Have tonight become embroilled in a very lively...er, discussion, with our local "Wainwright" Wannabe, over which is the highest hill in England!
He states that at 30ft short of a Mountain, (2000ft) our local lump Blackcoombe is it!
I (who rarely stray higher than sea-level) have disputed this, stating that there are actually very-few actual hills, and that there is more than just the measurement of height taken into account when lumps are classified.
Nearly all "lumps. hills fells mountains" etc are listed into different catergories of Mountain according to these measurements, and are Monroes, (highest) Hewitts, Mc Donalds, etc, with the lower ones classified as Marylyns. and that there is actually no hill classified as "the highest in England"
Any thoughts? - or corrections/suggestions welcome!
Last edited by: devonite on Fri 28 Jan 11 at 03:26
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I'd have put anything over 1,000 as a mountain (which I thought was AW's broad definition). I'm sure he'd have out relative tiddlers such as Grange Fell or Catbells firmly in the mountain category.
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Anything that has not got ski lifts, bars. restaurants, hotels, and lots of sun and snow on it is not a mountain.
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Oh well, Snowdon qualifies on at least three of them - especially today (being a really glorious day)
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Y'know, this sort of thing baffles me. Why do people insist, as an absolute fact, something which is not true, where the truth is well known and easily verifiable. "Highest mountains in England / Scotland etc", all generally well known, and if you don't know look in any of a dozen sources from Wikipedia to Guiness Book of Records. If you can do this with a mountain / hill, no wonder people believe in little green men / ghostly spirits / fairies at the bottom of the garden et al.
Incidentally, according to Wikipedia "it is only 10 m short of being a Hewitt" and "The Hewitts are Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over Two Thousand feet " so he's crossed his definition of a mountain with the definistion of a Hewitt (never 'eard of em) too.
People!
John
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We have a molehill in our back garden, what height does it have to be to qualify as a molemountain?
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I think anything 20 moles high counts?
John
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Is that above Sea level or Ground level?
Are Moles measured in inches or fingers (too small for hands methinks!)?
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Definitely ground level. Moles have no concept of "sea". You're making a mistake in applying human units to moles. They have their own. I think "old grandfather mole" is the basic unit of measurement for height, length and weight. Thus they are somewhat inexact and local, like ye olde human units such as the medieval inch, yard, flagon etc.
That.
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I thought Moles were the SI unit for the amount of a substance.
So Molehills have millions of Moles.
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>> I thought Moles were the SI unit for the amount of a substance.
You're thinking of moles. www.convertunits.com/info/mole
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Yep, moles, not Moles! ;-)
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>> We have a molehill in our back garden, what height does it have to be
>> to qualify as a molemountain?
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Please let me know its location. My hobby is Molehill bagging which involves ascending every known Molehill in England
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I prefer my moles with frittes.
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If you find a molehill up a mountain is the mole a member of the mole high club?
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If it's a mole on a beach does it become a mollusk ?
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when you grab it by the head, is that a mole grip?
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And if it ran away would that would be a mole wrench ?
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DON'T touch it. It will be Molested.
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Mountains? Don't have 'em round here...
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Where's Fenlander?
Isn't there a place called Shippey Hill, so called because it is 10 feet high in an otherwise flat landscape?
Hills and mountains are relative to where you are starting from. The highest mountain, I think, is actually a tiny rock somewhere in the Atlantic, but it starts several miles underwater.
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" The highest mountain, I think, is actually a tiny rock somewhere in the Atlantic, but it starts several miles underwater. "
I think it's Hawaii (Mauna Loa?) which is 36000 ft from abyssal plain to peak. Only 12000 ft is above sea level (I think!! - no doubt someone will Google it and proove me wrong!)
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" Only 12000 ft is above sea level " Only? That's nearly 2.5 miles. Plonk that down in the Lake District and you'd cause a stir!
John
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>> Where's Fenlander?
>> Isn't there a place called Shippey Hill, so called because it is 10 feet high
>> in an otherwise flat landscape?
The fens does not do "highs", just "lows"
He lives near the lowest place in the UK.
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>> >>
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>> The fens does not do "highs", just "lows"
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>> He lives near the lowest place in the UK.
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In the world of the low, the flat is a moutain.
There is a village just outside Haverfordwest called Hill Mountain. It is neither.
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Shippea Hill Cliff please:)
Pat
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Err Thanks for all the "Enlightenment"! Twas just as I exlained to him then!
Now then about Moles. how many do I need for a Moleskin waistcoat. there are hundreds of em round here!
I used to trap them years ago in my youth on the farms. made a nice bit of pocket money too! - be a n nice hobby for some bored kid, but nobody seems to bother nowadays,
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None. Moleskin is brushed cotton. And it don't half attract cat fur :-(
John
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Devonite, do you do humane mole disposal?
Will you come and trap mine and take them home with you please?
One of mine even made a molehill when there was snow lying over the garden.
When we were looking for a humane mouse trap (haven't caught any yet) we saw mole traps and I decided to give him one last opportunity to stay in the field behind the garden.
Pat
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...catching live mice...humane mole disposal...
Pat,
I feel you may need to get a grip here.
Yes, they are all God's creatures, but occasionally certain, er, firm measures need to be taken if you are to avoid an infestation.
Killing moles is something of an art.
An experienced countryman will be able to predict the path of the little critter to put the trap in the right place.
I've also seen moles dug out when the hill starts to appear, but you need to be quick.
The best chance is the blade of spade does the job as you are digging.
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Iffy, how could you.....
I'm no townie with an immaculate lawn, I live in the wide open spaces.
Why kill a mole when it can happily go and live in the Fen and make molehillls for other moles to die for, and they won't bother me?
All I need is for it to be taken down one of those many fen droves that go on for miles and miles and end with a dead end that hasn't been signposted.
That should do it, because I'm sure they don't have a homing instinct.
Pat
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Moles in the fens? I remember walking in Norfolk one time. Ground level was no more than 9 inches above the level of water in the nearby river. Plenty of puddles about. And mole hills. Moles with snorkels perhaps?
John
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Last summer I was driving so high above sea level (9,945ft in Yosemite) we were almost as high as Scafell, Snowdon and Ben Nevis added together - in a car!
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Alas however, you were not because you chickened out and took the lower pass at 9624 feet. Whereas I looked down on you from the 9,943 foot pass.
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...whereas I looked down on you...
But Zero, Espada is middle class and you are working class, therefore he looks down on you.
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>> ...whereas I looked down on you...
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>> But Zero, Espada is middle class and you are working class, therefore he looks down
>> on you.
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And iffy is upper class........................................ ;-)
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...And iffy is upper class...
Well, I didn't want to say, because, you know, when one is, one doesn't have to, does one?
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Iffy is Classless.
Its up to you if you want to interpret that as no class.
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It's a matter of degree (in defence of Snowdon) there are some internationally recognized routes on Snowdon in Mountaineering terms. This being one of the "walking" ones that anyone can do....I've done three times in my life and I challenge anyone to find anything as scary anywhere !
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crib_Goch
Last edited by: Pugugly on Sun 30 Jan 11 at 10:51
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No thanks, I wouldn't do that once.
John
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PU, I've taken parties of schoolkids (12/13 yr olds ) up Snowdon many times (probably about 20) Never been up Crib Goch route except for a few of the more experienced ones accompanied by a guide 'cos we reckon it's too dangerous for youngsters - surprising how cold it can get up there even in summer, and, of course, the cloud can quickly descend making navigation more difficult. It's a hard route.
My son has also been with us many times and this year he took a few of his mates who had never been up and were going up the Pyg Track on a cold, wet day. On the way he met a family just starting to go up Crib Goch route and they asked him about the route - they had no map or compass, no waterproofs, dressed in t-shirts and shorts. Footwear? Yes, a variety of sandals and light trainers. He advised them not to go up that way, and not to go up at all without being suitable dressed. They treated him with disdain and carried on..........
Mind you, even when you've scrambled up to the top there's always that woman in the mini-skirt, t-shirt, high heels and a small dog on a lead there - I presume she got there by train!
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Mrs W just read this while I was typing and said "Yes, but I went up Snowdon while at primary school in my summer dress and Clark's sandals!!"
Lanberis route I think
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The only problem is that Moley is very terratorial, chances are he`s probably killed several other Moles to be where he is now, moving him elsewhers will probably repeat the problem.
I know tis nice to be kind, but sometimes tis kinder to kill and remove, that way you only have the blood of one Moley one your hands. Now meeces are different, apparently you dont need to trap them! you can employ the services of "Mice Psycics" (sp?) who will come and "charm" them from your home (ala HFW style!) but personally me would swop your humane traps for the proper job, you could always use the corpses to supplement your Moggys dinners! so they wont have died in vain! - on that note, why have you even got meece when you has Mogs?
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I once shot a mole. At our old house in Scotland we were in a rural location but the land near the house was (though I say it myself somewhat haughtily) quite a pretty garden. However, one siummer we had a mole. I tried all manner of gas bombs, traps etc but he just laughed it all off and continued his excavations.
Well, I had built a sort of raised wooden verandah thing on stilts at first floor level running around two sides of the main house. Having been driven to distraction by the mole I set up camp out there one night with a deckchair, a book, my shotgun, a flask of coffee and a full pack of Marlboro.
In the dead of that moonlit night he made his last mistake. My eye was caught by the gentle nudging of soil to the surface of my lawn. He was audaciously building one of his little earth pyramids not 15 feet in front and of course one floor below me.
Without hesitation I let him have both barrels. The mound disintegrated and the digging stopped. Now whether he was a solitary soul I'll never know but even if he wasn't word must have got round the mole community that this was a really bad place to dig as we never saw another one for years.
Deeply satisfying that was in a primitive sort of way.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sun 30 Jan 11 at 15:52
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>>>Where's Fenlander? The fens does not do "highs", just "lows". He lives near the lowest place in the UK.
I'd ignored this thread because of mountain in the title.... we do have plenty of molehills though.
Anyway Zero is right.... I pass Holme fen 4 times a day which is reputed to be the lowest place in the UK at 3m below sea level. Our house is about 1.5m below sea level. No worries as we have a Zodiac inflatable and family lifejackets to hand at all times,
iberianature.com/britainnature/tag/lowest-point-in-the-uk/
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sun 30 Jan 11 at 15:59
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I agree with moles being very territorial. They are quite aggressive to other moles. Unfortunately this means getting rid of the alpha mole from your garden just gives an opening to an up and coming mole youngster looking for a territory to move in requiring you to repeat the whole process.
You really have the choice of trapping on a regular basis or just let Mr Mole continue, perhaps using some sort of deterrent to keep his away from your flower beds. Moles just love stoneless soil so the Fens are ideal territory
Mole hills do make good potting compost though!
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Or just get a cat who is good at killing them... When I was a kid we had a mole in the back garden, the cat just sat by one of the molehills (don't ask me how he knew which one) until the mole surfaced... Whap! End of one mole...
The above tale is for Pat, showing that its sometimes better just to let Nature take its course... The cat didn't need feeding that night either... ;-)
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Cats catching mice? Not ours.
They occasionally go into the field in summer and manage to bring a poor little Vole in the house to play with. They have a huge pond with all manner of shapes and sizes of Goldfish basking on the surface but have not even noticed they exist yet. Frogs they do sit and watch fascinated, but it's far to energetic to do something.
One has a penchant for prawns, but food has to come out of a sachet if it's to be eaten.
Last year three of them sat watching a mole hill being made and the Siamese did finally pounce on it and managed to get his front leg down as far as it would go, but by then the Mole had long gone. He thinks he's a dog anyway and plays 'fetch and retrieve' so if he does manage to catch it, he'll drop it at my feet to be thrown again:)
I can live with the Mole in the flower beds if he'd only keep off the lawn.
The mice have now got a half a Penguin in their trap for this week and it's been moved to where the Niger seed is kept as they've managed to find their way into the expensive stuff now.
Pat
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Mountain or Molehill?? - Bromptonaut
