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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 29th June, 2020)

Billinge Lump


Billinge Lump
I did a digital litter pick :-)

Photo: Dave (Oy)  (Fuji X-T4 : 10-24mm F4)
Views: 2,304

Comment by: Mick on 29th June 2020 at 07:43

What an eyesore, it looks like a derelict building and it needs more than a digital litter pick.
Im sure if the monument was located in Shevington, it would have a Friends of Shevy Lump group set up, who would look after it and keep it graffiti free.

Comment by: kath on 29th June 2020 at 08:50

It's a shame people can't take their litter home

Comment by: WN1 Standisher on 29th June 2020 at 08:54

Nice photo Dave, I've never been up there. Another to add to my ' to do ' list. Was it bad before you applied the airbrush ?

Comment by: Kath on 29th June 2020 at 08:58

Ugly !

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 29th June 2020 at 09:05

Nice photo of the Hill's beacon, made splendid by your 'digital litter pick' Dave. The stuff they leave behind today, eh? And to think that all the old boys had left behind were the shards of ready-rubbed and 'ouchy' matchstalks that told of a strong desire to be heard. I've bagged many points of interest from here over the years, but the first had been pointed out by Dad: The tower of Lowton's 'Sovereign Toffee Works' (over your right-shoulder). You might have bagged the Ordnance Survey Bench Mark, while you were atop, but if not, your 'magic zoomer' will find it beneath the rusty-coloured smear to the right of the door. The name Baladent, or Banadent, has always fascinated me - it's inscribed on the beacon's sunlit wall. Look forward to your next. Thanks.

Comment by: Helen B on 29th June 2020 at 09:21

This brings back memories of childhood walks with my parents, climbing to the top, roly-poly down. Happy Days!
The views from the top are stunning on a clear day.

Comment by: Garry on 29th June 2020 at 09:23

Lovely sky, well taken Dave.
Graffiti nuts been at the building though. Thanks.

Comment by: Arthur on 29th June 2020 at 09:29

What is this meant to be ?

Comment by: irene roberts on 29th June 2020 at 09:42

I'm not quite sure, Arthur. Is it a beacon that would once have been lit, along with other beacons, to signify something momentous? I've always been a bit hazy about what it actually is.

Comment by: Veronica on 29th June 2020 at 09:49

I was wondering what the building was for actually. Was it used during the war to detect enemy aircraft?

Comment by: Johnny on 29th June 2020 at 10:43

For years I thought it was built during Elizabethan times as a beacon which would be lit informing of an imminent Spanish invasion !
Very poor state now. Different to my paintings (on WW) of the "lump" in happier times !!

Comment by: Dave (Oy) on 29th June 2020 at 11:22

It was built as a summerhouse to Winstanley Hall in the 18th century. There was a fire warning beacon on the hill but not on this structure. It originally had a pointed roof.

Comment by: Helen of Troy on 29th June 2020 at 12:45

It apparently is Billinge Hill or locally know as Billinge Lump. It marks the highest point of Merseyside. Its parent peak is Winter Hill & there is a Billinge Lump walk. I would agree with Irene , the stone edifice would have marked where a beacon, like Ashurst Beacon, would have been lit in times of trouble.

I bet you wanted to know all that...I did !

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 29th June 2020 at 14:48

I was up there in '53 to see the Scouts ignite their bommy - to the left of the beacon it roared.

Comment by: George (Hindley) on 1st July 2020 at 13:00

This is not of the highest point in Saint Helens, or in Merseyside. It's not far off, but it's not.

Comment by: John B on 1st July 2020 at 19:29

George yes it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billinge_Hill#:~:text=Billinge%20Hill%2C%20also%20known%20as,the%20highest%20point%20of%20Merseyside.

Comment by: George (Hindley) on 1st July 2020 at 23:31

If you look on a spot-heights map you'll find it isn't. Billinge Hill is, but that building isn't at the highest point of Billinge Hill. Neither is it's 'parent peak' Winter Hill.
Don't take Wikipedia seriously. Billinge Hill is not a marilyn, although it says it is.

Comment by: John B on 2nd July 2020 at 00:03

Every reference i checked all say billinge hill, highest point in merseyside, viewranger, kamoot, os dunno where you are looking George ?

Comment by: George (Hindley) on 2nd July 2020 at 11:06

John B. YES, you are correct. BILLINGE HILL is the highest point in Merseyside. No argument about that fact.
However, the photograph is not of 'the highest point in Merseyside'.
The building on the photo is not sited at the highest point of Billinge Hill, where Helen of Troy said, " It marks the highest point of Merseyside".

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