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Bardon Hill

EngvarB from May 2014Highest points of English countiesHills of LeicestershireMarilyns of EnglandNorth West Leicestershire District
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in LeicestershireSurface mines in EnglandVillages in Leicestershire
Bardon Hill geograph.org.uk 681852
Bardon Hill geograph.org.uk 681852

Bardon Hill is the highest Hill in Leicestershire and on a clear day the Malvern and Shropshire Hills (approx. 50–60 miles), summits in Derbyshire (approx. 30–40 miles) and Lincoln Cathedral (almost 50 miles away) can be seen. However, the Sugar Loaf in South Wales, sometimes cited as visible from Bardon, cannot be seen, being over 90 miles (140 km) away. Near the top of the hill are two radio masts; the smaller of the two was built for the BBC as a link for Outside broadcast linking into the Sutton Coldfield Transmitter. This was then moved to the now larger mast which was originally built by an electricity supply company, it is now owned by Cellnex after Arqiva sold its UK wireless business in October 2019 and provides the NOW Leicester DAB radio service.The landscape was already attracting visitors before John Curtis wrote in the 1830s: he suggests that the view extends to over 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2) or one-twelfth of England and Wales. Potter also notes of the view from Bardon Hill that "it probably commands a greater extent of surface than any other point of view on the island" and that "An outline, described from the extremity of this view, would include nearly one-fourth of England and Wales. It may be deemed one of the most extraordinary points of view in Nature." This has attracted telecommunication companies, and large transmitters and radio masts have replaced both the Summer House and Queen Adelaide's Bower. Bardon Hill is also a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the civil parish of Bardon, east of Coalville in Leicestershire, England.Bardon Hill is part of the eroded remains of a volcano. It is the highest point in Leicestershire and the National Forest, 278 m (912 ft) above sea level. Due to its prominence, it is visible for many kilometres around. It adjoins Bardon Hill Quarry, a geological SSSI. At its summit are a trigonometrical point and a radio mast. The second highest hill in Leicestershire is the nearby Beacon Hill. "Bardon" or "Bardon Hill" was also the name of a village south-west of the hill. Most of the village has been demolished but the toponym "Bardon Hill" remains in use as the postal address of the remaining local properties.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bardon Hill (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Bardon Hill
Brunswick Avenue, North West Leicestershire

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Wikipedia: Bardon HillContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.7145 ° E -1.3206 °
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Bardon Hill

Brunswick Avenue
LE67 4UP North West Leicestershire
England, United Kingdom
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Bardon Hill geograph.org.uk 681852
Bardon Hill geograph.org.uk 681852
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Nearby Places

Coalville Meadows
Coalville Meadows

Coalville Meadows is a 6.0 hectares (15 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Whitwick and Coalville in Leicestershire. It is managed by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood.It is one of the best examples of neutral grassland that has developed on the somewhat leached clay soils of Leicestershire and is representative of such grassland in Central and Eastern England. It is bounded on the West by a former minerals railway line, to the South by social housing, the east by Holly Hayes Woodland, and to the North by an aggregate storage area, and have developed on soils derived from the clays of the Triassic Keuper Marl. The grassland is poorly drained and is dominated by tufted hair-grass Deschampsia caespitosa, Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus, red fescue Festuca rubra and great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis. Additionally, flora typical of relatively base-poor clay soils, such as pignut Conopodium majus, betony Betonica officinalis, heath bedstraw Galium saxatile, tormentil Potentilla erecta, devil's-bit scabious Succisa pratensis, and mat grass Nardus stricta, are present. The grassland also includes typical meadow species as saw-wort Serratula tinctoria, meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum, knapweed Centaurea nigra and lady's smock Cardamine pratensis. In 2008, the site was bought by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood who wanted to see the meadow land restored to its former glory. The group is working with Natural England to re-establish appropriate maintenance which it hoped will lead to a more appropriate 'favourable' status and to ensure that the meadow is meeting its conservation objectives. There is access to the site from the Ivanhoe Way footpath.