Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Brown Clee Hill

05.04.15  Clee Burf (SO 593 842)   

Clee Burf (SO 593 842)

Having visited Titterstone Clee Hill (SO 591 779) and Hoar Edge (SO 596 768) earlier in the day I drove northward and parked at the start of a forest road (SO 599 830), which heads up from Thorn Lane to a number of houses that are steeply positioned to the west of the forestry.

As I wanted to survey the col and summit of Clee Burf I had devised a small circular route that would leave the higher Brown Clee Hill for another day.  The route toward the connecting col was peaceful with blue skies and accompanying bird song and led me through a number of fields, all connected by footpaths and small stiles, the last of which led through a paddock with a number of contented grazing horses. 

Beyond the paddock I joined a steep lane which led to forestry, as I debated whether to use the forest track or a field adjacent to the felled patch of conifers a runner bounded up the lane, we chatted for a number of minutes, he lived at the last house on the lane and had been out visiting Brown Clee Hill and Clee Burf, he advised me that the forest track was probably easiest to use but the field would also take me to where I wanted to get, I opted for the field and slowly gained height before accessing the forest track through a gate.

By now the blue sky had been replaced by another swathe of murk that always threatened to push in from the east, this at least quietened the heat of the day.  The forest track contoured past Boyne Water which is an unexpected lake nestled between conifer plantations, beyond the lake the forest track made its way past the remains of Burwarton Pole which was an old house, come farm, high on the hill, later in the day I would meet the son whose father used to live in this house.

Boyne Water

The forest track led to a path crossing a high field before it re-entered a deciduous wood which gave access to the boggy col between Brown Clee Hill and Clee Burf.  This col had two large puddles which were almost small ponds, each were muddy, the one slightly more northward had two outflows which to me indicated that the critical col was placed just beside the surface water.  As I was assessing the lay of land at the col I chatted with a few people, the first threesome comprising a family who helpfully gave me an independent assessment of where the true col lay, the second twosome were birders enjoying the day on the hill.

Gathering data at the col area of Clee Burf

Brown Clee Hill from the connecting col with Clee Burf

Once the Trimble was packed away I followed a green path up the hillside past the small nobble of Green Lea to the summit of Clee Burf, this as its counterparts has a large mast on its summit area, with its highest point laid back from the mast and being a large embedded rock, as the Trimble gathered its data I sat on another rock, ate a butty and looked down on the continuation of my route which was through another large bog.

Gathering data at the summit of Clee Burf

Beyond the bog was more forestry with the open moored path now being enclosed by steep sided banks as it headed south-westward quickly loosing height.  I wanted to divert from this path and use a track that eventually led down through the forest back to my car, the only problem was that the access to the track was through the end house and the access to the house was over a gate with barbed wire on the top, which was a sure sign that this was private land.  Not wanting a detour I headed over the gate and smiled at the people at the house who were happily chatting in the sunshine.  Thankfully they didn’t mind me using their field and track, we chatted for quite some time with the man telling me that his father used to live at Burwarton Pole, which was the remains of the old house I had passed earlier on the walk.  I thanked them for letting me use the track and continued on my way into the forest and down to my car.

LIDAR col image of Clee Burf

Postscript: 

Since the survey of this hill LIDAR has become available.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height and positional data that is now freely available for England and Wales.  Consequently the numerical details for this hill has been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR height and position for its col being prioritised.

Survey Result:

Clee Burf

Summit Height:  510.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 59361 84264 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  449.0m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 59678 85326 (LIDAR)

Drop:  61.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Dominance:  12.03% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}