How High?
Birmingham is not in much fear of flooding due to higher sea-levels, despite what people might mock up to sell their online games:
It is quite a way above the water — “highest point west of the Urals” I’ve been told (without knowing really what that meant: in a direct line? still higher that what’s to come further west?) — but is it the highest city in England?
I’d have guessed possibly. But guessing isn’t enough for John Mostyn, who set out to find out for sure. First he asked the Ordinance Survey, they said “we don’t know, go away” (to paraphrase), then he got his MP to ask them. And they snapped to attention (it’s what we pay our taxes for):
Fourth. Not bad, I might have put Sheffield higher but not Stoke. You can read the full story, and see the full list over on John’s blog.
I looked at the picture and thought. Haven’t they sorted the drains out in the mens toilets in Snobs yet?…
I live on top of Maney Hill in Sutton. When I moved here, both my neighbours told me that if you look east, the next highest point was the Ural mountains. I found a thingy on the webs which allowed me to draw a line on Google Maps and it would show the elevation along that line. The next highest point directly east was just outside Nuneaton. Myth Busted!