These pillars serve as beacons to guide my way. Set up in the late 1930s to string together and provide lookout points from the hilltops of Britain. Each pillar offers a view to bask in, linking together the landscape for mapping. The Trigonometrical Point, or a little easier on the tongue, Trig Point.
Their purpose was to map the land, not for the benefit of wayfarers or strolling types, but for a far more sombre reason: The Ordnance Survey. This government department was first established during the Napoleonic Wars, although its origins trace back even further to the Jacobite risings of the 1740s. It became evident at that time that the British Army (together with King George II) lacked a clear understanding of how the landscape varied from valley to valley, relying instead on local hearsay and sheer bloody luck. Never a good thing to have one’s army careering about haphazardly chasing its tail.
Over 6,000 of these robust structures now stand on hilltops - with the highest located atop Ben Nevis. Once noticed it’s virtually impossible to unsee them, no matter how hard you might try. These intriguing concrete icebergs have more hidden beneath the surface, (I have been told), than what is visible above the ground. For the cartographer to accurately map the landscape, so they most definitely needed a fixed point to be firmly anchored to the earth.
So next time you’re gathering speed and sweeping from one place to another, take a look towards the nearest highpoint, as you might spot one of these structures quietly contemplating the view to the next Trig Point some distance away.