Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Tap y Botel (SH 646 066)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that was considered for inclusion in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill being confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

The criteria for the list that this hill was considered for are:

200m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with a minimum 30m of drop, with an accompanying sub category entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau consisting of all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m 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 hill is adjoined to the Tarennydd range of hills which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned between two river valleys with the Afon Dysynni to its north-west and the Afon Fathew to its south, and has the small community of Abertrinant towards the south-west and Abergynolwyn towards the east. 

Tap y Botel (SH 646 066)

Although the hill remains unclassified as it does not have the minimum 20m of drop required for 200m Sub-Twmpau status, it is worth categorising under the Significant Name Changes heading as the name this hill is now documented by comes from local enquiry.

When visiting this and adjoining hills I met a number of local farmers, including Joanne Redman who was out on her quad bike taking photos of her father’s farm from just below the summit of Coed Uchaf (SH 649 055), we talked about the hills and their names and Joanne recommended that I contact her father; Tomos Lewis who farms from Nant-y-mynach (SH 644 048) and she kindly gave me his telephone number.

Tomos Lewis of Nant-y-mynach

The following day I contacted Tomos and two days later then visited him, Tomos is aged 60 and a Welsh speaker, and has lived at Nant-y-mynach for 54 years, having moved there from the council houses in Abertrinant.  During our conversations Tomos proved very knowledgeable and gave me many hill names that do not appear on any Ordnance Survey map, and one of them was the name for this hill which he knows as Tap y Botel, telling me that as a child he used to go to this area to play.

Therefore, the name this hill is now documented by is Tap y Botel and this was derived from local enquiry.

 

LIDAR image of Tap y Botel

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarennydd

Name:  Tap y Botel 

Previously Listed Name:  not previously listed 

Summit Height:  216.2m (LIDAR)

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 64609 06678 and SH 64612 06679 (LIDAR)

  

Drop:  16.0m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2018)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Castell (SH 655 061)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height and drop of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 14^th May 2018.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

200m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

The hill is adjoined to the Tarennydd range of hills which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned between two river valleys with the Afon Dysynni to its north-west and the Afon Fathew to its south, and has the small community of Dolgoch towards the south and Abergynolwyn towards the east north-east. 

Castell (SH 655 061)

The hill appeared in the 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the invented name of Bryn Rhiwerfa with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the East. 

Bryn Rhiwerfa

268m

SH655062

124

23

Name from buildings to the East

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.

The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales.

Extract from the Tithe map superimposed with the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map

Extract from the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 2133 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Castell on the Tithe map, the details of which appear in the county named as Merioneth and in the parish of Towyn.

Extract from the Apportionment

When visiting this and adjoining hills I met a number of local farmers, including Joanne Redman on the summit of Coed Uchaf (SH 649 055), Joanne was on her quad bike taking photos of her father’s farm, Nant-y-mynach (SH 644 048), we talked about this and other hills and Joanne suggested that I should contact her father; Tomos Lewis, whose telephone number she kindly gave me.

The following day I contacted Tomos and two days later then visited him, Tomos is aged 60 and a Welsh speaker, and has lived at Nant-y-mynach for 54 years, having moved there from the council houses in Abertrinant when aged six.  During our conversations Tomos proved very knowledgeable and gave me many hill names that do not appear on any Ordnance Survey map, and one of them was the name for this hill which he said was known as Castell, this was during our telephone conversation, when we met he referred to this hill by its plural; Cestyll.

Tomos Lewis

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Castell and this was derived from the Tithe map and substantiated by local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarennydd

Name:  Castell 

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Rhiwerfa

 

Summit Height:  267.5m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 65561 06144

  

Drop:  88.4m (converted to OSGM15)

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Castell

For details on the survey of Castell

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2018)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Coed Uchaf (SH 649 055)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height and drop of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 14^th May 2018.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

200m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  With the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

The hill is adjoined to the Tarennydd range of hills which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned between two river valleys with the Afon Dysynni to its north-west and the Afon Fathew to its south, and has the small community of Abertrinant towards the west, Bryn-crug towards the south-west and Abergynolwyn towards the east north-east. 

Coed Uchaf (SH 649 055)

The hill appeared in the 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the invented name of Bryn Coed-y-gof  with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the West. 

Bryn Coed-y-gof

217m

SH649056

124

23

Name from buildings to the West

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

When visiting this and adjoining hills I met a number of local farmers, including Stephen Jones who farms from Llanerch-goediog (SH 640 050), which is situated directly below the hill towards the south-west, Stephen is aged 55 and a Welsh speaker and except for three years when in university he has lived at this farm all of his life.  We spent a number of minutes talking about the hills and their names, and two other names that Stephen also gave me will be documented in separate Significant Name Changes posts.  Stephen told me that this hill is a part of Tomos Lewis’ land, who farms from Nant-y-mynach (SH 644 048), and that it is known as Coed Uchaf, with lower land also known as Coed Canol and Coed Isaf.

Stephen Jones

I later met Joanne Redman on the summit of this hill, Joanne is Tomos’ daughter and was out on her quad bike taking photos of her father’s farm, we talked about this and other hills and Joanne told me that the name of the land, including where the summit of this hill is situated, is Coed Uchaf, she also confirmed that the names of Coed Canol and Coed Isaf are used for lower adjacent land and suggested that I talk with her father, whose telephone number she kindly gave me.

Joanne Redman

The following day I contacted Tomos and two days later then visited him, Tomos is aged 60 and a Welsh speaker, and has lived at Nant-y-mynach for 54 years, having moved there from the council houses in Abertrinant.  During our conversations Tomos proved very knowledgeable and gave me many hill names that do not appear on any Ordnance Survey map, and one of them was the name for the land that takes in the summit of this hill; Coed Uchaf.

Tomos Lewis

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Coed Uchaf and this name was derived from local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarennydd

Name:  Coed Uchaf 

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Coed-y-gof 

Summit Height:  216.5m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 64901 05582 

 

Drop:  41.0m (converted to OSGM15)

 

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Coed Uchaf

For details on the survey of Coed Uchaf

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2018)