Sidney or Lodwick Point

Lodwick Point.

To the west of Mahableshwar at about 4.8 km is situated the Lodwick Point.  Earlier this point was known as Sydney Point. Later  this point was named as Lodwick Point in honour of General Lodwick who was the first British officer to climb the hill.  With the permission of the government a memorial pole was erected on this point by the only son of General Lodwick, R.W. Lodwick.  This pole is about 25 ft high from the ground.

The way to Sidney or Lodwick Point, which is nearly three miles north-west of the bazar, is to follow the Mahad road and take the second turning to the right. The road, though steep is well adapted for carriages. It follows the northern slope of the spur through dense though small forest and opens on to a space at the base of a sort of promontory two hundered yards long. The carriage way extends to the top of a rise in the promontory on which the Lodwick monument has been placed. Beyond this again, is the extreme end of the Point known as the Nose or Elephant Head 4067 feet above sea level. This must be reached on foot, as it is connected with the rest of the spur by a narrow ridge not more than five or six feet wide with a deep drop on each side. This should be crossed with caution. The Nose or Elephant Head end of the point is only twelve feet wide and the sides have a drop of over 2500 feet to the Koyna valley below. Many persons consider Sidney point the most beautiful on the hill. The view is less extensive on either side than from several other points. But Pratapgad and Elphinstone point crags seen thence in their very best. There is a fine rebent of prospect north-west over the Konkan while the height and ruggedness of the surrounding hills is nowhere more fully brought home to the mind than from this almost isolated rock rearing its colossal height between two deep ravines crowned with rugged cliffs.

Lodwick Monument

Sidney or Lodwick Point was formerly called Sidney after Sir Sidney Beckwith. Later on, by Government, the name was changed to Lodwick Point, in honor of General Lodwick who was the first English officer that climbed the hill. By permission of the Government a column was erected on the point by General Lodwick's son. The column is about twenty-five feet high from the ground to the top of the urn which surmounts the pillar. On the west of the bast of the monument is the head of the General, sculptured in altorelievo in white marble, protected by stout tin wire in an iron frame. The iron has rusted and stained the face, which is scratched but not disfigured. On the south side is written :

In memory of
General Peter Lodwick,
Second son of John Lodwick, Esq., S. Shoebury, Essex,
who entered the Hon. E. I. Co.'s service in 1799
and died at Bagneres de Bigorre, France,
August 28th, 1873, aged 90.
SENIOR OFFICER OF H. M.'S. FORCES IN INDIA

On the east side is written :

In 1803-04, he saw service as subaltern in connection with the operation of the Army under Sir Arthur Wellesley. He was Brigade Major of Captain Ford's Subsidiary Force at the Battle of Kirkee, November 5th 1817, when 2800 British Troops defeated the Peshva's Army, and was present at the taking of Purandhar and other hill forts. He commanded a Regiment at Kittur in 1824; he subsequently beacme Town Major of Bombay; and closed his career in India as Resident of Satara.
The first European who set foot on these hills, he made known the salubrity of the climate, and led to the establishment of the Mahabaleshwar Sanatorium, thus conferring an inestimable benefit on the Bombay Presidency.

On the north side is written :

The Point, now by order of Government designated Lodwick Point in honor of his name, he reached alone in 1827, after hours of toil through the dense forest. Here, therefore, as the most appropriate spot this monument has, with the permission of Government, been erected by his only son, R. W. Lodwick, of Her Majesty's Bombay Civil Service. Accountant General of Madras in 1874.