doable.

The impressive Ynys Gwelltog

The view from the southern part of Ynys Dewi is particularly spectacular with (L-R) Foel Fawr, Ynys Gwelltog, Ynys Cantwr, Midland and Ynys Eilun in the background

From every viewpoint Ynys Gwelltog is impressive

I’d envisaged the connecting bwlch between Foel Fawr and Carn Llundain to be difficult to pinpoint and imagined it swamped in heather, but even from afar it was easy to see that its critical point was positioned on the eastern side of the area that took in the whole of the bwlch, and as I walked toward it this is what I found.

I gathered data from two positions a few metres apart and both on the valley to valley traverse, the ground hereabout has small undulations and therefore exact pinpointing of the critical bwlch to inch perfect would be hard to prove even with a level and staff.

Gathering data at the bwlch of Foel Fawr

Ahead lay the summit of Foel Fawr, a hill that is currently listed as a Pellennig and Sub-Twmpau with c 29m of drop.  Its profile between bwlch and summit leads me to believe that it has over 30m of drop, but the human eye is not the best to judge such things.

The south-westerly side of Foel Fawr gives a good ascent route with spectacular views

Another impressive view of Ynys Gwelltog

Once at the summit I found two small rocks that vied for the accolade of highest point, with the one nearer to a very large drop to the sea below being the one I favoured for the summit.  Because of its proximity to a large and horrible death via the dastardly bottomless drop in to the sea I decided to set the Trimble up on its dog lead, this can be clipped to its hand strap and enables me to hold it at a safe distance and positon myself under its internal antenna and yet still manage to save it if it was either blown overboard or dislodged from its alignment with the tip top and highest bit of rock, thus becoming airborne and in the process attempting to base jump down in to the bottomless depths.

The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Foel Fawr

My view of the dog lead during the first five minute data set at the summit of Foel Fawr

By the time that the safer second summit survey was being set-up a fellow walker was approaching on the path to the summit, I’d chatted with this person earlier in the day, and she kindly waited whilst five minutes of data were gathered.

Gathering data during the second data set on the summit area of Foel Fawr

Only the two lumps of rock and earth beside the landing place remained to visit and I wondered if I should ask permission to do so, as they were both off piste as far as fellow visitors were concerned. 

I came across Sarah on the path as I headed toward the harbour and explained what I hoped to do; I don’t think my directional detailing helped in pinpointing the exact places I wanted to survey so thought it wise to make further enquiries at The Farmhouse.  Approaching the house I spotted three roe deer beside the path, I back-traced to watch and photograph them, they are slender beasts, proud looking and robustly delicate.

Roe Deer with Carn Llundain in the background

One of the small herd of Roe Deer on Ynys Dewi (Ramsey)

Roe Deer with Carn Ysgubor in the background

As I rounded the corner next to the house the Warden was working beside the outlying building, I walked down and said my hello’s and explained the fineries of surveying and pointed up toward the slender summit of Ynys Fach, which is the easterly of the lumps of rock and earth, I was told that it is off limits as a canoeist fell to their death whilst on top taking photographs, I explained that I’m used to knife edged ridges and had a head for heights, but no charm on my part could persuade them otherwise.  However, I was given permission to visit the lower of these two lumps, and after a relaxing half hour in the sun on a bench outside of The Farmhouse, and after the Warden had told me that the higher and most easterly of the two lumps; Ynys Fach, is also known locally as The Axe, as according to legend this was the last point where St Justinian used his axe after creating the Bitches, I sauntered down the track and clambered up to the top of the lower lump.  This unfortunately doesn’t have a local name, although it is quite prominent to the eye.

Once on the summit I positioned the Trimble on top of my rucksack above the high point of earth and prayed that a gust of breeze would not deposit it in the ocean as it was positioned straight above an almighty drop.  As it gathered data Adrian came bounding up to meet me, he and Ayako had had a great time on the island but said that he’d had to run to bag Foel Fawr as four hours on the island proved insufficient.  When Adrian arrived we peered over toward the higher Ynys Fach and estimated that it was an approximate 1.5m – 2m higher than the summit being Trimbled.  Once five minutes of data were collected I packed the Trimbe away and sauntered down the small hill with Adrian.

Gathering data from the summit of Pt. 23.8m

The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Pt. 23.8m

All that remained was to wait for the boat to load its awaiting passengers on board and head back to St Justinian’s and the mainland.  As I walked toward the boat I took a few last photos of Ynys Fach and its great sweep of carved rock before getting on the boat, Ayako was already aboard having enjoyed her stay on the island and agreed that four hours was insufficient to visit all summits and fully investigate Ynys Dewi.

Ynys Fach which is also known locally as The Axe (SM 707 237)

Leaving Ynys Dewi

Ynys Fach

Ayako and Adrian

It had been a great few days investigating the hills and islands positioned around the Pembrokeshire coast and after saying my goodbye to Adrian and Ayako I quickly sorted my gear and car, and set the direction firmly eastward towards the delights of Worcester.

Survey Result:

Carn Ysgubor

Summit Height:  102.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 69953 24603

Bwlch Height:  51.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SM 70106 24328

Drop:  51.2m

Dominance:  49.99% (Lesser Dominant reclassified to Dominant [pre OSGM15]) (Dominant reclassified to Lesser Dominant [post OSGM15])

   

Carn Llundain

Summit Height:  135.8m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 69609 23456

Drop:  135.8m

Dominance:  100.00%

Foel Fawr

Summit Height:  72.0m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 70542 22567

Bwlch Height:  41.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SM 70511 22665

Drop:  30.1m (30-99m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 30-99m Twmpau)

Dominance:  41.78% (Lesser Dominant addition confirmed)

  

Pt. 23.8m

Summit Height:  23.8m

 

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 70677 23686

Bwlch Height: 5.0m (estimated from LIDAR analysis)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SM 70634 23719 

Drop:  18.8m (Double Sub-Twmpau addition) (Double Sub-Twmpau deletion)

Dominance:  78.96%

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet.

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Pembrokeshire Islands

14.05.16  Ynys Fach (SM 822 327)

Ynys Fach (SM 822 327)

With the day proving so beautiful and with hills to tick it wasn’t a surprise when Rob suggested we have a wee look at Ynys Fach, which is a tidal island close to the small community of Porthgain on the northern Pembrokeshire coast.  Rob was quite laid back about the whole affair, with such comments as ‘just a look’, don’t know what it’s like’, ‘may give it a go, we’ll see’, I quite liked this attitude, a long way removed compared to some of the research I do pre-walk with a multitude of ten figure grid references bulging out of my note pad.

We met at Porthgain, I was first to arrive (that organisational part of me does seem to pre-dominate sometimes) and settled down in the late afternoon sun as my Trangia stove did its stuff and soon I had a steaming mug of tea in hand and lots of nibbles as accompaniment, within a few minutes Adrian, Ayako and Rob had arrived.

Porthgain

Following a slanting road uphill brought us to a public footpath sign which constitutes part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, a keen breeze contrasted against the radiant blue as the sun blazed across the near sea.

Ayako, Adrian and Rob heading in to the field which gave access toward Ynys Fach

The path led over fields and was set back from the coastline, when this came in to view it was dramatic, with its crenelated rocks and gaping drops stretching northward where sea had lashed and met land.

Following the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path toward what proved to be an exciting descent route found by Rob

In front and below Ynys Fach came in to view, it looked impressive, sitting squat like with vertical rock sides taking up much of its south-western façade and with a flattened, and slightly slanted bluebell field capping part of its summit.  Its south side looked doable with steep grassy slopes leading to the comparative safely of its party heathered and mainly grassy summit plateaux.  However, although this southerly side was doable the descent to its pebbled connecting bwlch looked distinctly undoable as rock predominated, and much of it was steep and in some parts vertical, unless an approach could be found from its northern side it seemed our little late afternoon sojourn was going to be no more than a wee look, with all prospect of an ascent out of the question.

Ayako, Rob and Adrian on the path with Ynys Fach on the left of photo

The impressive south-westerly cliff of Ynys Fach with the bluebell field immediately above

We continued through the field toward the north to a point where we could look down and back at the island, again all approaches consisted of steep rock, it seemed our hopes of visiting Ynys Fach would have to wait for a future visit via RIB.  As we back-tracked toward being centrally opposite the island Rob clambered over the fence at the top of the adjacent cliff and ventured to its edge, he looked back toward us, and continued his downward descent, just as his head was about to disappear from view he called back that the onward route may be doable, I thought ‘feck alive, where the hell is he going’, after all it was about 40m straight down to the rocks and sea below and all possibilities of an approach had until now looked positively suicidal.

Rob just about to disappear from view - feck alive where the hell is he going!

As the Woodall disappeared from view Adrian, Ayako and yours truly proceeded to clamber over the fence and edge toward the grassy and slanting traverse that Rob had found, this led steeply down toward a slender crumbling rocky rib which was positioned about half way down the sheer side of the descent, this proved to be the crux, and Rob had already shimmied down and called back up that it was all right but was prone to be slightly loose in nature, Adrian soon followed taking the airborne route for his final landing on to the steep grassy ground below.  I shimmied down on my backside, conscious that to my right was oblivion, Ayako soon followed.

Ayako on the upper part of the crumbling rocky rib

Ayako nearing relative safety

The ground below the crumbling rocky rib was still steep, but the undergrowth gave purchase of a sort, and Rob headed downward to investigate.  Just before the last section there was more steep ground to negotiate, similar to a gully, and with Rob and Adrian’s assistance I shimmied down, this was the last obstacle and soon the four of us were standing on the pebbled beach.  Looking back up I had to smile, the descent had been exhilarating, an unknown quantity that Rob had found a way through and all rather nonchalantly. 

Rob exploring the continuation of our descent route

Ayako prepares to slither down the gully, with Rob directing from below

Our position was now rather stunning with early evening sun giving accentuated colour, the connecting land between the island and mainland consisted of a large pebbled bwlch with the sea relatively close on either side, and above on the mainland the prospect of retracing our rather exciting downward route.  Thankfully the vantage point of the pebbled beach gave us the view of an alternative ascent route back to the safety of the fields above, as steep, rough ground led up toward the upper edge, with no sign of any form of crumbling rocky rib having to be negotiated, it seemed we had done it, all looked well.

Ayako, Adrian and Rob on the pebbled beach looking back up to our descent route

Our descent route followed the grassy runnel to the left of the shadowed area, with the rocky rib above the top left corner of the grassy runnel - it was a fun way down

As Adrian, Ayako and Rob pottered around the bwlch I started the ascent, keeping directly under the south-west face where copious amounts of rock had fallen on to the ground below, Rob called up to be careful as one falling rock from above may prove an unwelcome addition for my head.

Looking down to the pebbled beach on the ascent of Ynys Fach

The whole hillside was ablaze with flowers, a delicious carpet of shadowed colour, all swaying in time and motion under the influence of the evening’s breeze.  It really was a wonderful place to find oneself in on such a beautiful time of the day.

The whole of the southern hiil side was ablaze with flowers

Beautiful and delicate

As I popped out on to the summit plateaux the sun came busting back in to life, Rob soon followed and headed toward what looked like the high point whilst logging on to the Hill Bagging website to quickly type up his ‘Log’ of our ascent.

As the four of us wandered around we assessed the lay of land and the general thought was that the high point was either in the vicinity of the heathery easterly part of the summit plateaux, or it was situated on the eastern end of the southerly part of this land, with the latter positioned on the edge of the steep ground leading through the flowers and down to the pebbled beach.  Two surveys were required.

A lot of the ground hereabouts proved rather spongy, but I chose a spot where the thick grass was directly growing from sandy earth and positioned the Trimble on it.  As it beeped its way to collecting 300 data points we all stood back and let it do its stuff.

Gathering data at the summit of Ynys Fach

The Trimble set-up position for the first of two data sets taken from the area of the summit

The second survey was amongst the heathery easterly part of the summit area, it was this point that looked the highest when we were looking across at the island from the mainland, but once amongst the heather it was obvious that the seemingly highest land was accentuated by the depth of heather, however there were a couple of places where the sandy earth sponged up out of the confines of heather.  It was only a few minutes after the first potential summit survey that the Trimble was gathering its second data set, and once its allotted five minutes of data were gathered I switched it off, packed it away and took the customary summit photos as Ayako threw her arms in the air in a celebratory salute.

Gathering data at the second position surveyed for the summit of Ynys Fach

The Trimble set-up position for the second of two data sets taken from the area of the summit

Adrian, Ayako and Rob in celebratory mood on the summit of Ynys Fach

All too soon it was time to leave; we headed down the steep slope, through the luxuriant bed of flowers and back on to the pebbled beach.  Once there I asked Rob to assess the bwlch from its easterly and then westerly vantage points, both close to the dappled water’s edge, he looked back up toward the hill to hill traverse and directed me toward the lowest point, this proved to be almost directly below the island’s south-westerly vertical cliff.

I positioned the Trimble on top of my rucksack, measured a 0.43m offset between its internal antenna and the point at which we had deemed to be the critical bwlch, and scampered away as it ebbed down to its 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged.  In affect the Trimble was set-up in a walled canyon as the island shot up directly above it, whilst the steep slopes of the mainland were only a few more metres away, I didn’t give it much hope of attaining its required accuracy level, but miraculously it did, and I quickly pressed ‘Log’ and scampered away to allow it to collect its all-important bwlch data.

The Trimble set-up position at the critical bwlch of Ynys Fach

As the Trimble gathered its data Rob, Ayako and Adrian sat near to the steep slopes under the mainland, once five minutes of bwlch data were collected I switched the Trimble off, packed it away and joined them for our ascent back to the field and safe grounds above.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Ynys Fach

Our ascent back up the slope proved much easier than our descent route, the only drawback was the thorned undergrowth which ripped at my legs.  As we crested the upper part of the steep ground we clambered over the fence and Adrian raised his arms aloft celebrating another P30 in the proverbial bag.  However, with only a small uppermost 30m ring contour at its summit and as the island is a tidal island the bwlch data set for this hill would be all important.  Would Ynys Fach remain in the ranks of P30s?  Only time and processing the data would tell.

Making our way back to the relative safety of the field with Ayako and Adrian above the pebbled beach

Back at the field and another one bagged

It felt good to be back in the field on firm and safe ground, but it had been a wonderful experience scrambling downward and then plodding upward through masses of seldom disturbed flowers.  And those all too brief minutes on the summit were marvellous, looking back across to the mainland as the sun cast down, pure bliss!

Last view of Ynys Fach - a stunning tidal island

We retraced our inward route back to Porthgain and found the last available outdoor table at the Sloop, an invitingly good pub that proved to serve extremely good food.  It had been another excellent day, with lots of islands visited, and with the weather forecast for tomorrow giving more settled and sunny conditions I had my sights on a six hour visit to Ynys Dewi (Ramsey).

Outside the Sloop at Porthgain with Adrian, Ayako and Rob

Survey Result:

Ynys Fach

Summit Height:  30.8m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 82209 32743

Bwlch Height:  1.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SM 82180 32693

Drop:  29.6m (30-99m Twmpau reclassified to 30-99m Sub-Twmpau and Dominant deletion confirmed)

Dominance:  96.02% 

 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet.