03.08.15
The Wrekin (SJ 628 081)
The Wrekin (SJ 628 081) |
The Wrekin stands
dominantly above the fertile flatlands of the Shropshire Plain with its
distinctive profile on view from miles around.
It is a hill that I’ve travelled past on many an occasion and also
looked out toward from countless Welsh summits, but up until today I had never
visited. The opportunity to do so was
suggested by Charlie Leventon who is fast becoming my personal Shropshire hill
guide. Charlie knows these hills
extremely well and suggested a circular walk taking in the hill’s north-eastern
and south-western ridge.
We met at Charlie’s
house in Shrewsbury and drove to the south-western end of The Wrekin where we
found a number of minor roads closed due to road work. This scuppered us using the normal ascent
route that Charlie prefers, however all was not lost and within a few minutes
we were parked beside a gate giving access into part of the extensive forestry
that dominates the surrounding land of The Wrekin.
The initial part of the
walk was on a freshly made forest track past conifer plantation, this soon
joined one of the many earthen paths that criss-cross the forestry, by now the
tree cover was mixed with deciduous greens adding complexity to the regimented
conifers previously walked past.
On the new forest track on the lower part of the hill |
This part of the hill is
on the lands of the Raby Estate with our route on a mixture of public and
permissive waymarked paths. Our forest
walk headed around the eastern side of The Wrekin toward a path that joined the
hill’s north-eastern ridge. This route
is the favoured ascent for many thousands of people as it has a large parking
area and ease of access onto the hill’s lower slopes. By the time we joined this ridge the tranquil
surrounds of the eastern path had been replaced with a horde of people slowly
making their way up one of Shropshire’s most distinctive and popular hills.
The forest track joined a path which then joins the main northerly route to the summit |
As we continued up the
ridge the path widened and beyond the trees we had glimpses of expansive views
down onto the Shropshire Plain and farther afield to the mid Walian hills and
the hills of south Shropshire. The summit
area of The Wrekin has a large TV mast on it which caused local controversy
when first planned; this can be seen from afar and was on full show as we
neared the summit.
Charlie on the upper section of the hill |
Approaching the upper
section of the hill we met a friend of Charlie’s; Philip Steer, who is 81½ years
young. This is an apt description for Phil
as he chatted away with anecdote after anecdote; he’s still going strong around
the hills having recently completed another strenuous test on the 50 mile
Longmynd Hike to bring his total up to around 20 completions. Phil was a competitor in Shropshire hill
races well into his 70’s and set the over 60’s record at the Little Stretton to
Stiperstones Time Trial in 1995.
The irrepressible Phil Steer |
As we waved our goodbyes
to Phil we continued up toward the summit passing through the ancient Heaven
Gate, which is the northern gateway to the old ring fort that once stood upon
the hill. Beyond was a narrow path that
led through fern and a small copse of trees to the northern summit of The
Wrekin. This position is seldom visited
as the throngs of walkers usually head for the trig pillar and panoramic
viewfinder about 100 metres further south.
However, its high point vies for being the summit of the hill and we
hoped by Trimbling both that the summit of The Wrekin would finally be
determined.
An artist's impression of the hill fort atop The Wrekin |
Charlie found the spot
for Trimble placement and as it gathered data we sat and ate a sandwich and
chatted as a procession of walkers headed toward the trig pillar. By now I was a little concerned as to how I
should hold back this continuous horde from the surrounds of the trig when the
Trimble was gathering data beside it.
Once five minutes of
data were collected from the northern top we walked to the trig and assessed
the lay of land from a number of directions.
The trig pillar atop The Wrekin now sits in a slight depression with the
land immediately beside it forming a small bowl as it encircles it. On one side a plastic mesh matting had been
laid to protect the land, this had grass growing under it as its highest point,
we judged this to also be the highest ground beside the trig.
Gathering data from the northerly summit of The Wrekin |
As I placed the Trimble
down on this high point I stood back and watched as a number of people and
their dogs wandered upto the trig to admire the view and to take photos, this
procession continued for a number of minutes until there seemed to be a lull in
activity which coincided with the Trimble achieving its 0.1m accuracy before
data can be logged, I quickly pressed ‘Log’ and stood back and asked one or two
people if they wouldn’t mind also standing back from the equipment. A number were interested in what I was doing
and as I explained the fineries of hill surveying and the whatnot of satellite
signals and data collection Charlie was contentedly exploring a rock outcrop to
the east, out of view of the goings on beside the trig.
Gathering data on the high ground beside the trig pillar |
Charlie on the rock outcrop on the eastern side of the hill |
Thankfully only a dozen
or so people approached the trig area when the Trimble was gathering its data,
all kindly refrained from getting too close when I explained what I was
doing. Once five minutes of data were
collected I quickly closed the equipment down, took some photographs and with
relief I packed it away, thanked some of the people for their patience and
joined Charlie for our descent of the hill’s south-western ridge.
The Trimble on the high ground beside the trig pillar with the northerly summit in the background |
As we walked over the
southern part of the upper section of The Wrekin, Charlie showed me the Needles
Eye, which is a small but impressive rock structure split away from the sides
of a larger rock outcrop. The summit
area of The Wrekin is quite expansive and pleasing to the eye with a number of
rock outcrops and with extensive views in all directions.
The Needles Eye with the hills above Church Stretton in the background |
Looking back toward the summit area of The Wrekin |
Our descent down the
south-western ridge proved rather steep and somewhat unrelenting. However, it was also rather beautiful as the
slight breeze blew through the trees and the tranquillity of the hill returned.
Charlie on the descent |
The path led us over the
small bump and aptly named Little Hill which is a spur on the lower section of
the ridge; we walked over the route of our inward track and continued to
descend to where Charlie normally parks when visiting this hill. By now the forested trees were behind us and
all that remained was a five minute walk back to the awaiting car on quiet and
undisturbed Shropshire lanes.
Survey Result:
The Wrekin
Summit Height: 406.9m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 62832 08197 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) (summit relocation)
Col Height: 96.6m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SJ 81328 21173 (LIDAR)
Drop: 310.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Dominance: 76.25% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Dominance: 76.25% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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