Sunday 17 December 2017

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant


Y Graig (SO 133 590)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, with the summit height of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 3rd October 2017.

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

Y Trichant – Welsh hills at and above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips and the Introduction to the list and its re-naming and publication history was published on Mapping Mountains on the 13th May 2017.

The hill is adjoined to the Fforest Glud range of hills which are situated in the eastern part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and the hill is positioned between the town of Llandrindod (Llandrindod Wells) to its west north-west and the small community of Hundred House to its south south-west.

Y Graig (SO 133 590)

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name Blaen Edw Bank, this name appears on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps to the north-east of this hill’s summit and comprises land associated with the buildings named Blaen Edw (SO 14643 59322) on Ordnance Survey maps.


Blaen Edw Bank    370c    SO134591    148200


During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on a map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to and used many names that seemingly applied to a hill and whose placement was nearest the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are inappropriate.  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now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historical documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found, and in the case of this hill it was one of the local farmers whose family has lived in this area for over 100 years who gave the name of The Graig for this hill.

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


Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map

The local farmer is Keith Williams who farms from Hendy, which is situated directly below the hill to its south-west.  Keith is aged 50 with his family moving to this farm in 1902; he told me that the hill is a part of the land of Graig, which is the farm next along from Hendy and nearer to and directly below the hill to its south-west.  I met Keith whilst surveying the bwlch of Bwlchau Bank and he had stopped his vehicle on the narrow lane that crosses the bwlch to ask what I was doing, we chatted for a number of minutes and he was good enough to give me his time and also gave me the name of Bwlchau Bank, whose summit I hoped to visit before making my way to the top of Y Graig.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is Y Graig and this name was derived from local enquiry. 


The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Fforest Glud

Name:  Y Graig

Previously Listed Name:  Blaen Edw Bank 

Summit Height:  371.5m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  148

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 13372 59020 
 
Drop:  c 60m


The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Y Graig

For details on the survey of Y Graig

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2017)




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