Blea Moor

Rising between the head of Dentdale and the Ribblehead Viaduct, this broad, peat-clad plateau is defined by its industrial legacy. While the surface offers a lonely, marshy trudge, the real drama lies beneath your boots, where the Settle-Carlisle railway pierces the fell through the longest tunnel on the line.

• •The name is derived from the Old Norse 'blá', which can mean blue but in this landscape signifies 'dark' or 'bleak'—an apt description for the dark, acidic peat hags that characterize the summit plateau.
• •The fell is famously honeycombed by the Blea Moor Tunnel, the longest on the Settle-Carlisle line. Constructed between 1870 and 1875, it required seven separate shafts to be sunk from the moorland surface to allow workers to excavate the 2,629-yard passage.
• •The most evocative approach follows the line of the railway from Ribblehead, passing the massive spoil heaps and brick-lined ventilation shafts that still puff steam when a train passes hundreds of feet below.
• •From the summit, you gain a unique perspective on the Yorkshire Three Peaks, looking directly across the valley to the tiered limestone scars of Ingleborough and the long, high ridge of Whernside.
• •Navigating the summit plateau requires a certain optimism; what appears to be solid ground is often merely a suggestion, usually resulting in a boot-full of 'Blea Moor Moss' for the unwary.