so i click the link and learn that this is the second year of existence for the penderyn music book prize, which is as it sounds - a prize specifically for books about pop music. there's a panel, nominees, an announced short list, and then an announced winner. the chosen one is given "a cheque for £1,000 and a bottle of Penderyn whisky". i'm like, what the hell kind of whisky is that?
so i google it and learn that penderyn is a tiny town in wales and home of the only whisky distillery in wales.
Penderyn is a rural village in Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located near Hirwaun, and for postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales.
It lies on the A4059 road between Hirwaun and Brecon and is the last settlement on that road in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf before the border with Powys to the north. The village sits just within the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The River Cynon passes through the area.
It is the home of Penderyn Whisky, produced by the Penderyn Distillery (formerly the Welsh Whisky Company (Y Cwmni Wisgi Cymreig)). The award winning single malt whisky is the only whisky distilled in Wales, launched in 2004 after an absence of whisky distilling in Wales for more than 100 years.
Within the village, there are two chapels (Siloam Chapel and Soar Chapel) and one church (St Cynog's Church).
reading this gives me that homesick-esque feeling, that wistfulness of knowing that there is a beautiful little town i will never see and a world full of languages i'll never understand.
BUCK UP THERE, LASSIE!
so i'm perusing the wikipedia entry on penderyn, looking at the picture of siloam chapel, which looks about a million years old, and observing the map on which penderyn is a wee dot. i learn pen means "head of" and deryn comes from aderyn, bird, so the town is called bird head. i find this amusing.
under the see also section is this: "Moel Penderyn - prominent local landmark". well, THAT looks intriguing. so i click.
turns out, moel penderyn is a hill on the edge of penderyn village. i assume moel means hill...? this particular moel has at its summit a "trig point".
okay, a WHAT?
now i am really intrigued. this sounds absolutely fascinating.
so i google it.
turns out a trig point - also known as a triangulation station, triangulation pillar, trigonometrical station, trigonometrical point, trig station, trig beacon, or trig - is a fixed surveying station. it's like, a completely known point from which other points are triangulated.
oh my.
i don't know what i thought surveyors were doing, but i am starting to realise they were probably doing something completely different than i thought they were doing because - wait for it - their are KNOWN POINTS. who knew??
now i am wondering about trig points near me and turns out we can look them up! (check out http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/datasheets/.) i choose "search by county", pick my state then county, and then choose all the options to see the datasheets.
okay, stop my train. have you ever seen one of these things? you could literally find the actual trig point from the datasheet! yeah, i know. that's what they're for.
FD0655 STATION DESCRIPTION
FD0655
FD0655'DESCRIBED BY TN HIGHWAY DEPT 1963
FD0655'6.6 MI N FROM SPRING HILL.
FD0655'FROM THE POST OFFICE IN SPRING HILL GO NORTH ON U.S. HIGHWAY 31
FD0655'FOR 6.6 MILES TO THE MARK ON THE RIGHT. THE MARK IS LOCATED
FD0655'53.5 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE CENTERLINE OF U.S. HIGHWAY 31, 36
FD0655'FEET SOUTHEAST OF A POWER POLE. THE MARK IS A STANDARD TENNESSEE
FD0655'HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT DISK CEMENTED IN A DRILLED HOLE IN THE NORTH
FD0655'WEST END OF A 19 FOOT CONCRETE CULVERT.
FD0655
FD0655 STATION RECOVERY (1984)
FD0655
FD0655'RECOVERY NOTE BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 1984
FD0655'RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION. NOTE, LOCATED 25.9 METERS (85.0 FT) WEST
FD0655'OF THE NORTH END AND ACROSS THE SOUTHBOUND LANE OF HIGHWAY 31 FROM A
FD0655'LARGE BILLBOARD SIGN.
FD0655'THE MARK IS ABOVE LEVEL WITH HIGHWAY.
fascinating, fascinating, fascinating. the information is fascinating and i plan to look into it even more and in fact, scout out some of these places.
also fascinating is that in about 15 minutes, i have gone from wistful pining for the world i'll never see, to realising i am not even looking at the world i have right here.
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