Longest line of sight (UK)

[Scotrail314209]

Here's a closer view of Ben Ledi from a similar direction: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...cardine_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_470323.jpg.

I'm not sure about the others -- Stuc and Ben Vorlich sound plausible, but by the admittedly rather crude method of putting a ruler on the 1:200,000 map, it appears that Stuc would only be to the left of Dumyat if your viewpoint was to the south of the Edinburgh built-up area, too far south to see Ben Ledi over the end of the bridge. Maybe Beinn Each to the left and Stuc to the right? But on the other hand, you'd then expect to see Ben Vorlich to the right of Stuc, and there doesn't appear to be a third mountain in the photo.

Here is the view from Ben Vorlich, if that helps to see whether it includes your viewpoint: http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/GRW/VORLICH-E-S.gif.

And here is the view from Arthur's Seat: http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/CEN/ARTHUR.GIF -- were you anywhere near that? That makes me wonder whether you were seeing Stob Binnein and Ben More, although the shapes don't look pointed enough in the picture.

I was in Clermiston Park, just down the road from Corstorphine Hill.

 

[MacCookie]

I was in Clermiston Park, just down the road from Corstorphine Hill.

Stob Binnein to the left of Dumyat, not Stuc a’Chroin, with Ben More on the right through the haze rather than Ben Vorlich.

PeakFinder - The mountains are calling!

PeakFinder - The mountains are calling!

www.peakfinder.org

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes, I agree with Stob Binnein / Ben More. Both are big hills!

 

[nw1]

Yes, I agree with Stob Binnein / Ben More. Both are big hills!

A bit OT but I was surprised how little of a path there was when climbing Ben More from Crianlarich in 2006.

It's a high peak as you say, but one got the impression it wasn't such a popular route. Technically easy though, a lot of grass and not much rock.

 

[Acey]

Done Ben More and Stob Binnien as a day trip /night from Kent about 1985,as you said a long slog on a pathless slope ,excellent views though !

 

[nlogax]

Done Ben More and Stob Binnien as a day trip /night from Kent about 1985,as you said a long slog on a pathless slope ,excellent views though !

Wow! How long did the entire round trip take?

 

[Bald Rick]

A bit OT but I was surprised how little of a path there was when climbing Ben More from Crianlarich in 2006.

It's a high peak as you say, but one got the impression it wasn't such a popular route. Technically easy though, a lot of grass and not much rock.

I did them from the other side, path all the way. However there’s not a path to link them with the pair to the west, and gaining the height for the second pair is a bit more technical.

When I did them, I did all 4 with an 0830 start and was back home in Hertfordshire just after midnight.

to keep vaguely on topic, the views from the top of Ben More are remarkable.

 

[Acey]

Wow! How long did the entire round trip take?

It was the same as my Ben Nevis trip the previous year, left home in Bromley at about 19 00 caught the 21-05 train from Euston to Crianlarich .walked down the road to the start of the path ,onto the top and over to Stob Binnien ,back down to Crianlarich and took the overnight train back to London ,home about 07 30 or so ,didn't cost a penny either ( good weather too )

 

[nlogax]

It was the same as my Ben Nevis trip the previous year, left home in Bromley at about 19 00 caught the 21-05 train from Euston to Crianlarich .walked down the road to the start of the path ,onto the top and over to Stob Binnien ,back down to Crianlarich and took the overnight train back to London ,home about 07 30 or so ,didn't cost a penny either ( good weather too )

Halcyon days! Great shots Stob Binnien is on my list but I need to get Ben Lomond done first.

 

[Acey]

I did them from the other side, path all the way. However there’s not a path to link them with the pair to the west, and gaining the height for the second pair is a bit more technical.

When I did them, I did all 4 with an 0830 start and was back home in Hertfordshire just after midnight.

to keep vaguely on topic, the views from the top of Ben More are remarkable.

Wow,that's quite an epic !

 

[nw1]

I did them from the other side, path all the way. However there’s not a path to link them with the pair to the west, and gaining the height for the second pair is a bit more technical.

When I did them, I did all 4 with an 0830 start and was back home in Hertfordshire just after midnight.

to keep vaguely on topic, the views from the top of Ben More are remarkable.

Ah ok thanks, yes I did notice a clear path from Ben More to Stob Binnein (which we couldn't do due to insufficient time).

Do remember great views though. The day before we had done Ben Nevis in excellent weather (have climbed twice, both in very clear conditions). This was in a very unusual weather setup, it was the back end of June 2006 and while we had good weather, Southern England was very wet, the only wet spell in what was otherwise an exceptionally hot and sunny month.

 

[Howardh]

Nice clear day today with northerly winds, went up Matchmoor Lane (Nr Bolton) to 1100' and 60 miles away was the Great Orme. Not as clear as I hoped, but never the less worth the trip. (Pics 1 + 2) Also a general view of Snowdonia with Bolton's ground in the foreground; and finally Blackpool Tower with the Isle Of Man just about visible behind.

 

[Acey]

Amazing !

 

[Altrincham]

Nice clear day today with northerly winds, went up Matchmoor Lane (Nr Bolton) to 1100' and 60 miles away was the Great Orme. Not as clear as I hoped, but never the less worth the trip. (Pics 1 + 2) Also a general view of Snowdonia with Bolton's ground in the foreground; and finally Blackpool Tower with the Isle Of Man just about visible behind.

Those are incredible views. Is the gap (to the left of the Great Orme) the low-lying area in Llandudno of North Shore and West Shore?

 

[Howardh]

Those are incredible views. Is the gap (to the left of the Great Orme) the low-lying area in Llandudno of North Shore and West Shore?

Yes. Llandudno is (unfortunately) below the horizon, I wonder how high i would need to be to see it?

 

[Altrincham]

There is a very good photographer on Twitter called @LiverpoolVista who manages to capture some excellent long-distance panoramas from Liverpool. Liverpool Vista posted these incredible shots recently from Liverpool showing Blackpool and Southport, plus the Cumbrian mountains in the background.

https://twitter.com/liverpoolvista/status/1603127418889408523?s=21&t=b_s27XTJ0FisB-a6iXTOGA

https://twitter.com/liverpoolvista/status/1604179206694371328?s=21&t=b_s27XTJ0FisB-a6iXTOGA

 

[D6130]

Wow! Those photos are amazing! Presumably taken from the top of the tower of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral? What's the single tower stayed suspension bridge to the right?....Is it the one across the Ribble at Penwortham, just downstream of Preston? And the prominent tower just to the left of it?

 

[Darandio]

What's the single tower stayed suspension bridge to the right?

Marine Bridge in Southport?

 

[D6130]

Marine Bridge in Southport?

Ah yes....that would figure!

 

[Taunton]

From the centre of Liverpool the Southport bridge is pretty much direct line with Blackpool Tower. For it to be so far offset the photo must surely be from the Wirral.

We used to live, as stated above in this thread, on the seafront at Hoylake. Sea level, but Cumbria became visible about once a year, I believe Black Combe behind Ulverston. But nothing like all that, so photo must have been from much higher. Bidston Hill? Neighbour said they once saw the Isle of Man. I wonder if it was visible when those photos were taken; apparently the IOM was occasionally visible from up on the Great Orme at Llandudno.

The other astounding thing is how high (and steep) the Big Dipper is at Blackpool!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

From the centre of Liverpool the Southport bridge is pretty much direct line with Blackpool Tower. For it to be so far offset the photo must surely be from the Wirral.

That photo must have been taken with a very high zoom - Blackpool Tower is after all 29 miles from Liverpool, and those Cumbrian mountains that look so big in the photo are fully 60 miles away! I would therefore suspect that the bridge is actually not far offset at all - it only looks so far to the right because everything is so much zoomed in.

 

[Howardh]

Just amazing! Love to know the exact spot it was taken from!

EDIT _ Liverpool cathedral, just read the twitter.

 

[nw1]

Interesting you can see that far from Liverpool, had no idea the Lake District was visible on a clear day.

 

[nlogax]

Absolutely blown away by those. Amazing!

 

[DelW]

Wow! Those photos are amazing! Presumably taken from the top of the tower of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral? What's the single tower stayed suspension bridge to the right?....Is it the one across the Ribble at Penwortham, just downstream of Preston? And the prominent tower just to the left of it?

Looks like a water tower in north Blackpool:


(Images from Google Maps and Streetview)

 

[D6130]

Looks like a water tower in north Blackpool:

Ah yes....you can see that from the right hand side of the train heading into Blackpool North. Thanks for that!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Looks like a water tower in north Blackpool:

View attachment 125868View attachment 125869
(Images from Google Maps and Streetview)

Wow, you can always rely on Railforums to provide expertise in identifying stuff!

It is an impressive photo.

I was a little curious about how much zoomed in that picture is, so I did a couple of measurements:

I make it that the left hand edge of the visible big dipper ride that's visible in the photo is 520m West of a line joining Blackpool Tower to Liverpool Cathedral where the photo was taken. That big dipper is about 43.8 km away from Liverpool Cathedral, which means the portion of the photo between Blackpool Tower and the ride on its left covers an angle of just 0.68 degrees for the camera. That portion is a bit less than 1/5 of the width of the photo, so I make the entire photo to be about 3.3 degrees wide. (For comparison, if you look up at the moon in the night sky, the diameter of the moon covers an angle of about 0.5 degrees).

From Liverpool Cathedral, you certainly wouldn't be able to see the level of detail on the photo yourself with the naked eye (but you probably would if you were looking through binoculars).

 

[Altrincham]

From another Twitter post, the photographer says he used a 150-600mm lens for taking these photos of Blackpool from Liverpool. As someone who is fascinated by these type of line-of-sight panoramas I wouldn’t mind looking into getting one of these lenses myself.

Looking at the images a lot closer the evening, the aforementioned Marine Drive bridge at Southport, and Warbreck Water Tower at Blackpool have been identified. I think the church tower on the Southport side of the Ribble (and just immediately to the right of Blackpool Tower in the picture) is St James‘ Church at Birkdale.

I’ve been looking to see if I can see any noticeable building that might indicate Blackpool airport but I’m not familiar with the skyline of that part of Blackpool so not been successful in trying to locate it.

Scafell Pike is visible in the background to the far left of the photo.

 

[Bald Rick]

Brilliant pictures.

It’s funny as I’ve walked across both the mid horizon and far horizon - the mid horizon being the Fylde costs from Fairhaven (behind the Southport Bridge) to Blackpool, and the far horizon from Scafell Pike to Bow Fell. The latter took a lot longer than the former!

 

[DelW]

Wow, you can always rely on Railforums to provide expertise in identifying stuff!

It is an impressive photo.

I was a little curious about how much zoomed in that picture is, so I did a couple of measurements:

I make it that the left hand edge of the visible big dipper ride that's visible in the photo is 520m West of a line joining Blackpool Tower to Liverpool Cathedral where the photo was taken. That big dipper is about 43.8 km away from Liverpool Cathedral, which means the portion of the photo between Blackpool Tower and the ride on its left covers an angle of just 0.68 degrees for the camera. That portion is a bit less than 1/5 of the width of the photo, so I make the entire photo to be about 3.3 degrees wide. (For comparison, if you look up at the moon in the night sky, the diameter of the moon covers an angle of about 0.5 degrees).

From Liverpool Cathedral, you certainly wouldn't be able to see the level of detail on the photo yourself with the naked eye (but you probably would if you were looking through binoculars).

The post that followed yours says that the photographer used a 150 - 600mm zoom. Assuming that it was used at the 600mm end (as I'd imagine they'd want maximum zoom), and IF it was used on a DSLR with a full-frame sensor, that would give a horizontal angle of view of about 2 x arctan(18÷600) which is 3.44°, close to your value. That zoom + full frame combination gives around 12x magnification, so is indeed comparable to a decent pair of binoculars.

It's certainly a most impressive image!