Kirkby Moor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kirkby Moor (Lowick High Common)
Duddon Sands and windmills from the top of Kirkby Moor
Elevation	333 m (1,098 ft)
Location	Cumbria, England
Range	Lake District
Prominence	230 m
Parent peak	Old Man of Coniston
Topo map	OS Landranger 96
OS grid reference	SD259839
Listing	Marilyn

Kirkby Moor is a poorly defined moorland area in southern Cumbria, England, named after the village of Kirkby-in-Furness, but stretching both sides of the A5092 road, 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 Ordnance Survey 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. It is surrounded by wind turbines for electricity generation. Being outside the boundary of the national park, planning rules do not prevent the construction of wind turbines here, though they can be seen from a wide area of the national park.

The fell is crossed by several public footpaths, 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 wide range of paths allows for many start points and routes to explore the heather-covered moor.