Fleet Moss is a upland area separating

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It i ...

from

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The area is above sea level (although nearby peaks and the road achieve higher altitudes). Fleet Moss is noted for its peat

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...

, which has been dated to the

Neolithic period The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

. The area is

ombrotrophic Ombrotrophic ("cloud-fed"), from Ancient Greek ὄμβρος (''ómvros'') meaning "rain" and τροφή (''trofí'') meaning "food"), refers to soils or vegetation which receive all of their water and nutrients from precipitation, rather than ...

; this means it needs rain, hail snow and fog for its nutrients. Fleet Moss is known as the most eroded blanket bog in all of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

; because of its observable damage, it is known colloquially as ''

The Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

'', and as such, is visible from space. It is also known recreationally for the road which runs north/south through Fleet Moss between

Oughtershaw Oughtershaw is a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a road it shares with other small villages; Deepdale, Yockenthwaite and Hubberholme, which traverses the watershed between Upper Wharfedale\Langstrothdale and ...

and

Gayle Gayle or Gayl may refer to: People * Gayle (given name), people with the given name * Gayle (surname), people with the surname * Gayle (singer) (born 2004), American singer-songwriter Places * Gayle, North Yorkshire, England * Gayle, Jamaica, a ...

, which is the highest (paved) road in Yorkshire. Fleet Moss is a popular waypoint with cyclists and fell runners.

Description

The name Fleet Moss derives from Old Scandinavian, ''fljót mos'', literally ''stream bog''. Fleet Moss, which is north of the village of Oughtershaw, is an important peatland that stores carbon, filters water and provides a habitat for wildlife and fauna. A road extends over the hill from Oughtershaw to Gayle, then

Hawes Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...

, which passes Fleet Moss, but attains a slightly higher altitude than the bog of . Whilst this road connects with Cam Fell High Road at the northern end of Fleet Moss (originally the route of the

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

between Richmond and Lancaster), the road past Fleet Moss from the south was only built in 1887. Fleet Moss itself, sits between Dodd Fell to the west, and Jeffery Pot Hill to the east, with Fleet Moss Tarn being its highest area.

Blanket bog

Fleet Moss is a blanket bog, which gains all its nutrients through rainfall (or snow, hail and fog) rather than being fed by streams (

), with the depth of the peat at over in places. A cross-section of the peat contains the ''Glen Garry tephra layer'', a sediment laid down by a volcanic event which provides a chronological marker. This proves that the first peat in the bog was laid down in the early to mid

, around 4,000–2,000 BC. Before the bog was there, the site was part of an ancient woodland, most likely elm trees by carbon dating the pollen in the ground. This wood suffered disease and was progressively cleared by the people who lived in the area.

Whilst no accurate data exists for the rainfall on Fleet Moss, modelling based on similar peaks in the area (Top Duerley and Snaizeholme), suggests that Fleet Moss is subject to between and of rainfall per year. The rate of peat erosion is not wholly affected by weather, but more likely down to human interaction with the landscape, with conservatives estimates placing the rate of sediment loss to be per year suspended in water. Manual drainage of the peatland was a normal agricultural practice, which involved creating ditches (called ''grips'') that would drain off the water, (natural drainage channels are known as ''gullies''). The moors were drained gradually, but from 1840 onwards, the individual pockets of land were purchased by one family, who set about draining them intensively. This process was increased dramatically in the 1950s to provide grazing land for cattle. The draining has created scarring and columns of peat (

hags HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...

) where the peat used to be, which has left the landscape looking akin to a war zone; so much so, that the location is known as ''

'' and the distinctive features make it visible from space. Areas to the north east of Fleet Moss are used extensively for grazing animals and shooting, with the south western side of the site noted for its peatland. Since 2017, Pennine PeatLIFE has been actively restoring blanket bogs in Northern England, including Fleet Moss. The programme has seen the installation of sediment traps and dams across to prevent erosion and the run-off of acidic peaty water into streams and rivers. Rewetting of the bog also helps to prevent flooding in downstream areas. By the spring of 2019, more than of peatland at Fleet Moss had been restored, with the expectation that would be completed by 2022. Most water from Fleet Moss drains eastwards through Bardale, Cragdale and Roedale to feed

Semerwater Semerwater is the second largest natural lake in North Yorkshire, England, after Malham Tarn. It is half a mile (800 m) long, covers and lies in Raydale, opposite the River Bain. A private pay and display parking area is at the foot of the l ...

, however, some water spills east into the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

via Barden Beck. In extremes of rainfall, the peat-riddled water spills into the Wharfe via Oughtershaw Beck. All of these actions are making the waters in the rivers more acidic.

Flora and fauna

Plants present at Fleet Moss include ''

Aulacomnium palustre ''Aulacomnium palustre'', the bog groove-moss or ribbed bog moss, is a moss that is nearly cosmopolitan in distribution. It occurs in North America, Hispaniola, Venezuela, Eurasia, and New Zealand. In North America, it occurs across southern a ...

'',

sphagnum moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store w ...

hare's-tail cottongrass ''Lagurus'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to the Mediterranean Basin and nearby regions, from Madeira and the Canary Islands to Crimea and Saudi Arabia. It is also naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, the Azor ...

, heather, '' Hypnum cupressiforme'',

bog asphodel ''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...

, '' Racomitrium lanuginosum'',

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginou ...

, ''

Trichophorum cespitosum ''Trichophorum cespitosum'', commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as ''Scirpus cespitosus'', but was trans ...

'',

bilberry Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...

, and

cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...

. Stonechat,

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

dunlin The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus ''Erolia''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown ...

golden plover '' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere. In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. The ...

short-eared owl The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

, and

white-throated dipper The white-throated dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspec ...

have been observed at Fleet Moss.

Stone working

There is evidence to show that during the Neolithic period, limestone pavements were cleared by those who lived in the area. This may have contributed to the development of the bog. Small-scale quarrying was undertaken in the area in post-Medieval times; thought this is though to have been for roads and walls near to, or on, Fleet Moss.

Fleet Moss Tarn

Fleet Moss Tarn is a very small upland lake at the eastern end of Fleet Moss, at a height of . Mapping indicates that water from Fleet Moss Tarn flows north eastwards into Bardale Beck, which feeds into Semerwater. Fleet Moss Tarn is one of only a handful of natural lakes in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

(

Malham Tarn Malham Tarn is a glacial lake near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, England. The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe. At an altitude of above sea level it is the highest marl lake in the United Kingdom. Its ...

, Semerwater, Birkdale Tarn, Eshton Tarn and Oughtershaw Tarn), as the underlying limestone is highly permeable. Where lakes do occur, is due to the underlying rocks being eroded to reveal impermeable rocks below. The orchid, bog twayblade, was recorded at Fleet Moss Tarn in the 1870s.

Fleet Moss Road

The road over Fleet Moss between Oughtershaw in the south (Wharfedale), and Gayle in the north (Wensleydale), is well-known among cyclists for being a tough ascent from either direction. The pass regularly features in the ''best rides'' sections of newspapers and cycling magazines, and is also listed as being the highest paved road in Yorkshire. The road by Fleet Moss is also a waypoint on the annual

Fellsman The Fellsman is an annual organised walk and fell race of about sixty miles in the Yorkshire Dales from Ingleton to Threshfield. History The event was devised by Don Thompson and the Brighouse District (Brigantes) Rover Crew and the first hi ...

race.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Environment Agency catchment data for Raydale and the River BainGrips and Gully dam blocking of peatlandOrdnance Survey get outside detailsBikecation ascent details with gradients
{{Lakes in Yorkshire Bogs of England Yorkshire Dales Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire Landforms of North Yorkshire Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales Mountain passes of England