Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – 500m Twmpau and The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru

 

Mynydd Nodol (SH 865 393) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the 500m Twmpau and The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and LIDAR bwlch analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

Mynydd Nodol (SH 865 393)

The criteria for the two listings that this height revision applies to are:

500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

500m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 15m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Highland Subs, the criteria for which is all Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 10m or more and below 15m of drop.  This list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams with the Introduction to the list published on Mapping Mountains in November 2015 and the latest update relating to the list published on Mapping Mountains in January 2023.

The Welsh Highlands - Uchafion Cymru by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Mynydd Nodol and it is adjoined to the Arenig Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the central part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with Llyn Celyn and the A4212 road to its north and a minor road to its south, and has the town of Y Bala towards the south-east.

When the listings of the 500m Twmpau and The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru were first compiled, this hill was listed with a summit height of 539m, based on the spot height that appears 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 the survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 and 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. 

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Mynydd Nodol

The survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 gives the summit of this hill as 540.0m positioned at SH 86514 39339, and this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey, Harvey or other interactive map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or other GNSS equipment or analysis of data produced via LIDAR.  Also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared with the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 540.0m and this was derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, this is 1.0m higher than the originally listed summit height of 539m, which was based on the spot height that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and importantly this height signifies that an uppermost 540m ring contour is missing from this map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Arenig Fawr

Name:  Mynydd Nodol

OS 1:50,000 map:  124, 125

Summit Height (New Height):  540.0m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 86514 39339 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)  

Bwlch Height:  370.8m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 85660 39014 (LIDAR)

Drop:  169.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (July 2026)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru

 

Craig Nyth y Gigfran (SH 687 461) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams. 

LIDAR image of Craig Nyth y Gigfran (SH 687 461)

The criteria for the list that this height revision applies to are:

The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 15m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Highland Subs, the criteria for which is all Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 10m or more and below 15m of drop.  This list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams with the Introduction to the list published on Mapping Mountains in November 2015 and the latest update relating to the list published on Mapping Mountains in January 2023.

The Welsh Highlands - Uchafion Cymru by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Craig Nyth y Gigfran and it is adjoined to the Moelwyn Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the A470 road to its east and the A496 road to its south-east, and has the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog towards the east.

A basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 30.08.04 gave this hill 43½ft (13.3m) of drop and the hill was therefore listed with an estimated c 529m summit height and an estimated c 516m bwlch height, with both heights based on the basic levelling survey and interpolation of 10m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

Since the original compilation of this list there have been a number of maps made available online.  Some of these are historic such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website.  Whilst others were digitally updated such as the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the interactive mapping on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites.

One of the mapping resources now available online is the WalkLakes website which hosts an interactive map originated from the Ordnance Survey Open Data programme.  This map has many spot heights not on other publicly available maps and for this hill is has a 530m summit spot height. 

Extract from the interactive mapping hosted on the WalkLakes website

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 of Craig Nyth y Gigfran (SH 687 461)

LIDAR analysis gives the summit of this hill as 530.1m positioned at SH 68732 46178, and this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey, Harvey or other interactive map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or analysis of data produced via LIDAR.  Also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared with the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 530.1m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 1.1m higher than the original estimated c 529m summit height and 10.1m higher than the uppermost 520m contour that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and importantly this height signifies that an uppermost 530m ring contour is missing from this map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moelwyn Mawr

Name:  Craig Nyth y Gigfran

OS 1:50,000 map:  115

Summit Height (New Height):  530.1m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 68732 46178 (LIDAR)  

Bwlch Height:  516.9m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 68649 46174 (LIDAR)

Drop:  13.2m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (June 2026)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru

 

Craig Ysgafn (SH 660 442) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams. 

LIDAR image of Craig Ysgafn (SH 660 442)

The criteria for the list that this height revision applies to are:

The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 15m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Highland Subs, the criteria for which is all Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 10m or more and below 15m of drop.  This list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams with the Introduction to the list published on Mapping Mountains in November 2015 and the latest update relating to the list published on Mapping Mountains in January 2023.

The Welsh Highlands - Uchafion Cymru by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Craig Ysgafn and it is adjoined to the Moelwyn Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the A4085 road to its west, the A487 road to its south and the A496 road to its east, and has the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog towards the east north-east.

Evaluating a summit and bwlch height for this hill based on contour interpolation from contemporary Ordnance Survey maps is difficult, as except for a 640m contour there is no significant independent contour of note on the Ordnance Survey 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 of Craig Ysgafn (SH 660 442)

LIDAR analysis gives the summit of this hill as 658.2m positioned at SH 66008 44230, and this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey, Harvey or other interactive map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or analysis of data produced via LIDAR.  Also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared with the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 658.2m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 18.2m higher than the uppermost 640m contour that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and importantly this height signifies that an uppermost 650m ring contour is missing from this map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moelwyn Mawr

Name:  Craig Ysgafn

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height (New Height):  658.2m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 66008 44230 (LIDAR)  

Bwlch Height:  647.9m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 66012 44249 (LIDAR)

Drop:  10.2m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (May 2026)

 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – 600m Twmpau and The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru

Craig Ysgafn (SH 659 443) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the 600m Twmpau and the The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams. 

LIDAR image of Craig Ysgafn (SH 659 443)

The criteria for the two listings that this height revision applies to are:

600m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 600m and below 700m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 600m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 600m and below 700m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

600m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 15m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Highland Subs, the criteria for which is all Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 10m or more and below 15m of drop.  This list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams with the Introduction to the list published on Mapping Mountains in November 2015 and the latest update relating to the list published on Mapping Mountains in January 2023.

The Welsh Highlands - Uchafion Cymru by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Craig Ysgafn and it is adjoined to the Moelwyn Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the A4085 road to its west, the A487 road to its south and the A496 road to its east, and has the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog towards the east north-east.

When the list of Welsh 500m P15s that later became known as the The Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru was first compiled, this hill was listed with an estimated c 26m of drop, based on the 689m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and an estimated c 663m bwlch height, based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 660m – 670m. 

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 of Craig Ysgafn (SH 659 443)

LIDAR analysis gives the summit of this hill as 690.0m positioned at SH 65994 44332, and when compared to its originally listed summit height this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey, Harvey or other interactive map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or analysis of data produced via LIDAR.  Also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared with the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 690.0m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 1.0m higher than the originally listed summit height of 689m, which was based on the spot height that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and importantly this height signifies that an uppermost 690m ring contour is missing from this map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moelwyn Mawr

Name:  Craig Ysgafn

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height (New Height):  690.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 65994 44332 (LIDAR)  

Bwlch Height:  663.4m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 66001 44596 (LIDAR)

Drop:  26.6m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (May 2026) 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – 500m Twmpau and Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru

 

Tryfan (SH 596 580) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the 500m Twmpau and the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

Tryfan (SH 596 580)

The criteria for the two listings that this height revision applies to are:

500m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 500m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 500m and below 600m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

500m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru – Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 15m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Highland Subs, the criteria for which is all Welsh hills at or above 500m in height with 10m or more and below 15m of drop.  This list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams with the Introduction to the list published on Mapping Mountains in November 2015 and the latest update relating to the list published on Mapping Mountains in January 2023.

Welsh Highlnads - Uchafion Cymru by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Tryfan and it is adjoined to the Yr Wyddfa group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and it is positioned with the A4086 road to its north-east, and has the village of Llanberis towards the north-west.

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

A basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 25.06.04 gave this hill 67ft (20.4m) of drop and therefore it was included in the listing that later became known as the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru.  However, this drop value was at odds with detail on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map which has an uppermost 560m summit contour and bwlch contouring between 550m – 560m, with interpolation giving an estimated c 555m bwlch height. 

Extract from the interactive mapping hosted on the WalkLakes website

The drop value ascertained fron the basic levelling survey implied that current Ordnance Survey contouring on the 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map is missing an uppermost 570m ring contour, and this is evidenced by the 577m summit spot height on the mapping hosted on the WalkLakes website.  This website hosts an interactive map originated from the Ordnance Survey Open Data programme and has many spot heights not on other publicly available maps. 

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Tryfan (SH 596 580)

The summit of this hill was subsequently surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 09.09.14, resulting in a 577.2m summit height positioned at SH 59636 58098, and this height comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey or Harvey map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or analysis of data produced via LIDAR, also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared to the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 577.2m and this was derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, this is positioned at SH 59636 58098 and is 17.2m higher than the uppermost 560m contour that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Yr Wyddfa

Name:  Tryfan

OS 1:50,000 map:  115

Summit Height (New Height):  577.2m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 59636 58098 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)  

Bwlch Height:  556.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 59683 57996 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Drop:  20.8m (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2024)