Talk:High Willhays

UK geography Low‑importance

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Tallest point in Britain?[edit]

According to this medium (wiki), the worlds tallest point relative to the centre of the earth is the Cochabamba in Equador. According to the same standards, would not the High Willhays be the tallest-and-southernmost point of the UK? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.134.28.194 (talk) 09:29, 26 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Parent peak[edit]

Since 2010, the infobox has listed Cross Fell in the north of England as the parent peak of High Willhays, which can't be right. I don't know if there is a Cross Fell in Devon (it sounds unlikely) and presumably High Willhays has no parent peak, but I've left the entry blank for those with greater knowledge to correct. Addedentry (talk) 09:58, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see why it can't be right. Have you read topographical prominence? That article states that the "prominence parentage" method is used in the British Isles, and using that method it seems quite possible that Cross Fell is the parent if the Welsh peaks are cut off by a lower col (or if we're just talking about England, of course). It does need a reference though and I can't find one, so I'm not going to put it back. —SMALL JIM 11:19, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Cross Fell, as in the mountain in the northern Pennines, is the parent peak of High Willhays. The key col for High Willhays is c80m, which is slightly higher than the Severn/Mersey watershed at 66m. Kinder Scout also falls in this region, but while it is higher, it is not the parent of High Willhays as its prominence is much lower.--Nilf anion (talk) 12:47, 11 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps the question should be whether Scafell Pike is the parent peak of High Willhays. Cross Fell's prominence is given, on both Wikipedia and peakbagger.com, as 651m - the latter giving its key col as 242m (Newbiggin on Lune, Cumbria), with Wikipedia listing Helvellyn as the parent peak. And Helvellyn's key col is 238m, between it and Scafell Pike. The topographical prominence articles says "For hills with low prominence in Britain, a definition of 'parent Marilyn' is sometimes used to classify low hills" - but that's "sometimes", and anyway, High Willhays is a Marilyn itself. http://www.hills-database.co.uk/ does not list a parent Marilyn for High Willhays (or Kinder Scout, for that matter). Why, if the cols between Scafell Pike, Helvellyn and Cross Fell are both higher than that between High Willhays and Cross Fell, should Cross Fell be the parent, not Scafell Pike? There must be a point at which, if travelling north from Kinder Scout or High Willhays, you'd reach 238m, and you'd have the choice of bearing left and contouring round until you come to the col between Scafell Pike and Helvellyn, or right towards Cross Fell, and you'd still be going flat/uphill on either path. (The key col from Snowdon to Ben Nevis, in central Scotland, is lower than everything else mentioned, at 47m, so we shouldn't go all the way to Ben Nevis). Peace Makes Plenty (talk) 13:42, 9 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

OK, after reading http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/humps_ebook_release_1_1_0c.pdf , I think I understand how the parent peak is produced. Say you've got to the point where Scotland north of the Clyde/Firth and Wales west of the Mersey/Severn have been 'divided off'. You're left with the territory, roughly, of England, with Scafell Pike the highest in it. You then look for the peak with the next highest drop in it (note - not the next highest). This is Helvellyn; that gets all the territory to the east of the col/drainage lines between it and Scafell Pike (rivers that divide off the western Lake District from the rest of England). Again, for this territory you look for the peak with the next biggest drop, and it's Cross Fell. The dividing rivers between Cross Fell and Helvellyn give nearly all the territory to Cross Fell. The next biggest drop is from High Willhays down to its key col in Dorset, so High Willhays gets, roughly, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset as its territory. It doesn't matter that Kinder Scout is higher than High Willhays; it's the drop that's important. Maybe a modification to the topographical prominence page could make this clearer. Peace Makes Plenty (talk) 16:05, 9 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]