32-46 - The High Points of London Part 2 - 10th January 2013

Click here for Part 1

Continued . . . . . . . 

Richmond Upon Thames

Having completed 9 high points so far we were feeling good, we were well into our mission to complete all 36 high points and after the tea break at Putney Heath we were able to move onwards to high point (HP) 10. This next location was the one I was looking forward to the most, it was Richmond Park, we arrived and drove through the park towards the highest point of Richmond upon Thames, passing through a herd of deer it was a pretty awesome drive, we turned into a car park and walked to the highest point.

The Vale - Hounslow

At this point I must explain, This moment became one of the funniest moments of the whole trip, thanks to Darren reminding me of a certain famous youtube video featuring a dog called Fenton, it can be found here. Anyway, we laughed about it and decided to make our own version of this video, I have to say, I have not laughed that much in years, not only were we laughing after making the video but a women nearby had a chuckle too. so here is our tribute to the Fenton clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WKuu_YjA2o. Richmond Upon Thames scored an impressive 9 points.

Horsenden Hill - Ealing

Horsenden Hill - Ealing

After Richmond we headed across the river Thames to what I think must have been the worst of all the destinations, It was in the borough of Hounslow and there is not much I can say about it, it was a drab road with garages running along one side, we scored it a generous zero points. we stayed for literally seconds before moving on to our next HP in Ealing.

Horsenden hill was amazing, finally it was a proper hill, a hill where we actually had to park at the base and climb to the top. it was awesome, its a shame it was a little misty because the views would have been amazing, on the top there was a trig point and a few benches, it was wonderful to have such a nice HP to climb, It scored 10 out of 10.

Potter Street Hill - Hillingdon

Leaving Horsenden we travelled north towards Watford and the HP of Hillingdon,  This was an odd one, it was at the end of a dead end road, near a golf course and all I can say about it was that there were some nice green locked gates which led to nowhere, it scored a 4. quickly moving onward towards Harrow and our next destination.

Harrow and old Middlesex

The HP of Harrow is Bushey Heath, This also happens to be a Historic county high point, Back in 1974, the counties had a shuffle around and before that moment this was the highest point of Middlesex, this means that I get to cross 2 HPs off my list at this point. Bushey Heath is not noticeably hilly but it does have several signs that it is a HP, There is a Restaurant called the Alpine and a small road called Alpine walk, Bushey Heath scored a 4.

Wakemans Hill Ave - Brent

Moving back towards central London now we arrived at the high point of Brent, this turned out to be a drain cover in the middle of a Wakemans Hill Avenue, not surprisingly it scored a 2, it would have been a 1 but there was an interesting castle type building nearby. Straight on to Barnet now and 2 high points in 1 borough.

Mote End Farm - Barnet

The reason there are 2 highpoints in Barnet is because there is some confusion as to which is the highest point, according to the maps Mote End Farm is 2 ft lower than Arkley but Arkley looked like it was a Manmade hill, the official list puts them as joint top so who am I to argue, we did both. Mote End Farm turned out to be . . well, a farm, and Arkley turned out to be a water tower (I think). They scored 3 for the Farm and 2 for Arkley.

Arkley - Barnet

Bournewell Hill - Enfield

Bournewell Hill in Enfield next, this was in a surprisingly beautiful village, old fashioned gates marking the entrance to the village and a large open heath in the middle was the location of the HP. There was a school nearby and it looked like it was about to turn out so we got this one done quick and moved onwards to Waltham Forest. Bournewell Hill scored 7 points.

Pole Hill - Waltham Forest

The next HP was quite a long drive away, we stopped off at a Tesco for some food and to use the facilities, then made our was through Enfield town to Pole Hill, on the edge of Epping Forest in the borough of Waltham Forest, This was a surprise as it another real hill to climb, at the top there was a trig point and a pillar erected in 1874 to mark the point of the Greenwich Meridian, it could be seen from the Greenwich observatory so that true north could always be found, Pole hill scored a 9

Cabin Hill - Redbridge

Darkness was now falling and our next stop was Cabin Hill in Redbridge, this was a quick stop off at a woodland and it scored a 5, just a few miles away was the next HP, The Church at Havering Atte Bower Farm marks the high point of Havering, this was a quite a nice church so we stopped for some photos and headed on to the next HP.

Havering

Marks Gate

The HP of Barking and Dagenham is in the cemetery of Marks Gate, Sadly on arrival it was closed so we took some photos as near as we could and carried on to the lowest of the destinations in Newham.

Wanstead Flats - Newham

Wanstead Flats in Newham measures up at an amazing 15 mtrs (49 ft), Its one of high points which is in the middle of a flat road, there was a pub near by and it was difficult to decide where the HP actually was but we took some photos and moved onwards.

Next stop was not to be a high point, we were now aiming for Canada Water underground station where we would park up and move onto the underground, 24 down, 12 to go

To be continued . . . . . . . .

The Story so far

Distance travelled - 161.4 Miles - 10 hours
HP 1 (22) - Shooters hill (Greenwich) - 132mts
HP 2 (23) - Langdon Shaw (Bexley) - 83mts
HP 3 (24) - Westerham Heights (Bromley) - 245mts
HP 4 (25) - Westerham Heights (Kent) - 245mts
HP 5 (26) - Sanderstead Plantation (Croydon) - 175mts
HP 6 (27) - Clock House (Sutton) - 147mts
HP 7 (28) - Telegraph Hill (Kingston Upon Thames) - 90mts
HP 8 (29) - Lauriston Road (Merton) - 55mts
HP 9 (30) - Putney Heath (Wandsworth) - 60mts
HP 10 (31) - Richmond Park (Richmond Upon Thames) - 56mts
HP 11 (32) - The Vale (Hounslow) - 35mts
HP 12 (33) - Horsenden Hill (Ealing) 85 Mts
HP 13 (34) - Potter Street Hill (Hillingdon) 134mts
HP 14 (35) - Bushey Heath (Harrow) 153mts
HP 15 (36) - Bushey Heath (Old Middlesex) 153mts
HP 16 (37) - Wakemans hill Ave (Brent) 92mts
HP 17 (38) - More End Farm (Barnet) 145mts
HP 18 (39) - Arkley (Barnet) 147mts
HP 19 (40) - Bournwell Hill (Enfield) 115mts
HP 20 (41) - Pole Hill (Waltham Forest) 99mts
HP 21 (42) - Cabin Hill (Redbridge) 90mts
HP 22 (43) - Havering Atte Bower Farm (Havering) 105mts
HP 23 (44) - Marks Gate (Barking and Dagenham) 43mts
HP 24 (45) - Wanstead Flats (Newham) 15mts