Warcop Training Area

Warcop Training Area
Warcop

Mickle Fell
Warcop Training Area
Location within Cumbria
Coordinates 54°37′02″N 02°22′53″W / 54.61722°N 2.38139°W / 54.61722; -2.38139Coordinates: 54°37′02″N 02°22′53″W / 54.61722°N 2.38139°W / 54.61722; -2.38139
Type Training Area
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator  British Army
Site history
Built 1942
Built for War Office
In use 1942-Present

The Warcop Training Area (WTA) is a UK Ministry of Defence military training area near the village of Warcop in Cumbria. Part of the Defence Training Estate, the area consists of approximately 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) of MoD freehold land.[1][2]

History

Swindale, a steep-sided valley behind Roman Fell. The old track is a bridleway, but is usually closed due to activities on the Warcop ranges.

The training estate was established in 1942 originally as a tank gunnery range and tanks still use it to this day.[3] On 19 October 1944 a Short Stirling bomber (LK 488), crashed on Mickle Fell whilst on a training flight from its base at RAF Wratting Common in Cambridgeshire; of the seven crew, only one survived.[4] On 4 June 2014, one soldier died and two others were injured in a training accident when a military vehicle rolled over at 11 am.[5]

Coverage of the training area

Within the training area are Little Fell (745m) and Mickle Fell (790m[6]), Burton Fell, Warcop Fell, Cronkley Fell and part of Murton Fell.[7]

Most of the training area is in Cumbria but a portion is County Durham. The area forms part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and about two-thirds of the area falls inside the Appleby Fells Site of Special Scientific Interest.[8][9]

Military use

Warcop Training Area is used six and a half days a week by the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick Garrison, other regular British Army and Army Reserves using the Warcop Training Camp.[1] The camp also has its own assault course and zip line.

References

  1. 1 2 Ministry of Defence - Defence Estate and Environment, What we do(website accessed: 26 August 2010)
  2. ↑ North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (website accessed: 26 August 2010)
  3. ↑ English Heritage - Warcop Training Area National Mapping Programme (NMP)(Website accessed: 26 August 2010)
  4. ↑ "Stirling LK488 on Mickle Fell". Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "One soldier has died and another two have been injured in training accident when military vehicle rolled over at army base in Cumbria". Daily Mail. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Streetmap, Warcop Training Area (Website accessed:26 August 2010)
  7. ↑ Dillon, Paddy (1991). Walking in the North Pennines. Cicerone Press Limited. pp. 71–82. ISBN 0-7146-5657-7.
  8. ↑ Cumbria County Council - Access on MOD Warcop training area (Website accessed: 26 August 2010)
  9. ↑ Appleby Fells SSSI map, MagicMap, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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