Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Fours - The 400m Hills of England

The Cold Piece (SO 338 996) - Four reclassified to 390m Sub-Four  

There has been a reclassification to a hill that is listed in the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey and subsequent LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

The Cold Piece (SO 338 996) 

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

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are three categories of sub hills, with this hill now being included in the 390m Sub-Four category, the criteria for which are all English hills at or above 390m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, with the 1^st edition of the booklet containing this list published by Europeaklist in December 2013 and by Haroldstreet in January 2014.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is now listed by is The Cold Piece and this was derived from local enquiry, and it is adjoined to the Stiperstones group of hills, which are situated in the county of Shropshire close to the Welsh border, and it is positioned with minor roads to its north-east and south, and the A488 road to its north-west, and has the small community of Snailbeach towards the north-east.

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

When the listing that is now known as The Fours - The 400m Hills of England was originally compiled this hill was listed as a Four with an estimated c 400m summit height, based on the uppermost ring contour that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, and this is the height given the summit when the 1st edition of The Fours was published by Europeaklist in December 2013, with an accompanying note stating:

As the only absolute height found for the summit of this hill is 1,311ft (399.6m) from the OS 1:10,560 map, doubt is cast upon its qualification as an English 400m P30, but as current mapping has a small uppermost 400m ring contour the hill remains in the list for now. 

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of The Cold Piece

However, it was not until the hill was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 and subsequent LIDAR analysis that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

Therefore, the reclassification of this hill from Four status is due to a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey with its col details subsequently confirmed by LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 399.5m summit height and a 341.8m col height, with these values giving this hill 57.7m of drop, and with its summit height below 400m it is sufficient for it to be classified as a 390m Sub-Four.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Stiperstones

Name:  The Cold Piece

OS 1:50,000 map:  137

Summit Height:  399.5m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 33849 99695 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

 

Col Height:  341.8m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 34228 99099 (LIDAR)

Drop:  57.7m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (November 2014)