20.09.21 Windy Hill
(SN 307 548)
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| LIDAR image of Windy Hill (SJ 307 548) |
The summit of this hill seemed
relatively easy to reach, as examining the local roads with the aid of a Google
Car showed a convenient parking place just to the north of the summit next to a
gravel track and paved drive, with the latter leading to a house. Above the paved drive was a field and the
summit was either in the corner of it or across a boundary wall in a wood that
forms a part of a disused quarry.
I decided against a
direct route up the field via the paved drive as it looked as if the land
formed a part of the house’s garden.
Instead I opted for the gravel track.
This led past a number of houses with no direct access to the east which
would take me up toward the summit.
However, even with direct access the continuing route from this
direction did not look welcoming with an overgrown wood and no sign of a path,
so I continued until reaching the end of the gravel track at a house named Rock
Cottage.
Once next to the cottage
the gravel track swung leftward and upward, I followed it. I now entered an overgrown small field above and
also beside, the cottage. I hoped this
would give access to the field beyond a large unsavoury and overgrown hedge
that barred me from where I wanted to go.
It didn’t, so I backtracked and found an alternative path that took me
around and up the southerly flank of the hill.
However, although this path was good it was taking me away from the
summit so I clambered over a collapsed gate and tried my utmost to avoid a
patch of nettles. Usually collapsed
gates are relatively easy to get over, this had other obstacles involved and
landing on the other side gave me hope that I would get to the summit in one
piece. I was now in the field leading
toward the top of the hill, the view to my north-east opened up looking out
across the flatlands leading in to England.
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| The path leading toward the collapsed gate |
Prior to visiting this
hill I had LIDARed its summit and noted the ten figure grid reference to be a
few metres from that given on the Hill Bagging website. I hoped the LIDAR co-ordinates to be correct
as it looked as if this was in a field beside the boundary next to the wood and
disused quarry, whilst the summit position given on the Hill Bagging website
gives the high point a few metres over a fence amongst trees.
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| The field leading toward the summit |
When I reached the top
of the field I activated the Trimble and used it as a hand-help device and
zeroed in to the co-ordinates I had noted from the Hill Bagging website, it
pointed toward a fence made of cut and fashioned branches. This was higher than a normal fence and for
my no longer young and lithe frame proved another cumbersome obstacle to
overcome. Eventually I made it in to the
wood on the opposite side and stood on the mound that Hill Bagging gives as the
summit. This position certainly looked
the high point, but the LIDAR position was farther north toward a wall and
boundary corner, I headed that way to have a look, but soon came back satisfied
that the mound was higher.
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| The fence leading in to the wood with the summit just beyond |
I examined the ground
and found a small embedded rock which I judged to be the high point and
therefore I soon had the Trimble set up on top of my rucksack, and with the
measurement offset noted between its internal antenna and the ground at its
base I set it to ebb down to its 0.1m accuracy level before data should be
logged. This took about 20 minutes to
achieve, but I was happy enough in the wood, not doing much, just standing,
relaxing and recovering from cumbersome fence crossings. Once the 0.1m accuracy level was attained I
pressed ‘Log’ and stood back and below the equipment so as not to disturb
satellite reception.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Windy Hill |
During data collection
nothing else stirred, I ate a boiled egg and waited whilst looking down in to
the bottom of the discussed quarry. Prior
to the quarry I suspect the natural summit of this hill was higher than where
the Trimble was now placed, with LIDAR contouring suggesting the summit had
been quarried away.
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| The onward route from the summit and down the field |
After five minutes of
data were gathered and stored I closed the equipment down and headed to the
boundary wall and the path on its opposing side. This followed the wall down, but I suspected
it ended in someone’s back garden or just petered out, so I followed another
path adjacent to the fence that formed the boundary with the field where I had
been earlier, this thankfully led on to the open field above my car. I wandered down it and was soon overlooking
the house at the end of the paved drive.
Just as I headed toward steps leading down to the paved section a man
appeared and I waved and apologised for suddenly appearing in his back garden,
he smiled and we chatted for about ten minutes or so. He told me about the sections of undergrowth
he had cut to make the path I had just been on.
He proved very pleasant to meet and when I asked him about the name of
the hill, he replied that it is known as Windy Hill.
Survey Result:
Windy Hill
Summit Height: 174.0m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SJ 30743 54849 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 131m (spot height)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 30729 53674 (spot height)
Drop: 43m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and spot
height bwlch)
Dominance: 24.73% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and spot
height bwlch)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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