Billinge Hill

9 October 2016

Participants: Just me

Where: Billinge Hill, 179m/587', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 108, SD 525014

 

This year, the AGM of the Mountain Bothies Association was being held in Church Stretton in Shropshire, a part of the country that I had not been to before. The weather forecast was promising so I decided to take the week off before the meetings and explore the area and of course climb some of the hills. There was only really one Marilyn that was feasible to climb on the route down- Billinge Hill which is not far from Wigan and only a few miles off the M6. It was hardly a hill as such; merely the high point in the village of Billinge but nonetheless, as everything round about was basically flat, it had great views. It is the highest point of Merseyside.

 

Unsurprisingly, the hill is used as a beacon and it seems to be referred to as that locally. I parked at the end of Beacon Road from where it was only a few hundred yards along a track to the summit, passing a small incinerator plant on the way. This is the view of the hill from a nearby field.....

 

 

There is a small tower at the summit, built in the 18th century as a summerhouse for Winstanley Hall but now sadly disfigured by graffiti and closed......

 

The views were extensive, although not knowing the area I wasn't able to identify much. A working topograph would have been useful. This is the view over the Cheshire plain with some of the hills of north Wales in the far distance.....

 

and this is looking east to the Pennines. I think that the hill with the mast could be Winter Hill.....

 

Having such a commanding view, it is not surprising that Billinge Hill was used for observation purposes during World War II. It was also apparently subsequently used by the Royal Observer Corps who had a bunker not far below the summit that would have been used if a nuclear war had occurred. So a small hill but not insignificant and with a great view on a clear day.