Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Cowpe Moss

 

02.04.25  Carr and Crags Moor (SD 893 251) 

Carr and Crags Moor (SD 893 251)

Last October Mark and I visited John Kirk to take in some of the moorland hills above Burney.  These visits are always enjoyable and afterward we set a date for early April to next visit.  Therefore, with the weather set fine, albeit with a forecast chilled easterly wind we headed north to the Pennine moors and John’s welcoming hospitality.

The hills to visit were picked by Mark, who had a number of Fours still to bag in this area.  Three hills were suggested, two of which entailed relatively short walks that could be combined in an afternoon, whilst the third was left for the following morning.

Our first hill was Carr and Crags Moor, which is positioned overlooking the Calder Valley to its north with the towns of Bacup to its south-west and Todmorden to its south-east.  As with many hills in this area it is an open moor consisting in the main of grassland.

With another walk planned for later in the afternoon John opted for the quickest ascent route.  With an approach from the south-west of the summit on a track leading to prominent wind turbines that have appeared on the hill since the publication of my Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure 1:25,000 map. 

The track leading up Carr and Crags Moor

Although the sky was blue and cloudless, it was a chilled afternoon with a strong easterly wind blowing across the hill.  The track led eastward across the southerly flank of the upper hill, before veering north-westward before descending.  It was here that we set out across the moor, which today was remarkably dry with hardly a sign of any wet bog.  This time of year can give beautiful colour on a hill consisting of grassland.  With it still bleached from its winter hibernation and before the greens of summer take over. 

Distinctly coloured grassland

It was only a short distance to the summit area of the hill, and with the aid of the Trimble used as a hand-held device we soon zeroed in to the ten figure summit grid reference produced by LIDAR analysis.  The high point was almost inconsequential compared to its surrounds, with Mark pointing out that this is one of those examples where the summit is not necessarily a singular point, but more so an area of land. 

Marker stone on the summit area of Carr and Crags Moor

Having set the Trimble up to gather data I waited patiently for it to attain the 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged.  This took an age, during which John and Mark headed down the hill following a fence line toward the track.  Eventually the 0.1m figure appeared on the screen and I set it to gather five minutes of data. 

Gathering data at the summit of Carr and Crags Moor

After data collection I took a few photographs, packed the Trimble away and rejoined my surveying colleagues on the track for a leisurely walk back toward John’s awaiting car.  It had taken 1hr 5min for the walk and a large chunk of this was waiting for the Trimble to do its stuff.  It proved a fine start to our Burnley adventure. 

 

Survey Result:

 

Carr and Crags Moor               

Summit Height:  440.7m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SD 89386 25170 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Col Height:  402.4m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SD 88655 25310 (LIDAR)

Drop:  38.3m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col)

Dominance:  8.68% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR col) 

 

 

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet