Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Way Stone Edge

 

14.04.26  Dog Hill (SE 003 170) 

Dog Hill (SE 003 170)

Today’s plan was to visit two hills either side of junction 22 on the M62 motorway.  The first of these was Dog Hill which is classified as a Four with 34.5m of drop derived from LIDAR analysis.

Mark and I had overnighted at John Kirk’s in Burnley, having met him the previous day at the White House pub and after a lunchtime meal we missed the heavy localised showers and visited Blake Moor (SD 971 212).  Blake Moor entailed about 7 miles mainly on good tracks beside reservoirs with the customary moor grass and heather ascent followed by a similar descent down to a good track beside another reservoir.  Today each walk would be shorter, and the two hills that Mark and John had planned for us to visit although close in proximity, were very different in nature, with Dog Hill a pleasant ascent on grass whilst Way Stone Edge (SD 999 140) proved an altogether more wild affair with copious amounts of heather and moor grass. 

The path leading up Dog Hill

Having John as our local guide always proves beneficial with good routes up and down the hills chosen, and today for Dog Hill he suggested a pleasant ascent from the south of the summit on what proved a delightful path. 

The beautifully coloured grassland 

We parked in a lay-by on the A672 road close to where it bisects the M62 motorway.  The path heading up the hill was on the opposite side of the road and continued up through a myriad of delicate swaying grass whose colour mesmerized in a simple beauty.  This time of year before the fresh green growth of late spring and summer has chance to dominate, the grass on moorland hills takes on a bleached affect where gentle yellows cascade across the land and today the colour was on a stunningly subtle display. 

Mark on the ascent with the M62 and Way Stone Edge as backdrop

Our route up eventually left the beautiful coloured grassland and gained height around the upper southerly bowl of the hill; stopping to admire the scene I photographed Mark following us up with the thin slither of cars heading over the moor on the M62 as backdrop with the higher Way Stone Edge (SD 999 140) beyond. 

John on the path on the upper southerly bowl of the hill 

We were soon on the summit which has a trig pillar with the high point of the hill about seven metres from its base.  I had used LIDAR to determine the height and drop of this hill when Aled and I recently updated the listing of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, therefore although I’d brought the Trimble I had no intention of surveying the summit as LIDAR would suffice.  However, I did place the equipment on my rucksack for its customary summit photograph. 

The summit of Dog Hill

Leaving the summit we headed down on our inward path around the upper bowl of the hill and down through that beautifully coloured grassland with the buzz of the motorway dulled in the background.  Next stop the wild delights of Way Stone Edge. 

 

Survey Result: 

               

Dog Hill 

Summit Height:  434.9m (LIDAR)  

Summit Grid Reference:  SE 00313 17079 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  400.4m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SD 98466 17076 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  34.5m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  7.93% (LIDAR)

 

 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet