Tag: Terrain model

• Fire on the Hills: how fast could the Armada beacons carry the news?

  

  I traced the lines of sight between 193 hills named for a beacon and lit a fire at the Lizard. On the names alone it never leaves Cornwall; fill the gaps and it reaches London in 9 hops.

  Tristan Hotham

  Data stories

  Britain, Early modern, England, Hills and mountains, history, landscape, Line of sight, Military history, Ordnance Survey, Terrain model, war

• Within Sight: could Britain’s hillforts see each other?

  

  I traced 169,271 lines of sight between Britain and Ireland’s 4,147 hillforts. Most can see another, and they see each other more than nearby hills do, but good views, not signalling, explain almost all of it.

  Tristan Hotham

  Data stories

  archaeology, Britain, Chance test, Hillforts, Ireland, landscape, Line of sight, Prehistory, Terrain model, UK