(SIGNIFICANT SUMMITS)

A LazyMap of "Greater Cambria"


Ever noticed that Wales officially has a North, Mid, South, and West, but no East?

The image below is the latest incarnation of a sketch I first made when chasing down the Significant Summits of the Cambrian Mountains, i.e. of Wales.

Noting the distribution of hills with a prominence of more than 500ft [1], I wondered at their relation to each other and drew in the cols between each pair that are linked along the watershed, and then went back to the maps to find the triplepoints where the interlinking ridges met, and lazily sketched in straight lines to give just the trend of those ridges.

This left odd and disjointed pieces floating about, and so the adjoining hills across the English border were added, as far as the Severn (and the River Weaver in the north, and the lowest col between the two [2]) which appeared to be a more natural boundary to use rather then the national border.  This additional area corresponds to most of what is historically known to the English as the "Welsh Marches".

A hand-typed sketch is shown below, no less basic than the original hand-drawn one.  The summits, cols, and triplepoints are generally plotted to an accuracy of a square km, though some have been nudged a pixel in any direction when in danger of merging.  The three summits surrounded by dotted circles indicate the location of single-summit islands -- but not the size or shape of the islands, just as the coast is omitted from the mainland.

Despite the complete lack of other data, the hills and ridges give a remarkably good account of the shape of Wales outright [3], requiring only 2-20km of surrounding land to flesh-out the `skeleton' of the hills and ridges shown.  This is in marked contrast to England which lacks somewhat in the Midlands and East [4].

For a more detailed account of the Welsh Marilyns, TACit Press publishes tables for all the Marilyns and many other hills in Wales, and for that matter the rest of the British (& Irish) Isles.

[ 1:  Later extended down to 150m (492 and-a-bit feet) to concur with Alan Dawson's Marilyns, as per his Relative Hills of Britain and later amendments.]
[ 2:  This col also happens to be the lowest point on the watershed between Scafell Pike, the highest point in England, and Snowdon, the highest point in Wales, arguably making it ideal as the boundary between the two groups of hills.]
[ 3:  See the inset on the map below, drawn at 1/10th the scale of the main map.]
[ 4:  See the LazyMap of The British Lowlands.]


[IMAGE:  The +150m Prominence Hills of WALES and adjoining parts of England]
  Hill              Prominence
 #  name               m   ft

 1 Snowdon           1038 3406
 2 Carnedd Llewelyn   750 2461
 3 Pen y Fan          671 2201
 4 Aran Fawddwy       670 2198
 5 Glyder Fawr        643 2110
 6 Waun Fach          622 2041
 7 Cadair Idris       608 1995
 8 Moel Siabod        595 1952
 9 Moel Hebog         585 1919
10 Y Llethr           561 1841

11 Pumlumon           524 1719
12 Arenig Fawr        479 1572
13 Tarren y Gesail    463 1519
14 Mynydd Mawr        462 1516
15 Yr Eifl            433 1421
16 Fan Brycheiniog    423 1388
17 Sugar Loaf         413 1355
18 Craig Cwm Silyn    398 1306
19 Craig y Llyn       392 1286
20 Gyrn Ddu           385 1263

21 Moelwyn Mawr       385 1263
22 Moel y Gamelin     382 1253
23 Brown Clee Hill *  375 1230
24 Great Rhos         374 1224
25 Rhinog Fawr        363 1191
26 Stiperstones *     361 1184
27 Ysgyryd Fawr       344 1129
28 Foel Cwmcerwyn     344 1129
29 Cadair Berwyn      344 1129
30 Carn Fadryn        343 1125

31 Worcestershire
             Beacon * 340 1115
32 Y Garn             315 1033
33 Carnedd y Filiast  315 1033
34 Maesglase          311 1020
35 Rhobell Fawr       309 1014
36 Long Mountain      305 1001

37 Pegwn Mawr         299  981

 W The Wrekin *       310 1017
 
 
            * = English summit
      

Notes to the map:


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© Alun Fisher 2003