Summit of Burn Moor

13 June 2010
Leader - Bill Hinde
 JOURNAL 
 2011 
 North Craven 
 Heritage Trust 

It was telling that the leader on this day was wearing wellies, and the four members that attended came with complete sets of waterproofs. The good aspect of the weather was that cloud level rarely dropped below summit level. The opportunity to scramble on the Great Stone of Fourstones and admire the different periods of graffiti was foregone, it was raining after all, so the party chose to proceed with the easiest ascent. This meant crossing the county boundary into Lancashire and walking along Petersbottom Lane, then taking a track north-east to a shooting hut which was inspected, and grouse shooting and consequential land management was discussed. From there, an ATV track led directly up to the Standard on Burn Moor and the Trig. Point. We tried to date the stone “ Standard” (google it) and the carving on it, the word STANDARD and on different sides the letters B T and N, presumably Parish and or Manorial boundaries of Bentham, Tatham and Newby. It is certainly mentioned on a perambulation of the bounds of Newby Manor, Lower Division, in 1812.

The current county boundary appears to coincide with several ancient boundaries, and according to Mary C Higham, the medieval Burton Chase. This encouraged us to follow the existing boundary back to the Big Stone, in order to inspect a natural stone boundary marker called “Queen of Fairies Chair”(google this too). This involved jumping over several streams and dykes, and trying unsuccessfully to avoid serious bogs. I will leave it to others to decide if it was worth it. (Yes it was, Maureen Ellis).

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