please empty your brain below
Often elevation and a view are highly sought after properties. I know here in Seattle, anyplace with a hill and a view commands a steep property valuation increase. The ironic thing about the history of this town is that in 1899 they actually leveled the tallest hill in town. The famous 'Denny Regrade' took about 35 years to wash away 150 feet of elevation in a large part of downtown. This was to make it easier for horse drawn wagons. Ironically the automobile came along in the meantime, so all they accomplished was to destroy the best view property in town.

John | Homepage | 22.08.14 - 1:51 a.m. | #

A few years ago Nottinghamshire Council bought some land in my town of Basildon as an investment. I wonder if any of the London boroughs did something similar and that there is now a part of the peak district owned by one of them that makes that technically the borough top.

Barry | 22.08.14 - 8:19 a.m. | #

And you don't remember Valerie Singleton taking a lion into the corner shop at Malden Rushett?

http://www.chessingtonzoo.info/videos.html

Nick Parker | 22.08.14 - 8:25 a.m. | #

The various Telegraph Hills were a pretty impressive signalling sytem. I understand that an order from the Admiralty in London could be received by the fleet in Portsmouth, a distance of about 65 miles as the crow flies, in just a couple of minutes.

Great Aunt Annie | 22.08.14 - 8:53 a.m. | #

The telegraphs were indeed impressive for their day - using optical wireless technology, with self-replicating biofuelled 100Tb/s relays, the signalling used a 64-symbol alphabet and was capable of transmitting at a rate of 800mb/s

(Translation - it was an optical semaphore system using six shutters (therefore 2^6 = 64 possible symbols)
operating at about 8 symbols/minute
which equates to 6x8=48 bits/minute or 0.8 bits/sec
(yes I did mean mbit/s and not Mbit/s)

Wireless optical? Line of sight
And the 100Tb/s relays? Human beings.

This was advanced stuff in he Napoleonic era. Didn't work well when it was foggy though.

timbo | 22.08.14 - 9:28 a.m. | #

Remarkably interesting, these posts. Thanks, DG.

I feel a certain frisson of anticipation as it's seeming likely that you'll be in my neck of the woods next. Quite literally, perhaps.

| 22.08.14 - 11:07 a.m. | #

Blimey, Nick Parker, there can't be many of us who remember that? We used to pop into the post office to see the lion's scratch marks on the counter!

Two more facts about Malden Rushett:

There was a terrible accident there, in the 70s I think. A number of cleaners died in a burning minibus.

Again in the 70s, a warehouse in a nearby farm was food to be full of imported pornography.

Ah, not so quiet after all!

Ian Brooker | 22.08.14 - 12:53 p.m. | #

Now, there's an idea for the next series of explorations. Follow all the Telegraph stations between The Admiralty and Portsmouth.

OK, it's possibly beyond the geographical scope of our correspondent from Bow. Perhaps it should be delegated to a fellow investigator in the Southern Home Counties.

Petras409 | 22.08.14 - 3:22 p.m. | #

@barry
"A few years ago Nottinghamshire Council bought some land in my town of Basildon as an investment. I wonder if any of the London boroughs did something similar "
Doesn't the City own Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest?

timbo | 22.08.14 - 10:11 p.m. | #

Three more excellent descriptions and sets of photos.

Bob Lindsay-Smith | 22.08.14 - 10:40 p.m. | #

The 465 is indeed a long standing beyonder.

Took and takes Londoners to Box Hill

Mike D | 26.08.14 - 12:55 a.m. | #











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