Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Brown Clee Hill

26.03.18  Brown Clee Hill (SO 593 867)

Brown Clee Hill (SO 593 867)

I’ve lived in border country all my life, that haphazard delineating line between Wales and England with my forbears and myself rooted in the formers land.  Across the border lies the English county of Shropshire which in the main is topographically a part of greater Cambria, however until recent times I had not investigated the Shropshire hills, this has been rectified over recent years and their appeal and also variety is great, but the highest hill of the county until today had evaded me.

The county high point of Shropshire is Brown Clee Hill which is given a 540m map height and is adorned with a number of heathery bumps on its summit area, one of which has a topographic viewfinder standing on a levelled plinth with the customary stone steps leading up to it, whilst there are also two large radar masts near the high point.  Although it is the topographic viewfinder that acts as a honeypot for most walkers this is not the summit of the hill, the high point is a little further north on one of the heathery mounds beside the radar compound.

By the time I parked the chilled air of early morning had been swept away and spring’s warmth cascaded down from a radiant blue sky.  This first hill warmth is always an awakening experience when winter’s harsh climate and its sometimes oppressive day light hour’s gives way to burgeoning growth with greenery sprouting and welcoming lushness.

I had planned to use the paved access track to the radar masts as my ascent route but decided to park next to other cars in a large lay-by adjacent to a public footpath giving access through the Stanbroughs Wood on the eastern part of the hill.  I was thankful I did so, as the wood proved a welcome release from what would have been a strip of tarmac, it also proved rather beautiful with mixed woodland and a good, albeit muddy path leading forever upward.

The route to Brown Clee Hill from the east

The path broke out of the forestry through a gate on to open hillside and soon the remains of the Abdon Quarry came in to view with a large derelict building nestled against the upper easterly slopes of the hill, beyond was the paved access track and the two large radar masts, and above was blue sky, which proved a pleasing quality detracting from man’s imposition on the hill.

Derelict buildings from the old Abdon Quarry

The paved road leading to the radar masts

The paved track led to the plinth and panoramic viewfinder where a number of people were quietly taking in the view, I continued toward the heathery mound where the summit of the hill is positioned, once there I quickly assembled the Trimble atop my rucksack giving it elevation above its immediate surrounds and which acts as an improvised tripod.

Gathering data at the summit of Brown Clee Hill

As the Trimble beeped away gathering its allotted data I stood back and took in the view, it was good to be out on the hill in such beautiful weather.  If the viewfinder position was quiet I also wanted to gather data from its immediate periphery, and by the time data were stored from the high point all walkers had left, so I headed back to the plinth and gathered a further two data sets, one from the high point beside the stone façade of the plinth and the other from an embedded rock which visually was slightly higher, during this three other walkers appeared, one from the west and the other two from the route I had taken from the east, I chatted with all and explained what I was doing.

Gathering data at the edge of the viewfinder plinth

Gathering data on an embedded rock close to the viewfinder plinth

After data were stored and the Trimble packed away I retraced my inward route back to my car.   

LIDAR col image of Brown Clee Hill

Postscript:

Since the summit survey of this hill 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 this hill have been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR height and position for its col being used.

 

Survey Result:

Brown Clee Hill

Summit Height:  540.5m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 59372 86701 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  165.9m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 61034 94666 (LIDAR)

Drop:  374.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Dominance:  69.30% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Brown Clee Hill

05.04.15  Clee Burf (SO 593 842)   

Clee Burf (SO 593 842)

Having visited Titterstone Clee Hill (SO 591 779) and Hoar Edge (SO 596 768) earlier in the day I drove northward and parked at the start of a forest road (SO 599 830), which heads up from Thorn Lane to a number of houses that are steeply positioned to the west of the forestry.

As I wanted to survey the col and summit of Clee Burf I had devised a small circular route that would leave the higher Brown Clee Hill for another day.  The route toward the connecting col was peaceful with blue skies and accompanying bird song and led me through a number of fields, all connected by footpaths and small stiles, the last of which led through a paddock with a number of contented grazing horses. 

Beyond the paddock I joined a steep lane which led to forestry, as I debated whether to use the forest track or a field adjacent to the felled patch of conifers a runner bounded up the lane, we chatted for a number of minutes, he lived at the last house on the lane and had been out visiting Brown Clee Hill and Clee Burf, he advised me that the forest track was probably easiest to use but the field would also take me to where I wanted to get, I opted for the field and slowly gained height before accessing the forest track through a gate.

By now the blue sky had been replaced by another swathe of murk that always threatened to push in from the east, this at least quietened the heat of the day.  The forest track contoured past Boyne Water which is an unexpected lake nestled between conifer plantations, beyond the lake the forest track made its way past the remains of Burwarton Pole which was an old house, come farm, high on the hill, later in the day I would meet the son whose father used to live in this house.

Boyne Water

The forest track led to a path crossing a high field before it re-entered a deciduous wood which gave access to the boggy col between Brown Clee Hill and Clee Burf.  This col had two large puddles which were almost small ponds, each were muddy, the one slightly more northward had two outflows which to me indicated that the critical col was placed just beside the surface water.  As I was assessing the lay of land at the col I chatted with a few people, the first threesome comprising a family who helpfully gave me an independent assessment of where the true col lay, the second twosome were birders enjoying the day on the hill.

Gathering data at the col area of Clee Burf

Brown Clee Hill from the connecting col with Clee Burf

Once the Trimble was packed away I followed a green path up the hillside past the small nobble of Green Lea to the summit of Clee Burf, this as its counterparts has a large mast on its summit area, with its highest point laid back from the mast and being a large embedded rock, as the Trimble gathered its data I sat on another rock, ate a butty and looked down on the continuation of my route which was through another large bog.

Gathering data at the summit of Clee Burf

Beyond the bog was more forestry with the open moored path now being enclosed by steep sided banks as it headed south-westward quickly loosing height.  I wanted to divert from this path and use a track that eventually led down through the forest back to my car, the only problem was that the access to the track was through the end house and the access to the house was over a gate with barbed wire on the top, which was a sure sign that this was private land.  Not wanting a detour I headed over the gate and smiled at the people at the house who were happily chatting in the sunshine.  Thankfully they didn’t mind me using their field and track, we chatted for quite some time with the man telling me that his father used to live at Burwarton Pole, which was the remains of the old house I had passed earlier on the walk.  I thanked them for letting me use the track and continued on my way into the forest and down to my car.

LIDAR col image of Clee Burf

Postscript: 

Since the survey of this hill LIDAR has become 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 this hill has been analysed using this technique, resulting in the LIDAR height and position for its col being prioritised.

Survey Result:

Clee Burf

Summit Height:  510.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 59361 84264 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  449.0m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 59678 85326 (LIDAR)

Drop:  61.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Dominance:  12.03% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Brown Clee Hill

05.04.15  Titterstone Clee Hill (SO 591 779) and Hoar Edge (SO 597 769)   

Titterstone Clee Hill (SO 591 779)

The Clee Hills form a small chain of 500m hills in the southern part of Shropshire, with the 540m Brown Clee Hill (SO 593 867) being the highest in the county.  I’d wanted to visit these hills for many years as their domed profile and the various masts decorating their summits can easily be picked out from a number of the easterly mid Walian hills.

I decided on two walks leaving the highest hill for another visit.  As I wanted to take in each connecting col and Trimble it, I started from beside Cleeton Gate; a house positioned north-east from the summit of Titterstone Clee Hill.

The weather forecast predicted murky low cloud around the Midlands with the old adage of ‘west is best’ being a perfect summary of the day, and as I drove south from Welshpool in glorious morning sunshine the bank of low cloud soon enveloped the land as I approached Ludlow.  However, the murk was so low that the high Clee summits were clear – YYIIPPPEEE!!!

There are three possibilities for the position of the critical col of Titterstone Clee Hill, contour interpolation suggests that all three are similar in height, I only had time and inclination to investigate the more southerly of these and as I left my car I followed a soggy mud splattered path across the moor which headed away from the first summit of the day toward this col.

Beyond the moor the path became enclosed and very muddy, I left the mud in favour of a closely cropped grassy field and examined the col from a couple of positions, once happy with the chosen spot I placed the Trimble on the ground and gathered the customary five minutes of data.  As the Trimble did its stuff Titterstone Clee Hill rose directly to my south with its assortment of towers and masts skimming the skyline, these were slowly being swallowed by the bank of low cloud as it ebbed westward from its easterly murky depths.

Gathering data on the area of one of the options for the col position of Titterstone Clee Hill

After visiting the col I retraced my steps to the hill’s northerly flank and plodded upto the summit, the cloud that had played with the masts had now gone and was replaced by relatively warm sunshine and blue skies.  The summit of this hill has a trig pillar with an embedded rock two metres from the base of the trig being the high point of the hill.  As the Trimble gathered data I admired the northern edge of the hill which has a series of attractive broken rock outcrops, I also chatted with a number of people who were quickly appearing from all directions.

The summit of Titterstone Clee Hill

Gathering data at the summit of Titterstone Clee Hill with Clee Burf (SO 593 842) in the background

To the south of Titterstone Clee Hill is a Sub-Four named Hoar Edge which I wanted to survey, a short walk from the trig pillar over grass brought me to the access road to the large Radar Station on the summit area, this road led down past the quarried southern section of the hill to a large expanse of bog which has two main paths crossing it, this was the connecting col between Titterstone Clee Hill and Hoar Edge. 

The Radar Station on Titterstone Clee Hill with Clee Burf in the background

Once at the col I found a spot for the Trimble and waited in the sunshine whilst it gathered data, during this a number of cars were heading up the high access road to a parking area and viewpoint, this was just to my west and is an obvious starting point for a quick bag of the hill as it is only about 58m below the summit of Titterstone Clee Hill.

Gathering data at the col of Hoar Edge.  Can you spot the Trimble?

Titterstone Clee Hill from the connecting col with Hoar Edge

Once the Trimble was packed away I followed the path across the bog as it gained height onto the summit area of Hoar Edge, this is undulating with a number of small embedded rocks scattered across it, it also has two ancient cairns on its southern extremity, these proved lower than the summit.  I took data from three points just to be on the safe side.

Gathering data at one of the summit options of Hoar Edge with Titterstone Clee Hill in the background

By now I was over heating with the spring sun adding a good dollop of sweat to proceedings, I retraced by steps back toward the connecting col and walked down a path which gave access across the reed infested bog toward a small copse of trees and the continuing path down to my awaiting car.  One walk completed, next stop Clee Burf.

 

LIDAR image of Hoar Edge (SO 597 769)

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:

Titterstone Clee Hill

Summit Height:  533.2m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 59137 77948 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  300.2m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 59589 79732 (LIDAR)

Drop:  233.0m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Dominance:  43.70% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Hoar Edge

Summit Height:  479.3m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 59724 76919 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  455.7m (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 59889 77386 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Drop:  23.6m (LIDAR summit and Trimble GeoXH 6000 col)

Dominance:  4.92% (LIDAR summit and Trimble GeoXH 6000 col)

For further details please consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}