New Year's Day, on Flower's Barrow

[puddleshark]

Flower's Barrow Iron Age Hillfort. Or perhaps, half of Flower's Barrow Iron Age Hillfort. Or maybe a third of it? It has been slowly crumbling into the sea these last two thousand years. Who knows how big it was originally.



Broken sunshine. The wind was much colder than I expected, up on Whiteways Hill. It always is. But the path across the Army Ranges is a little sheltered by the gorse, and the slow climb up to the hillfort soon warms you up anyway. Not a day for standing around, though.


Cloudbanks over the sea. A ship on the horizon. (Not the cross-channel ferry from Poole to Cherbourg - she doesn't run on New Year's Day. Looking at shipfinder.co, perhaps the MV Flourish en route from Bronka in Russia to Xiamen in China.)


The Perilous Pillbox (in imminent danger of crumbling into the sea, but somehow still hanging on), above Worbarrow Bay, where I was walking last week.


Standing on the ramparts of the hillfort, looking west.


Looking north. The yellow posts mark the safe route across the Army firing ranges.

I found a sheltered spot, in the lea of the ramparts, to sit and drink my coffee, and it was pleasant. Was there really warmth in the sunlight, or just the illusion of warmth? Not sure. As I sat, a raven suddenly soared over the ramparts, a few feet above me, and said "Cronk" (in conversational tones, rather than "Blimey, you startled me!" tones).

Eventually, it was time to return.


Mupe Rocks and the Isle of Portland in the distance.





On the way back, stopped off by the trig point, to sit on the Weather Seat, a slightly rickety wooden memorial bench, with views down the coast. When the wind is in the southwest, as it usually is here, you can sit there and watch the weather systems blowing in over the Isle of Portland, and see the rain heading your way.


Trig point.

Officially known as triangulation stations or trigonometrical points, the four-sided trig pillars began life in Britain in 1935 on the drawing board of Brigadier Martin Hotine of the Ordnance Survey (OS). The first one was erected by the OS the following year near Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire. It would eventually be joined by over 6,500 more, covering the whole of Great Britain.

The pillars are not necessarily found on summits as is often supposed, but are located in positions where they have uninterrupted sight-lines to at least two other trig points. By taking measurements with theodolites set up on the brass plates (‘spiders’) that top the pillars, cartographers were able to build up a network of triangles that could be used as a basis for exceptionally accurate map-making.

https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/historic-places/what-is-a-trig-point

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!