YDING SKOVHOEJ

I drove to Jutland today, and took the opportunity to pass over Yding Skovhoej ("forest height"), the highest point in Denmark. At just under 173m above sea level, it is not anywhere near the size of a mountain. Nevertheless, it still gives a tremendous view over the valley formed by the Gudenaa, at 176km the country's longest river.

The highest point in Denmark is, in fact, somewhat controversial. Yding wins only because there is a man-made bronze age burial mound sitting right on the top of it. Without that, it would be 9cm less than Moellehoej ("mill height"), a few kilometers away. The latter takes its name from the eight-sided mill that stood on its top until 1917, but it only became well-known in 2005, after a new, and more accurate, set of measurements had been made. Before that, Yding had vied for the title with Ejer Bavnehoej ("beacon height"), also just down the road.

All of which seems to confirm that if there isn't much of something (height, in this case), then people will tend to bicker and squabble about it.

Walter Blotscher