19.02.14 Burway Hill
(SO 440 942), Yearlet (SO 436 935), Pole Bank (SO 415 944), Grindle (SO 430
926) and Callow (SO 431 919)
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| Callow (SO 431 919) |
What an absolutely wonderful
day! For many years I’d wanted to investigate
the hills of the Long Mynd and especially their eastern ridges. The OS map portrays a land of deep carved steam
valleys with steep sided rounded hills rising to a relatively flat topped
plateaux. It was these eastern ridges I
wanted to visit and the opportunity to do so presented itself when Charlie
Leventon suggested a number of alternative routes we could do on the first
available fine weather day.
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| Charlie Leventon on the way from Grindle (SO 430 926) toward Callow (SO 431 919) |
We met in Little Stretton next
to a bin at a junction of lanes (SO 441 919) where two or three cars can be
squeezed to the edge of the road. We
then drove through Church Stretton and gained height above the Carding Mill
Valley and made our way up to a pull in spot (SO 439 942) beside the col of
Burway Hill.
The forecast for the day was
good with sun breaking through high cloud cover in the afternoon. As we left the car to investigate the col there
was a slight breeze with freshness in the morning’s air. The position of the critical col was easy to find
as it was one of two places, each a few metres apart, we looked, judged, decided,
and walked to the same spot. Ten minutes
of data later and we were heading up to the summit of Burway Hill (SO 440 942).
This is a hill that Aled had
prioritised for a Trimble survey and it was also a hill that Charlie was
interested in, as the OS enlarged Geograph map gives a 373m spot height on the
high road adjacent to where one would imagine the critical col to be placed and
a 402m spot height on the summit. Could
Burway Hill be a new ‘Four’ with 30m of drop or with its current 29m of drop could
it be deleted from the Sub-Fours in to the ranks of Double Sub-Fours as its
absolute height is below 400m?
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| Burway Hill (SO 440 942) |
From the aspect of the col the
hill is pyramidal as it rises up to a pointed summit, its southern side plunges
down to the Townbrook Valley, and with small crags and a rock outcrop at its
upper section it is an excellent little hill.
We debated which of two
possibilities was the highest, each only an inch or so different in height,
once the Trimble had been balanced on our favoured chose and wedged in place
with a few small rocks we wandered down the eastern side of the hill to look
down its continuing ridge. Once 11
minutes of data had been safely stored we descended to the car and drove a
little way up the road to park in a better spot.
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the summit of Burway Hill |
We then followed a contouring green
path around the upper part of the Townbrook Valley that brought us to the col area
of Yearlet (SO 436 935). We took data at
two points at the col and then headed up to the summit. The hill has a steep graduated profile reminiscent
of some Howgill fells in the Yorkshire Dales.
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| The summit of Yearlet (SO 436 935) |
Charlie then led the way on
another good path toward the high point of the Long Mynd; Pole Bank (SO 415
944). This was the only hill of the Long
Mynd that I had visited, the first time I have no recollection beyond the
knowledge that I did visit, and the second time was with Bob Kerr in July 2012. The summit has a trig pillar and a panoramic viewfinder;
we again judged the ground for the high point and gathered another ten minutes
of data. During this time we struck up
conversation with two couples, one about Munros and the other about the height
of the hill.
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| At the summit of Pole Bank, the highest point of the Long Mynd (SO 415 944) |
To the north-west was the
Stiperstones, a dark jagged profile of rock outcrops and away to the south-west
beyond Heath Mynd were ominous rain showers, quite distinct with lighter hued
grey verging on white and spreading up valleys either side of dark low
hills. The wind direction came from
these showers and unless steadfast in their current position they would soon
inch their way toward us.
Leaving the summit of Pole Bank
we passed cars on the high road that goes over the Long Mynd and thought about
a lunch stop at Pole Cottage, which is no more than a dilapidated hut. We decided to press on in the hope that if
the rain did head our way we would at least have our back to it as we headed
south-east past Round Hill toward the col of Grindle.
At this stage sustenance was needed,
and as the Trimble gathered data at two points on the col, we settled down for
sandwiches and chat next to the ancient Cross Dyke that passes over the hill.
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| Lunch break on the Cross Dyke at the col of Grindle |
Charlie had told me that
Grindle is his favourite Long Mynd hill as it has few visitors, the main paths
of the ridge it stands on bi-pass its heathery summit, leaving it for the
investigative by nature and the hill bagger.
The high point was chosen by Charlie and I proceeded to do a little
gardening and cleared the area of heather.
During our time between Pole Bank and Grindle the sky had threatened
rain but thankfully none had materialised and as the Trimble gathered its data
the sun quickly broke through the cloud and illuminated colour started to
appear. Charlie then found an Ordnance
Survey metal stud placed near to the summit cairn. An opportunity to take data at this point
with the Trimble could not be missed and by the time it was set up for more
data gathering the sun was out and colour was bouncing out of the land.
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| The Trimble positioned on the OS metal stud beside the cairn on the summit of Grindle |
Sometimes words are not enough
to describe scenes of beauty, so hopefully the following images will do justice
to the half hour of luxuriant colour we experienced whilst near the summit of
Grindle.
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| The summit of Yearlet |
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| The Trimble positioned on the OS metal stud beside the cairn on the summit of Grindle with Yearlet in the background |
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| The Wrekin, The Lawley and Caer Caradoc |
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| Looking down on Church Stretton |
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| Charlie admiring the light on Yearlet |
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| Looking down on the summit of Callow |
Our last hill of the day was
Callow (SO 431 919) and as we made our way around the top of Small Batch we
stood and looked out on delicate subdued greens as the sun sank lower in the
sky, casting lengthy blacks and greys on the landscape. The half hour on Grindle and the walk to the
col of Callow was quite magical. But
these moments do not last as the play of sun and cloud only give enhanced
colour for limited periods and as the Trimble gathered more data at the col the
magical element of the colour disappeared and the winter stillness returned.
The summit of Callow has a
small cairn and high ground about 25 metres from it, we gathered data at these
two points and left the hills of the Long Mynd, descending eastward down to the
awaiting car in Little Stretton. What a
wonderful day!
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| The Trimble beside the small cairn on the summit of Callow |
Charlie documents his walks on his Summitsup blog, please visit and enjoy his beautiful images.
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| LIDAR image of Yearlet (SO 436 935) |
Postscript:
Since the survey of these hills full LIDAR coverage is now
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 these hills have been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR
height and position for some of these hills being prioritised over that
produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000.
Survey Result:
Summit Height: 402.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 44061 94220 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Col Height: 372.9m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 43980 94263 (LIDAR)
Drop: 29.85m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Dominance: 7.41% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Yearlet
Summit Height: 466.1m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 43644 93518 (LIDAR)
Col Height: 413.7m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 43412 93672 (LIDAR)
Drop: 52.5m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 11.25% (LIDAR)
Pole Bank
Summit Height: 516.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 41517 94440 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Col Height: 324.1m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 40094 99560 (LIDAR)
Drop: 192.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Dominance: 37.26% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)
Grindle
Summit Grid Reference: SO 43009 92663 (LIDAR)
Col Height: 406.6m (LIDAR)
Col Grid Reference: SO 42581 92764 (LIDAR)
Drop: 53.9m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 11.71% (LIDAR)
Callow
Summit Height: 412.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 43113 91917
Col Height: 369.1m (converted to OSGM15)
Col Grid Reference: SO 43050 92161
Drop: 43.2m
Dominance: 10.47%
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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