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LeicestershireWalk Details: Top details: The Walk: |
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After spending all day touring the flatlands, I was looking forward to this, our only marilyn of the day. Still, I still didn’t expect that much from it – the marilyn-bagging community regards this as one of the worst marilyns, scarred as it is by quarrying. Given that this is the highest point in the east of England, it’s strange that there are no car parks nearby on the map. We ended up parking in a residential road, from the end of which a path ran up the hill. In its early stages the path looked spookily like the approach to Ashley Hill in Maidenhead, but it soon plunged into deep woodland to run around the base of the hill. Turning right and up the hill we were confronted by a host of warning signs. This path was not to be used when quarry blasting was taking place – you’d be given a five-minute warning by sirens going off. The signs said that the main blasting times were 1:15pm and 5:15pm; well, it was ten past five now and there were no sirens, so we headed on up the hill.
Here we met an elderly chap who seemed unwilling to chat or even catch our eye. His friend had climbed over the quarry fence and was standing in a foolhardy way on the edge of the quarry cliffs. It occurred to us that he might be trying to have a slash, so we hurried on around the end of the quarry valley and up onto the ridge. Inevitably (being a county top) there was a telecoms mast; more strangely it seemed to have spawned a baby. An almost identical, quarter-scale mast stood nearby. The path ran through scrubby woodland at the top of the ridge. It was rocky underfoot and dipped and wiggled its way along the top, making for tricky walking. We certainly hadn’t expected a rocky top at this low altitude in the fertile east of England. Reaching the trig point at the highest part of the hill, we were amazed to find it stood on a rocky knoll, which had been built up further with the addition of a stone-built plinth. We clambered up to find an astonishing view stretching away for miles to the north. The foreground of the view was, admittedly, taken up by ugly open cast quarrying and associated buildings, but this just served to make the view beyond more beautiful in comparison. The quarry has probably also served to accentuate the peak of the hill by artificially steepening the side of the hill facing the quarry. We also wondered if the proximity of th quarry (thankfully!) kept down the number of visitors – Bardon Hill was certainly quiet compared to other comparable hills. The quarry has also paid for an information board at the top of the hill. This told us that the hill was of volcanic origin – which explained both the rocky top and the prominence of the hill compared to its surroundings. Having drunk in the view we returned to the car via the same route – one disadvantage of the quarry had been to reduce the number of routes up the hill and therefore the potential for round walks. The two odd fellows were still there, now slumped on a bench. I have to say, I don’t know what the marilyn baggers are on about
when they slate this hill. Okay, it may not be as beautiful or peaceful
as some of the remote Scottish hills they aim for, but compared to most
of the hills of southern England Bardon Hill is damn fine. When you compare
it to some of the marilyns we’ve visited – the dull Botley
Hill, the view-free Haddington Hill or the crowded Ditchling Beacon &
Leith Hill – Bardon Hill is fairly stunning It was certainly a good’un
to celebrate as our 90th county top!
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We quickly left the woods behind and emerged
into a grassy open area. To our right a sheer drop into the quarry was
fenced off – the quarry seemed to have driven a valley into the
heart of the hill here. Beyond the valley, at the end of the short wooded
ridge of the hilltop I espied the trig point.