By: Blonde Two
As you know, we Blondes like taking on a challenge, but it is not that often that we get to help set one.
One of our jobs (all of which have been fun so far) as Ordnance Survey Get Outside Champions (I love saying that!) was to nominate our favourite trig point. As you can imagine, the decision about which to choose took a very long minibus meeting and involved much healthy debate. Between us we have visited plenty of trig points, but we eventually narrowed our choice down to two. We couldn’t choose, so instead asked Ordnance Survey if we could have Two Trigs For Two Blondes. They of course said, ‘Yes.’ (who could resist?!?)
Here is Ordnance Survey’s Trig Pillar Trail Challenge.
Have a look at the interactive map and see if you can guess which belongs to B1 and which to B2, you may be surprised about one of them! When you have done that, have a look at the other 23, how many have you already bagged? Have you already completed any of the walks? I am proud to say that I can put my name to seven in total (including one that must surely have been my first trig ever) but that still leaves a lot of walking to do!
This is a good challenge, we Blondes are looking forward to seeing if anyone will get all of them and hoping that someone will pay us to take the year off and visit them all ourselves!
Oh yes, always up for a challenge! Being a maths teacher with a geography degree, I love trig points!!!! I will look at the map later and let you know how many I have visited! Along with the Dartmoor 365 and my new challenge of visiting all the Dartmoor Crosses, I do intend at some point to add the visit all the trig points challenge to my list. Maybe this is the time!!!!
Am surprised that you haven’t visited them all already 😉
Here’s a caption for the present pic:
“Once, the block of stone had been a thousand feet taller. With nothing more than a cold chisel, her bare hands and an over-supply of gritty determination she reduced it to an abstract sculpture suitable for anyone’s ingle nook, submitted it to the Henry Moore Memorial Competition, had it rejected, but continued to smile. British pluck.”
Be careful with posts containing unanswered questions. Cup your ear and you may well detect the squeaking sound made by the bottom of the barrel.
I had best go searching for a new barrel then! one of plenitude.
I’ve visited Ugborough Beacon I think, but not the trig point. I’ve been to the one on Worcestershire Beacon, of course, many times; used to live near Cold Ashby, so that one is easy; Pen y Ghent on the Pennine Way many, many moons ago; High Raise – well there is a gorgeous approach from Angle Tarn, over Pike of Stickle to High White Stones and then onto High Raise. Do it with a backpack and spend nights up there! I think I’ve done Mam Tor too, but not sure. I have never visited the Isle of Man – that is on my “to do” list.
My favourite trig point is not on the list – there is one on the coast above Sidmouth, set back across a wild flower meadow. It belongs to somebody or other and is kept neat and tidy, but it has a sea view as well as overlooking masses of cowslips in the spring.
Well Sidmouth is near enough for us Blondes to visit. We must investigate sometime, it sounds lovely!
What an EXCELLENT Challenge! Having photographed Bently atop 278 tors, the question is “have I already visited every Trig Point?”. Only one way to find out…….
We Blondes feel sure that you will have visited B2’s trig at Three Barrows but will be impressed if you have already bagged B1’s offering of North Barrule on the Isle of Man!