Plymouth

Walk Details:
Date: 25/09/2007
Total ascent: 9m/30ft
Total distance walked: 0.17 miles
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking:Tesco’s has ample spaces
Accessibility: Freely accessible if you can dodge the traffic on the roundabout.

Top details:
Name: Roborough/Woolwell
County top number: 165 of 205
Grid reference: SX 50469 61584
Height above sea level: 160m/ 525ft
Hill type: County top
Notes: The highest point in Plymouth Unitary Authority is in the middle of the roundabout outside Tescos.

The Walk:

IIt had seemed a long drive here from Kit Hill through dismal rush-hour traffic, and I was glad to park up in the Tesco’s car park and nip into one of the largest supermarkets I’ve seen. My quest for the toilet was not particularly helped by a store employee who seemed unable to do anything but grunt occasionally.

Having finally found my way to the very blue toilets (they’re at the back left) I returned to the car and Jim and I walked back up to the roundabout at the store entrance. The county top is at the centre of the grassy mound of the roundabout. As I stood there with GPS in hand whilst Jim fired off his SLR camera, I felt it was a strong contender for the award for “Top Most Likely To Make You Look Like A Complete And Utter Berk”. I avoided the curious gaze of passing shoppers, and of the council workers heading into the nearby offices, by pretending to gaze admiringly at the slight views available in several directions.

Curiously I was to return to this top just a couple of days later with my wife and my daughter Emily – we popped into Tesco’s when passing to get some petrol for the long drive home, and they were able to “bag” this top in passing themselves.

Verdict
Leave it to the shoppers, it’s rubbish. And humiliating.