Kirkby Moor

Kirkby Moor is a poorly defined

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

area in southern

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, named after the village of

Kirkby-in-Furness Kirkby-in-Furness, generally referred to simply as Kirkby locally, is a village in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it's located close to the Lake District National Park. It is about south of Broughto ...

, but stretching both sides of the

A5092 road List of A roads in zone 5 in Great Britain starting north/east of the A5, west of the A6, south of the Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between ...

, and thus spanning the border of the Lake District National Park. The highest area, to the south of the road, and therefore outside the national park, is named Lowick High Common on

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maps, but "Kirkby Moor" is more commonly but incorrectly used. Lowick High common is the first UK SOTA summit to be activated 100 times. The highest point of Lowick High Common and of Kirkby Moor is 333 m above sea level. The major man-made features are a slate quarry operated by Burlington Slate Ltd and a wind farm consisting of 12 400 kW turbines which is operated by RWE Innogy. The

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

is crossed by several public

footpaths A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide v ...

, as well as the Kirkby Slate Road, which has a right of access. There are also numerous tracks built across the fell in association with the wind turbines; although notices request walkers to stick to the public rights of way, in practice there is no issue with using the newer tracks, and from 28 May 2005 the land is access land under the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...

. The wide range of paths allows for many start points and routes to explore the heather-covered moor. Marilyns of England Fells of the Lake District Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria Furness Wind farms in England Moorlands of England {{UK-powerstation-stub