I love a trig pillar! They’ve been a beacon of “you’ve nearly made it” on so many of my walks, that I now greet them affectionately when I see one. Much to the embarrassment of my kids of course! I draw the line at climbing them. Let’s be honest, I probably couldn’t get up there gracefully or otherwise.
The good old trig point has been around since 1936 but as mapping techniques evolved they became obsolete. The Ordnance Survey website have more information.
For years I’ve known about the location of a local trig pillar. It’s off a road I take now and again, there’s a public footpath but there’s no pavement and a tricky corner on that side of the road. I’ve seen the trig point on the map and it can clearly be seen on satellite photos.
After a recent visit to restaurant/ coffee shop nearby, for coffee and a cake, we decided to walk up the road to try and find the trig pillar from a different direction.
Except it wasn’t there!
I was so disappointed. My family questioned my map reading skills, but no the satellite picture showed it and we were definitely in the right location. It used to be an offence to remove trig pillars but probably is no longer. I should imagine in a farmers field it might be a nuisance to negotiate the machinery around. However, my very limited farming knowledge (Countryfile, Life on the Farm) tells me that farming machinery these days can use location tools and mapping to avoid these. I guess not everyone uses these though.
Anyway, this got me thinking. What do you do with an old trig point? It can’t be easy to remove as they sit deep in to the ground. Have you any near you that have disappeared? I read online recently that someone thought all trig points should be removed as they were a blot on the landscape. Do you agree? Let me know!
