Winter Hill is a hill in North West England. It is part of the West Pennine Moors, it is a popular walking area, and has been the setting for mining activity, aeroplane disasters and murders.
Its prominent position made it the ideal site for the Winter Hill TV Mast, transmitting to a large part of North West England. There also a number of other telecommunication masts and towers around the summit and side of the hill for mobile phones, Professional Mobile Radio users and emergency services. Lancashire Constabulary was the first to use the site for one of their base stations in 1950, they had to build the road and it is said to have been built by policemen.
Paths to the summit lead from Belmont & Rivington in Chorley Borough, as well as Horwich and Blackrod in Bolton Borough. The summit can be reached via a short walk from the top of a road pass 2 km west of Belmont. The hill is a distinctive feature on the skyline for most of the Borough of Chorley and further afield due to its unusual shape.
It offers views over Manchester city centre, Wigan and Bolton. In clear weather conditionsyou can also see Blackpool Tower, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Snaefell in the Isle of Man, the Lake District, Snowdonia in North Wales, Liverpool, Southport, the Irish Sea, Peak District, the Pennines and much of the North West of England.
Almost uniquely in the United Kingdom, on a clear day the summit offers a view of four national parks - The Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Snowdonia.
This cache and other similar caches were originally placed by CharlieG0PZO for Radio Amateurs,who are taking part in the "Summits on the Air" programme. As they are hidden on mountain tops they will be of interest to geocachers who are fell walkers.