29.01.18 Leopard Hill (SO 872 555) and Elbury Hill
(SO 869 558)
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| The summit of Leopard Hill |
Having visited Worcester
on a number of occasions over the last two years I thought it time that I
investigated the highest part of the city.
This accolade had been accorded Leopard Hill which is positioned in the eastern
part of the city and is hemmed in by three B roads and a number of housing estates;
thankfully the upper part of the hill has escaped development and gives a brief
interlude from the concrete and brick that large conurbations bring.
Leopard Hill is given a
98m summit spot height on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and is crowned by a
metal fenced water tower. To the
north-west of the hill are further areas of land that have escaped urban housing
estates, these are Elbury Hill and Gorse Hill, the latter is given a 92m summit
spot height on the Ordnance Survey Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the
Geograph website, whilst the former is tantalizingly also given a 98m summit
spot height on this same map. However, the
summit area of Elbury Hill has a number of covered reservoirs positioned on or
close to this hill’s high point and as these structures are frowned upon as far
as the natural height of a hill is concerned I wanted to investigate and see if
an on-site visit and a survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 could confirm which hill
is higher.
Before detailing my
visit it’s best to mention that the summit of Elbury Hill is shown with a triangular
symbol on the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map published in 1886, which is given
the height of 323ft (98.5m) on the Six-Inch map published in 1905. The latter map has a covered reservoir marked
to the north of the triangular symbol, whilst the map from 1886 just has the symbol;
this implies that the 323ft (98.5m) height was taken to natural ground before
the covered reservoir was constructed.
The TrigpointingUK website details a block that replaced a pillar in
1970 and which is adjacent to a mast that stands in one of two covered reservoir
compounds and therefore is off limits for budding surveyors, this mast is also
recorded in the OS Trig Database at SO 86872 55812, unfortunately a height is
not recorded for it. The 323ft (98.5m)
height would have been to the old pillar which is given the position of SO 86915
55816 in TrigpointingUK.
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| Extract from the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map published in 1886 |
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| Extract from the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map published in 1905 |
I parked between the two
hills just off the B 4537 Tolladine Road and walked to its high point which is
where the col between the hills is positioned, and continued down the road
looking for a public footpath giving access to the northern part of Leopard Hill,
when found this led through a housing estate toward the upper part of the hill,
with the continuation of the path beyond the houses mud splattered from the
morning’s rain.
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| The high point of Tolladine Road |
The afternoon’s forecast
was good and deep grey cloud interspersed with radiant blue gave a dramatic colour
to proceedings. The muddy path led up to
rougher grass and the summit area of Leopard Hill with its metal fence and squat
water tower. I walked around the
compound and assessed the ground from various directions and judged land to the
west of and adjacent to the structure to be the highest.
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Leopard Hill |
Thankfully the Trimble
achieved its 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged relatively
quickly, and as it beeped away gathering the allotted 300 individual data
points I stood back and admired the view, which took in much of Worcester and
the Malvern hills beyond.
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 set-up position at the summit of Leopard Hill |
Once data were stored I
retraced my inward route back to the B road and walked back up to the
connecting col between the hills and followed a footpath on the right which led
across Elbury Park Road and continued to a track giving access to the upper
part of Elbury Hill. On my way up I
passed and said hello to a couple of dog walkers as the sky turned a menacing
grey colour and which kept the sun at bay for the majority of the duration I
was on top of the hill.
The track continued
around the upper northern part of the hill, whilst I opted to leave it
favouring wooden steps that led directly to the summit area. There are two large fenced compounds on the
summit of Elbury Hill, whilst the ground between is open. I spent a number of minutes assessing the lay
of land and having judged the high point to be on the open ground close to its
periphery and only just higher than the encircling brambles, vegetation and
small trees, I placed the Trimble on top of my rucksack, measured the offset
between its internal antenna and the ground below and waited for five minutes
of data to be collected.
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| Gathering data from where I judged the summit of Elbury Hill to be positioned with the southerly of the two compounds and where the high mast is positioned, in the background |
During data collection I
investigated the compounds, took a number of photos and admired the view
overlooking Worcester with the Malvern hills beyond, I also contemplated the
open ground where the Trimble was placed and wondered if the whole of this hill’s
summit including the open ground consists of one big covered reservoir, or if it
consists of a number of these structures, but as the majority of covered reservoirs I have
seen on top of hills have been situated in fenced compounds, I thought the open ground to be an indicator that a covered reservoir is not below it. Once five minutes of data were stored I walked
the perimeter path around each of the fenced compounds, the second of which
houses the high mast and OS block and which is out of bounds, and then used the
wooden steps as my descent route.
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| Looking through the metal fence in to the northern compound |
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| Worcester with the Malvern hills beyond |
Before heading back to
my car I contemplated getting a data set from the col, which would at least
give a drop value for the lower of these two hills. However, Tolladine Road was particularly busy
and it would have meant placing the Trimble in severe peril, which I am prone
to do on occasion, this time I was happy enough to turn my back on the col and
wander down the road to my car.
Survey Result:
Leopard Hill
Summit Height: 97.2m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 87286 55551
Drop: c 25m (col swap with Elbury Hill)
Dominance: 25.92%
Elbury Hill
Summit Height: 97.4m (converted to OSGM15)
Drop: c 53m (col swap with Leopard Hill)
Dominance: 54.84%
Although the recommendation is
to swap the position of the col and therefore the drop value and status as Tump
of these two hills, the height difference produced by surveying with the
Trimble GeoXH 6000 is not great.
However, the resulting data is the best available at hand, with the
caveat that higher ground may exist close to where the Trimble was placed on
Leopard Hill and that higher ground may exist in the southern compound close to,
or at the position of the high mast on top of Elbury Hill. The added complication are the covered reservoirs
on Elbury Hill and whether the open ground between the two compounds can be
thought of as being natural.
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