It's an old Leicestershire tradition: if there's a hill that it is very prominent in the landscape, you get a quarrying company to remove half of it. Not just Breedon, but also Bardon Hill (highest hill in the county) and Croft Hill (not very big, but prominent in a flat part of the county)
Similar to the way I used to ride in my teens. But my way of gradually increasing my mileage meant that I was only ever a short distance from known roads, so at junctions there would usually be a sign pointing to a village that I knew. I took a pump but I don't think I ever took any tools; but I never got stranded a long way from home.