Bleaklow is a high, largely peat-covered,

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

in the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

High Peak near the town of

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

. It is north of

Kinder Scout Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and National nature reserve (United Kingdom), National Nature Reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak Distric ...

, across the Snake Pass ( A57), and south of the A628 Woodhead Pass. Much of it is nearly above sea level and the shallow bowl of Swains Greave on its eastern side is the source of the River Derwent. Bleaklow Head (633 m), marked by a large cairn of stones, the high point at the western side of the moor, is a Hewitt and is crossed by the

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

. It is one of three summits on this plateau above 2,000 feet, the others being Bleaklow Stones, some to the east along an indefinite ridge, and Higher Shelf Stones, south of Bleaklow Head. At , Bleaklow is the second-highest point in Derbyshire and the area includes the most easterly point in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

over 2,000 feet, near Bleaklow Stones.

Description

Much of the main plateau of Bleaklow is a boggy peat moorland, seamed by 'groughs' (pronounced 'gruffs', water-eroded channels in the peat) and lacking strong changes in elevation – in poor conditions its traverse is probably the most navigationally challenging in the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

Conservation

Bleaklow is part of the National Trust's

High Peak Estate The High Peak Estate is an area of Pennines, Pennine moorland in the ownership of the National Trust in the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire, England. The National Trust High Peak Estate is to be known as the 'Dark Peak Area' from summer 2010 which ...

. There has been considerable investment of resources in recent years to block many of the eroded peat gulleys as part of major schemes to re-wet and restore healthy ''

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

'' moss communities which are essential for peat formation, carbon capture, and reduction in dissolved carbon which contaminates water supplies. Much of this work has been coordinated by the Moors for the Future Partnership, funded by EU LIFE+ programme between 2010 and 2015. This involved laying of geotextiles to stabilise eroded peat, creating 4,000 mini-dams to retain water, introducing 150,000 moorland plants and spreading 807 million ''Sphagnum'' fragments across the whole Bleaklow Project site.

Views

The summit affords views across

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

to the west and towards the Hope Valley,

Holme Moss Holme Moss ( Above mean sea level, a.s.l.) is high moorland on the border between the Holme Valley district of Kirklees in West Yorkshire and the High Peak, Derbyshire, High Peak district of Derbyshire in England. Historically on the boundary ...

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to the east. In exceptional weather conditions it is possible to see

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

in North

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Aircraft crash

20171108 Bleaklow Bomber 1948 Superfortress

There are a number of aircraft crash sites on Bleaklow. On 3 November 1948,

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

RB-29A Superfortress 44–61999, of the 16th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 91st Reconnaissance Group, 311th Air Division,

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

, crashed at Higher Shelf Stones, Bleaklow (), en route from Scampton to Burtonwood. All 13 crew members were killed. A large amount of wreckage of the Bleaklow Bomber is still visible. A memorial was erected at the site in 1988. There is public access to the area.

Gallery

References

External links

*Peak District Information - Bleaklo

*Computer-generated summit panoram
Bleaklow
{{Peaks of the Peak District Hewitts of England Mountains and hills of the Peak District Mountains and hills of Derbyshire Nuttalls Moorlands of England High Peak, Derbyshire Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England