DUNSTABLE DOWNS

'Dunstable Downs' are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire in England. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At 243 m (797 ft), Dunstable Downs are the highest point of the county of Bedfordshire.
Because of its elevation, Dunstable Downs hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth during the years 1808 to 1814.
Whipsnade Zoo has cut an enormous lion shape into the chalk into the side of one of the hills. The lion can be seen from the B489 (Aylesbury to Dunstable road).
The downs are used by gliders, kite fliers, hang gliders and paragliders in the area because of their height. The London Gliding Club is based at the foot of the downs.
Much of the downs are managed by the National Trust as part of the Dunstable Downs, Countryside Centre & Whipsnade Estate property, and the downs are also home to a wide variety of wildlife including many rare wild flowers, such as the Bee Orchid, and different butterfly species, like the Marbled White and the Chalkhill Blue.

Contents

Ascents

See also

External links

Ascents

The National Trust have recently built a visitor centre on the very top of Dunstable Downs. The summit is right next to the B4541 that crosses the hill, and so an ascent of the hill requires nothing more than getting out of a car at the highest point and walking across to the trig point. For those who wish to climb the hill properly, it is possible to do a circular walk from the village of Whipsnade by following the Icknield Way and Chiltern Way, both of which are marked on OS maps. This circuit can be extended to take in the northern top of Five Knolls. The hill can also be ascended from Dunstable to the north.

See also

★ Dunstable

★ Geology of Hertfordshire

★ Luton

External links

★ Dunstable Downs, Countryside Centre & Whipsnade Estate at the National Trust

★ The lion is very clear on

★ London Gliding Club

★ Panoramic photo of the London Gliding Club and Dunstable Downs