Britain’s Favourite View of a Mountain

Progammes about history, the countryside and art have become pretty staple fair on Sunday nights recently. You can even watch them back to back at the moment with “Britain’s Favourite View” and “Mountain”. I quite enjoy these programmes though, and for a Sunday they are pretty good for winding down at the end of the weekend before you go back to work on Monday.

Tonight though, the two fitted together pretty well, with “Mountain” reminding me of what I would probably pick as my favourite view - the view across Sheffield from the Long Causeway between Redmires and Stanage Pole. On tonight’s “Mountain”, Griff Rhys Jones walked up to Stanage Edge and showed many views across the edge itself, which admittedly are very dramatic, but to me it is the view back down the hill towards Sheffield (particularly on a bright sunny day) that are the best.

Sheffield itself is not beautiful, but its setting built on hills on the edge of the Pennines and surrounded by many more makes it one of the most dramatic settings for a city in the whole country. The great thing about this view though is that it extends far further than just the hills around Sheffield, which is why having brilliant weather is important. Beyond Sheffield it gets flatter and flatter as you head towards the Humber Estuary. According to a nearby viewpoint it should be possible to see as far as Humber Bridge and Lincoln Cathedral which is pretty impressive and quite believable.

Other views that I think are up there as some of the best are:

• The view of the Rivelin Valley in Sheffield from the crags near Hagg Lane. This plae is about five minutes from where I grew up and is a view point that looks across the woodland, fields and crags of the Rivelin Valley and out to the Hallam Moors and the Peak District. It is beautiful and yet incredibly near to home.
• The view down the River Thames towards the City of London from Hungerford Bridge is a view that I never get bored by. During my time living in Eastleigh, I would often deliberately use Embankment Underground Station and walk to/from Waterloo instead, just so I could enjoy this view. It is still able to generate a feeling of excitement about London and all you can do there whenever I see it.
• The view from the A487 between Dolgellau and Corris down towards Tal-y-Llyn. This view down a mountain pass comes out of the blue as you drive from Dolgellau past Cader Idris and down towards Corris. Spectacular.