Garnwen

I took a walk to the top of Garnwen and onto Foel Trawsnant, mainly to see if anything had survived after our coldest spell for many a year (La Nina effect [see earlier post]???). It was pretty bleak and the wind still had a cold chill in the air. Up on the top green fields there were 2 pairs of hardy Mistle Thrush, 2 Blackbirds and 4 Skylark and not much else. Foel Trawsnant was even bleaker with a Jack Snipe flushed from underfoot being the only bird. In three weeks time these moors will be full of migrating Golden Plover, Snipe and about 20 pairs of breeding Skylark and 100+  Meadow Pipits and a little later Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and Reed Bunting. I'll now when to go up next when I see birds of prey circling/ hunting the area from my back window. Surprisingly I had my first flowering plant of the year in "Coltsfoot", blooming between 2 small snow drifts. With little else about my mind wandered to other things, see below.

The triangulation pillar at the green fields on Garnwen, with wind turbines in the background (I counted 86 turbines on the surrounding mountains)

Triangulation (pillars) is a mathematical process that makes accurate map making possible and is accurate to within 20mts. They are no longer in use and have been replaced by GNSS receivers [Global Navigation Satellite System] and this is accurate to within a few centimetres.

On the pillar is a Flush Bracket with an identification code [zoom in]. The code for this pillar is "S2047" I found out that the official name is Foel Trawsnant Triangulation Pillar and is one of 6,500 across Britain. The first being built in 1936 at Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire. Like an Iceberg there is more of the pillar below the surface than above it and are built from local stone encased in an outer concrete shell.

I checked the history of the pillar and it proved to be mildly interesting. It was built in 1939, but was then destroyed (no date or reason) and subsequently rebuilt in 1956 and the last maintenance was done on it in 1984.

There are many Trig Pillars on our mountains, so when I'm out walking I'll take a photo of a flush bracket to see what the trig points history is. I also found out that originally there were trig points at Nantyfyllon Primary School Vane and at Coegnant colliery bath rooms but these were destroyed when the colliery closed and was knocked down and the school was upgraded through building maintenance.

2 "Tornados GR4" flying overhead, one of three type of fighter aircraft deployed by the RAF. The other two being the Typhoon (Eurofighter) and the F35 (modern fighter aircraft made in USA)