Peterborough Unitary Authority & Soke of Peterborough (former)

Walk Details:
Date: 23/7/2005
Total ascent: 5m/ 16ft
Total distance walked: 0.82 miles
Walk difficulty: 1/10
Enjoyment rating: 3.5/10
Best bits:
Worst bits:
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: There’s space to squeeze a car onto the verge of Racecourse Road at TF 035 032

Top details:
Name: Near Racecourse Road
County top number: 83 & 84 of 207
Grid reference: TF 03273 04590
Height above sea level: 82m/ 269ft
How nice was the top? 2.5/10
Views: 2.5/10
Description/Notes: The highest point in Peterborough Unitary Authority and the former county of the Soke of Peterborough is at an indeterminate point along a farm track

The Walk:

Once again Jim and I were off on a big bagging spree; we felt that after our highly enjoyable ascent of Fan Brycheiniog on our last trip we needed to balance it out by returning to our objective of getting all the low-lying county tops out of the way. With this in mind we headed fenwards.

It was the end of an era. My (t)rusty ancient Fiesta (Suzie) had retired to the great scrapheap in the sky, and my new (but still second-hand) Corsa (also called Suzie, it’s a family tradition…) was getting its first real test – I’d only owned her for two days. Something special was needed to christen her, and on the way to our first county top of the day I’d spotted just the thing – our first country “bottom”, the lowest point of the UK!

Lying just a short distance to the north east of the village of Holme at TF 20285 89389, the lowest point in the country is remarkably accessible. There is car parking on the roadside just a few metres away. I had expected it to be a nasty boggy hole in the middle of a barren field, but surprisingly we were surrounded by the managed open woodland of a nature reserve. It was exceptionally peaceful, and after our long incarceration in the car on the A1, we decided to explore a bit. We therefore first of all headed away from the official lowest point and towards a lake lying to the north of the road. Here it was even more tranquil, and a wooden platform at the edge of the lake would have been the ideal spot for ornithologists if it wasn’t for the astonishing lack of birds. We saw one crested grebe and a couple of swans but that was it. Perhaps birds got nervous of being below sea level. Nevertheless it was a nice place just to rest awhile and enjoy the peace.

Eventually we pulled ourselves away and headed back past the car to the Holme Fen Posts, just a few paces from the road and easily visible. These tall green posts, now sticking up a good ten feet or so, apparently used to be almost entirely buried in peat, but the peat has since sloughed away. An information panel below the posts states that this is the lowest point in the country at more than two metres below sea level. It’s actually surprisingly eerie standing there, thinking that if the sea defences failed your head would be below the ocean! Strangely, the CIA website states that the lowest point in Britain is four metres below – what do they know that we don’t?

Our curiosity satiated, we returned to the serious business of county top bagging with a visit to Peterborough (or at least, its close environs). The OS maps show a spot height of 81m on Racecourse Road, just outside the county boundary, but a track running north from there (passing just inside the boundary) goes over the 80m contour for a longer period. We parked pretty much slap on top of the 81m contour, and took a GPS altitude reading – visually though, the track certainly seemed to head higher.

The track is nominally private but seemed to be open access – there were no gates or signs to denote otherwise. We strode off up it, enjoying the open aspect, the chance to stretch our legs, and the sight of a weasel scurrying across our path. To be quite honest, the track was wide and smooth enough to drive up if you were feeling lazy – there’s even room to turn a car a little way beyond the top.

After a slight initial dip, the track rose slightly before levelling out beyond a tree. Checking the GPS, we were a metre or so higher than back at Racecourse Road. Repeated readings along the track gave the same result for a good few hundred metres before it started to dip again – we’re not sure where the top was exactly, but we definitely passed over it somewhere along the track. There were some slight views to the east, but mainly it just felt pleasantly open and rural – nicer than I’d expected, but maybe that was just the “first top of the day” syndrome.

Heading back to the car we once again checked the altitude of the spot height – it was definitely a metre or so lower. We headed off feeling pleased that we’d bagged Peterborough (“Pete” to its friends) good & proper!