TrigpointingUK

If like me you are saddened whenever you read the reported demise of yet another trig pillar then I have some good news for everyone. A NEW pillar has appeared on the western shore of Derwent Reservoir in Derbyshire at SK 17056 89893. First became aware of this on 20-08-2023 when doing a lap of Derwent and Howden reservoirs from the Fairholmes visitor centre. Said pillar is surrounded by a wooden fenced enclosure but the fence is less than arms reach from the pillar so you can easily reach out and give it a pat (that's my criteria for a successful bag). At the time this newbie wasn't adorned with an FB or spider.

Returned a couple of weeks later to record the GPS position and called by the ranger's office at Fairholmes visitor centre to enquire for more info. The ranger was only too happy to talk to me about trig pillars and told me this newbie was built by Severn Trent to provide them with an extra station to monitor the condition of the Derwent Dam.

I've seen something like this before (I forget where) and I doubt it's actually a triangulation pillar, the fact that the water board have apparently installed it suggests it has nothing to do with triangulation.

It's quite common for survey pillars to be built around large civil engineering projects such as dams; they are used for triangulation, but have nothing to do with the OS. There's a FB page for them if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1721856191423300