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LONG_KEELER

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Known as the "Matterhorn" , the highest peak in Essex is Chrishall near Langley. It reaches a height of 482ft slighly smaller than the other Matterhorn which is 12,285ft.
 

AntarcticPilot

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Known as the "Matterhorn" , the highest peak in Essex is Chrishall near Langley. It reaches a height of 482ft slighly smaller than the other Matterhorn which is 12,285ft.
Cambridgeshire is flatter - highest elevation is Gog Magog Downs, 246' high - and a fair bit is below sea level! Ely cathedral is visible over vast distances.

A friend, also from Yorkshire, once remarked that it was good of the fen people to build churches on the hills, so we could tell where the hills were!
 

johnalison

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Cambridgeshire is flatter - highest elevation is Gog Magog Downs, 246' high - and a fair bit is below sea level! Ely cathedral is visible over vast distances.

A friend, also from Yorkshire, once remarked that it was good of the fen people to build churches on the hills, so we could tell where the hills were!
East-coasters will feel at home in Frisland/Friesland if they haven't already been. There is an area called turp-land, because it is made up of, er, turps. These originated as spoil heaps from the few dwellings in the swamp, which grew into habitable ground where villages developed. Going through the canals you can sometimes see these modest humps with their houses and churches above the otherwise flat land. I have even seem 'turp tours' suggested on maps of the area.
 

westhinder

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Cambridgeshire is flatter - highest elevation is Gog Magog Downs, 246' high - and a fair bit is below sea level! Ely cathedral is visible over vast distances.

A friend, also from Yorkshire, once remarked that it was good of the fen people to build churches on the hills, so we could tell where the hills were!
The first time I went to the Fens I had the impression I was in a part of the Netherlands that had floated across. I understand the Dutch played a big part in the development of the area.
 

AntarcticPilot

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The first time I went to the Fens I had the impression I was in a part of the Netherlands that had floated across. I understand the Dutch played a big part in the development of the area.
Indeed, they did, and you'll spot Dutch place names here and there, and Dutch style houses. But the problem is different from Holland, and the method of drainage uses different principles. Despite appearances, there is a slope to the fens, and the drainage relies on shortening the path of the rivers to the sea. Closing sea gates at high water and opening them at low water stops keeps water draining off the land. In Holland, they depend on pumps to drain land that is below sea level.

Of course, it's all a LOT more complex than that - as the Fens dried out, the level of the land dropped so water has to be pumped into the rivers. But the flow of the rivers is natural.
 
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