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Longest line of sight (UK)

Altrincham

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22 Aug 2011
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Great stuff! There's a tower on the left hand side, can anyone identify that?

I’m struggling to find what that tower could be on the left. It looks like it could be a power station of some kind but the map isn’t giving any clues.

In the centre of the photo it’s possible to make out a transmitter on the distant hills, which I think are possibly beyond Calais. Looking at the map, it could be Mont des Cats which isn’t far from the Belgian border.
 
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Peter Mugridge

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The one in the middle is definitely a transmitter; the one to the left looks more chunky - are there any tall residential towers over to that direction, I wonder?
 

Altrincham

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The one in the middle is definitely a transmitter; the one to the left looks more chunky - are there any tall residential towers over to that direction, I wonder?

Having looked at the map I can see that there is a huge grain store at Dunkerque called Nord Cereales. This could be the block on the left of the photo but I don’t know for sure. I’m not familiar with the angles of view from the south-east coast across the channel, so I’m not entirely sure if Dunkerque is even what I’m looking at in the photo.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Having looked at the map I can see that there is a huge grain store at Dunkerque called Nord Cereales. This could be the block on the left of the photo but I don’t know for sure. I’m not familiar with the angles of view from the south-east coast across the channel, so I’m not entirely sure if Dunkerque is even what I’m looking at in the photo.

I thought about Dunkerque but wouldn't there also be a lot of chimneys from the oil facilities at roughly the same angle? Could be that they are too thin to show up on the photo, though.
 

Greetlander

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I'm not in the UK anymore but I do recall from the fields behind my grandmother's house in Greetland (hills above Halifax) you could see a large power station in the far distance through gaps in hills. I assume it would either be Drax or Ferrybridge, which when you think about it is probably one line of sight relay to the Humber Bridge or Lincoln Cathedral. I also assume from the top of the power stations can also be seen York Minster? Is Lincoln cathedral visible from York? Now I think about it - if Lincoln can be seen from York, Ely can be seen from Lincoln, Cambridge can be seen from Ely then it's probably only two more lines of sight to London?
 

Altrincham

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I'm not in the UK anymore but I do recall from the fields behind my grandmother's house in Greetland (hills above Halifax) you could see a large power station in the far distance through gaps in hills. I assume it would either be Drax or Ferrybridge, which when you think about it is probably one line of sight relay to the Humber Bridge or Lincoln Cathedral. I also assume from the top of the power stations can also be seen York Minster? Is Lincoln cathedral visible from York? Now I think about it - if Lincoln can be seen from York, Ely can be seen from Lincoln, Cambridge can be seen from Ely then it's probably only two more lines of sight to London?

That’s an interesting thought about a line of sight from York/Lincoln/Ely, especially as eastern England south of the Lincolnshire Wolds is very flat. Looking at a relief map, it does seem like it could be possible to see Lincoln from York but I’m not entirely sure. But if so, I think a potential line of sight could be York Minster > Lincoln Cathedral > Ely Cathedral > Cambridge > (Chiltern Hills?) > London.
 

Greetlander

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There's a ton of this stuff online. I had no idea. I think the distance pic winner is the Alps from the Pyrenees, but there are equally impressive distance shots of Snowdonia from Scotland or Snowdon from the Wrekin. Being from Halifax there was always an urban myth of Blackpool Tower being visible from Wainhouse Tower (not true) but it's probably only one line of sight leap.
 

MoleStation

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Consett
Maybe not the longest line of sight but from a place called Marley Hill on the A692 from Gateshead to Consett if you look one way The Cheviot can be seen, and looking the opposite way the Cleveland Hills can be seen on most days.
Speaking of Consett, from Blackpool Tower you can see Consett....
 

eMeS

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12 Jun 2011
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Milton Keynes, UK
0077as Coast seen from Holdstone Hill, Combe Martin, Devon.jpg
The (enhanced in Photoshop) snap above was taken from Holdstone Hill car-park to the east of Combe Martin in North Devon, and I'm wondering if it's the Welsh Coast near Pembroke and Milford Haven. The next image suggests it's much further afield, so I'm guessing that I was too close to my car and the car's magnetic field threw the compass bearing in my Canon 7D MkII.


Cs Geosetter screengrab of image 0077.jpg
Comments very welcome!
 

Cowley

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View attachment 69821
The (enhanced in Photoshop) snap above was taken from Holdstone Hill car-park to the east of Combe Martin in North Devon, and I'm wondering if it's the Welsh Coast near Pembroke and Milford Haven. The next image suggests it's much further afield, so I'm guessing that I was too close to my car and the car's magnetic field threw the compass bearing in my Canon 7D MkII.


View attachment 69822
Comments very welcome!
Surely that can’t be Ireland from North Devon. It must be two hundred plus miles away?
I’d have thought it was Wales, unless anyone thinks different?
 

eMeS

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... I’d have thought it was Wales, unless anyone thinks different?
And the suggestion of the Preseli Hills can't be far out except that
http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENG/DUNKERY.gif from Dunkery Beacon
which wasn't far behind me doesn't list the Preseli Hills as far as I can see. Weird. If I lived closer to Holdstone Hill, I'd have been there for a second session, but it's a fair distance from Milton Keynes.

I have noticed some magnetic influence from my car to the compass in my Eos 7D MkII, but it seems to be a very small effect and when tested specifically for compass errors in the Milton Keynes area, the magnetic influence seems to be around 1degree - not the many as shown on the GeoSetter screen capture.
 

Ianno87

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I'm not in the UK anymore but I do recall from the fields behind my grandmother's house in Greetland (hills above Halifax) you could see a large power station in the far distance through gaps in hills. I assume it would either be Drax or Ferrybridge, which when you think about it is probably one line of sight relay to the Humber Bridge or Lincoln Cathedral. I also assume from the top of the power stations can also be seen York Minster? Is Lincoln cathedral visible from York? Now I think about it - if Lincoln can be seen from York, Ely can be seen from Lincoln, Cambridge can be seen from Ely then it's probably only two more lines of sight to London?

Ely cathedral can be easily seen from the tower of Great St Mary's church in Cambridge, or from Wandlebury Country Park ("Ely View") just out of town to the south west.
 

Peter Mugridge

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And the suggestion of the Preseli Hills can't be far out except that
http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENG/DUNKERY.gif from Dunkery Beacon
which wasn't far behind me doesn't list the Preseli Hills as far as I can see. Weird. If I lived closer to Holdstone Hill, I'd have been there for a second session, but it's a fair distance from Milton Keynes.

Interesting - and from that link, there does seem to be a similarity of shape with Foel Cwmcerwyn?

Do we have any members in the Holdstone Hill area who could perhaps try to duplicate the observation on a clear, sharp day?
 

Altrincham

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22 Aug 2011
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View attachment 69821
The (enhanced in Photoshop) snap above was taken from Holdstone Hill car-park to the east of Combe Martin in North Devon, and I'm wondering if it's the Welsh Coast near Pembroke and Milford Haven. The next image suggests it's much further afield, so I'm guessing that I was too close to my car and the car's magnetic field threw the compass bearing in my Canon 7D MkII.


View attachment 69822
Comments very welcome!

Could that be Cefn Bryn on the Gower peninsula in the foreground? With the Preseli hills on the far horizon behind?
 

eMeS

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Could that be Cefn Bryn on the Gower peninsula in the foreground? With the Preseli hills on the far horizon behind?

That's a possibility, and later during the same session, I did take snaps of the Gower and Worms Head. I must check them out.
----------
Experimental bearing checks across the River Great Ouse basin in north Milton Keynes

Having been a bit sceptical of the compass accuracy in my Canon 7D MkII, I have been carrying out camera compass bearing checks in the Milton Keynes area. I've marked a place over which I can have my tripod, complete with plumb bob, set up over a small disc nailed into the ground. Approx 2 miles away across the vale of the River Great Ouse is a comms tower and I use this as my distant aiming point, using a 300mm lens. I'm now careful to park my car well away from the tripod and camera, which initially had led to some slightly weird readings!
On each visit now, I'm taking a minimum of 5 shots, centring the plumb bob over the mark to within 10mm, and then using Excel to average the bearings, and work out the standard deviation of the set. With my car well away from the camera, I'm now getting bearing repeatability to around +/- 0.3 degree.
 

Greetlander

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Could I be allowed to hijack this with a non UK picture? Please delete if not.

I went up the coast this weekend and in my haste to get back forgot to shoot one of my favourite distance shots. I therefore stole this from the interwebs.

This is a distant shot of the City of Sydney taken from the hill above Copacabana (yes really). It's 47km in a straight line, about 92 km to drive. With binoculars its possible to read the Westfield sign on the shopping centre at Bondi Junction, make out the individual struts on the Deutsche Bank building on Macquarie Street, the hospitality management college at manly is as clear as, and the communications tower on Birrell Street, Waverley. It's also great for seeing the fireworks.

As a distance comparison it's almost identical as the crow flies to Liverpool Blackpool
 

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nlogax

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Could I be allowed to hijack this with a non UK picture? Please delete if not.

That's a great shot, seemingly one that's unsullied by humidity or smog.

There's a view of a very similar distance to be had SW of London on the A31 at the Hog's Back - approx 31 miles. It rarely looks as clear as your shot of Sydney but it's worth doing for those of us in the London area. The ten year old BBC link below has some great views all the way around.

_46828746_london.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/surrey/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8386000/8386719.stm
- In pictures: View from the top of the Hogs Back
 

King Lazy

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24 Apr 2019
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I feel Black Combe deserves a mention in this thread.

Growing up in South Cumbria I remember hearing that from the summit of Black Combe you can see a village called "Talk on the hill" near Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire (c 90 miles). I don't know who saw this or how it was checked.

Looking online I found;

hearsay...Colonel Mudge, of the Ordnance Survey, thought the view from the summit the most extensive in Britain. You can see, sometimes, fourteen counties, the Isle of Man, and Ireland
The view to the south is said to be the greatest distance in England, to Jack Hill, Staffordshire.


Apparently Mudge saw Ireland "more than once" but "never when the sun was above the horizon"

I remember on many occasions seeing both the mountains of North Wales (c 70+ miles) and Southern Scotland (c 50+ miles) from the beach at Silecroft. The Isle on Man looks almost swimable but is 42 miles away.

Snowdon from Black Combe is c88 miles.

Wordsworth was quoted as saying that "the amplest range of unobstructed prospect may be seen that British ground commands".
 
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Wonderful isn't it, to think that the panorama from Winter Hill includes Snaefell and also the hills of Powys.

Matchmoor Lane must also have some great night-time views of the Greater Manchester conurbation.
Matchmoor Lane also gives views of Gt Orme and Anglesey a couple of times a year.
 

Altrincham

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22 Aug 2011
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Could I be allowed to hijack this with a non UK picture? Please delete if not.

I went up the coast this weekend and in my haste to get back forgot to shoot one of my favourite distance shots. I therefore stole this from the interwebs.

This is a distant shot of the City of Sydney taken from the hill above Copacabana (yes really). It's 47km in a straight line, about 92 km to drive. With binoculars its possible to read the Westfield sign on the shopping centre at Bondi Junction, make out the individual struts on the Deutsche Bank building on Macquarie Street, the hospitality management college at manly is as clear as, and the communications tower on Birrell Street, Waverley. It's also great for seeing the fireworks.

As a distance comparison it's almost identical as the crow flies to Liverpool Blackpool


This is a great shot. I do like these glimpses of distant city skylines. On a related note, for years now I’ve wondered how possible it would be to see the skyline of Liverpool from the top of the Beetham Tower in Manchester.
 

Altrincham

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22 Aug 2011
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I feel Black Combe deserves a mention in this thread.

Growing up in South Cumbria I remember hearing that from the summit of Black Combe you can see a village called "Talk on the hill" near Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire (c 90 miles). I don't know who saw this or how it was checked.

Looking online I found;

hearsay...Colonel Mudge, of the Ordnance Survey, thought the view from the summit the most extensive in Britain. You can see, sometimes, fourteen counties, the Isle of Man, and Ireland
The view to the south is said to be the greatest distance in England, to Jack Hill, Staffordshire.


Apparently Mudge saw Ireland "more than once" but "never when the sun was above the horizon"

I remember on many occasions seeing both the mountains of North Wales (c 70+ miles) and Southern Scotland (c 50+ miles) from the beach at Silecroft. The Isle on Man looks almost swimable but is 42 miles away.

Snowdon from Black Combe is c88 miles.

Wordsworth was quoted as saying that "the amplest range of unobstructed prospect may be seen that British ground commands".

This is really intriguing because it sounds like this should be possible.

Looking south from Black Combe it would appear that Winter Hill and Ashurst Beacon could possibly obstruct a view to Staffordshire. Which is a shame because being able to see Staffordshire from Cumbria would be fantastic.

http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/CUM/BLACKCOMBE.GIF

Looking at a relief map of Lancashire, remnants of the west Pennine elevation continues (and tapers out) on the western side of the M6, north-west of Wigan, meaning that the low-lying parts of Greater Manchester and Cheshire are sheltered from vantage points to the north-west.

I do know that there is a hill just outside Newcastle under Lyme (just off the A500) between Crewe and Stoke) that has fabulous views of the Cheshire plain, and towards the Welsh hills. There’s a monument to a member of the Wedgwood family at the top of it. I would say that it has an elevation of around 600-700ft, so looking north-west I think that Winter Hill should be visible but nothing beyond.

Looking at the nearest ‘big’ neighbour, on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border Mow Cop has fantastic panorama possibilities but can’t see anything north-west beyond Winter Hill or Ashurst Beacon.
 

supersonic525

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Very interesting thread! I've taken quite a few long distance photos from Sheffield - York Minster, Humber Bridge, Bilsdale transmitter can all clearly be seen on a good day.

A fantastic website for calculating lines of sight is this: https://www.heywhatsthat.com/

It appears that from Cross Fell you *may* be able to see both the North Sea and Irish Sea. From Great Dun Fell, a little lower, I've certainly seen the the latter.
 

eMeS

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12 Jun 2011
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Milton Keynes, UK
Very interesting thread! I've taken quite a few long distance photos from Sheffield - York Minster, Humber Bridge, Bilsdale transmitter can all clearly be seen on a good day.

A fantastic website for calculating lines of sight is this: https://www.heywhatsthat.com/
...

Many thanks for your link - that's a totally new website for me, and it's going to be fun exploring what it offers.
 

Comstock

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Does anyone know what the furthest north or west of London one can see the Shard ( or another London landmark if that's easier to see)
 

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