Craven, England, United Kingdom
time : Dec 12, 2018 10:19 AM
duration : 2h 53m 25s
distance : 6.4 mi
total_ascent : 719 ft
highest_point : 646 ft
avg_speed : 2.2 mi/h
user_id : Steve38
user_firstname : Stephen
user_lastname : Shaw
I'd been intrigued by a couple of patches of boggy woodland marked on the map as 'Austwick Moss' and a little to its east 'Lawkland Moss'. Both marked as open access land. Land accessible to the public. Two small patches of uncultivated, undrained, scrubby woodland surrounded by neat farmland. The whole area flatland between the river Ribble draining to the south and the Wenning going westwards to evntually join the Lune. It would have been an area of wetland which over the centuries had been drained to create fertile grassland for sheep and cattle. So why had these two patches been left and why designated as open access? I never found out. Lawkland Moss is crossed by a couple of public footpaths which weren't on my route today. But Austwick Moss is inaccessible by publlic right of way. The unreachable Austwick Moss. Someday I'll find a way there.
I've done a quick bit of research and discovered that Austwick and Lawkland Mosses are Areas of Special Scientific Interest due to their plant, insect and bird life. They are areas of old common land that was divided into strips and used for cutting peat and growing hay. So two small areas of land that previously had an economic use are now being left to themselves as mini nature reserves.