The Bowland 1500’s                                                  More Ultra Routes

The bleak and rugged fells of the Forest of Bowland, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, remain one of the last great wilderness areas of England.  Access was carefully restricted until recently when the CROW Act of 2000 finally granted the right to roam across this relatively undiscovered area.  The Dig the Peat series, promoted by Bowland Fellrunners, exploits the numerous opportunities now officially open to the long distance enthusiast.  All are informal routes without time limits, rules or registration.

The Bowland 1500's is one of the longest routes to have been completed to date.  It was first completed by Andy Verden and John Rodgers in winter 2004.  The round was devised by the trio of Les Orr, Ian Roberts and Andy Walmsley and evolved from an earlier round of 15 tops by Alan Heaton, Terry Houston and Les Orr.  A lesser round of the 1500' trig points, eight in all, also makes for a rewarding day out (see link below).

Route

The route which starts and finishes at Stoops Bridge, Abbeysteads GR 563 543 must visit the 19 tops listed below.  This will involve some 42 miles and 6200' of climbing.  Use Explorer Map OL41 - Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale.

Schedule

Click on the icon to view and print summit details plus a sample schedule - all in an Excel spreadsheet format.

Completions

No formal register is kept of completions but Andy Walmsley would be pleased to hear of any successful rounds.  Email: andrew.walmsley2@ntlworld.com

Links and Further Information

o   Dig the Peat -  a web page providing an outline of all the routes devised by Bowland Fellrunners.

o 1500’ Trigs – route details and a sample schedule of a shortened round including only the eight 1500' tops with a trig point (Excel format).