Thursday 19 May 2011

Carrock Fell, Cumbria


Images from Google Earth and and survey by Collingwood 1937.  Site of an Iron Age hillfort.  It is believed that it was never occupied as a settlement.  At 640m it must be the highest hillfort in the country.  Apart from the boundary embankments which are massive and made from massive stones there are few distinguishable features.  There are some ridges and dips but these are hard to make any sense of because of the extent of moss and peat.  It's a 450m climb from the valley but only about 1.5km distance from the road.  The valley is covered with fallen boulders, many as big as a van and some the size of houses.  Appropriately it's named 'Apronful of Stones' and it's a well known place for climbers to practice bouldering.

The effect of frost on stone


These naturally cleft rocks are at the top of Carrock Fell.  They look like they could be jemmied back into place, with a bit of effort, like a giant geological jigsaw puzzle.