Wilderness

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Doc

Need to contact Admin...
Nov 29, 2003
2,109
10
Perthshire
I suppose it depends on how you define it, but is there anywhere in the UK that could be called wilderness?

I did wonder about Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, Rannoch Moor and maybe the foreshore in some areas. However, I guess even these show some imprint of man.
 
J

JeremyH

Guest
I guess if you are measuring by man's intrusion they cannot be many places left however if you measure it by biodiversity, lack of access, and no traffic noise then you're pretty close. Also some islands in the Hebrides.

Parts of France, Spain, Scandinavia and of course the emerging European states have plenty of Wilderness area/biosphere parks. North of the Arctic Circle is pretty good too! And south to Africa...and finally the Antarctic.

Across the Atlantic they are very good at Wilderness!

Keep searching!
 

Roving Rich

Full Member
Oct 13, 2003
1,460
4
Nr Reading
Richard Mabey in one of his other books proposes an area called "undercliff" at Lyme Regis as an example of British wilderness.
Its not a getting away from it all, middle of nowhere place. But rather an area of cliff top field that due to coastal erosion slumped in one big slab a hundred feet down the cliffs. The Farmer no longer had access to it so it was left untouched. So nature has taken her course and returned to what Mr Mabey states as the closest thing to "wildwood" within the UK today. IE with no human intervention or management. So it is as we would imagine the forested Albion to have been before the Saxons came up the rivers with there axes.
It is infact an impenetrable tangled mess, that you would need machete (or a billhook :wink: ) to hack your way through. It is as I imagine Tolkiens Mirkwood to be in middle earth.
Cheers
Rich
 

Adi007

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 3, 2003
4,080
0
Just to give you an idea of just how small and crowded the UK is, this is from the OS site:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/geofacts/remotestpartofgb.html
The remotest point was calculated to be the hillside of Ruadh Stac Beag, between Letterwe Forest and Fisherfield Forest.
The Grid Reference is NH 02550 77010

Distance to nearest road = 11km or 7 miles away. The nearest road is the A832.

For this purpose, the remotest part of mainland Great Britain is considered to be the point farthest from a metalled road.

More interesting facts from:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/geofacts/
 

maddave

Full Member
Jan 2, 2004
4,177
39
Manchester UK
Adi007 said:
Just to give you an idea of just how small and crowded the UK is, this is from the OS site:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/geofacts/remotestpartofgb.html
The remotest point was calculated to be the hillside of Ruadh Stac Beag, between Letterwe Forest and Fisherfield Forest.
The Grid Reference is NH 02550 77010

Distance to nearest road = 11km or 7 miles away. The nearest road is the A832.

For this purpose, the remotest part of mainland Great Britain is considered to be the point farthest from a metalled road.

More interesting facts from:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/geofacts/


Acckk !! Beat me to it ya monkey !! :-D
 

Doc

Need to contact Admin...
Nov 29, 2003
2,109
10
Perthshire
So we're never more than seven miles from a metalled road! I find this a rather sad statistic.

Having said that, you can often go for hours without seeing anyone in the Scottish hills.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Sorry to hear it folks. To be honest, I thought it was bad here in Michigan but nothing like what you folks have. You can still get lost in the woods pretty easily here in many places. But the western states have some pretty spectacular wilderness as does Minnesota and Canada.

As an aside, I think I understand the term "metalled road" from the context but does anyone know how it was derived?
 

martin

Nomad
Sep 24, 2003
456
3
nth lincs
Metalled roads.
The chippings (small stones) laid on the hot tar are crushed slag.

Slag is a by-product in the steelmaking industry.

When they tip a ladle full of molten slag onto the cooling beds at night it lights up the sky. I can see it here at my house 15km away.
 

Ed

Admin
Admin
Aug 27, 2003
5,973
37
50
South Wales Valleys
You can still get lost in the woods pretty easily here in many places.
People still get lost here, though that tends to be due to a lack navigation skills and they end up going round in circles.

Ed
 

Kath

Native
Feb 13, 2004
1,397
0
Ed said:
People still get lost here, though that tends to be due to a lack navigation skills and they end up going round in circles.

Ed
I know I did this weekend! :p
 

Raz

Nomad
Sep 3, 2003
280
0
43
all over
Sadly even dartmoor isn't as wild as I'd like to think.
I don't think you can class anywhere a "wilderness" if you can walk across it in a day.

Even on the Oakhampton range there are tracks venturing heavily into the middle of the moor. There's always 999999 minibuses bombing round them on weekends.
 

gb

Forager
Nov 4, 2003
134
0
Cornwall
One dartmoor guide book i read actually suggested driving along the military tracks so people who are'nt so fit could visit cranmere pool without having to walk too far. Surely vehciles (other than military ones)are'nt allowed to use these tracks? The DNPA make enough fuss about the erosion caused by walkers alone.

cheers gb
 

Raz

Nomad
Sep 3, 2003
280
0
43
all over
Your allowed on most of the tracks, most of the time.
(when they are not firing!)
Some of them require a car with good ground clerance. Most that go up there are 4x4's and minibuses.
 

gb

Forager
Nov 4, 2003
134
0
Cornwall
It seems starnge that the DNPA allow this when they make such an issue out of erosion and the fact that they dont like the army being up their. I thought the NPA are there to protect the moor?

back to the original subject - what about the cairngorms?
gets loads of visitors i know but many parts are quite remote.

cheers gb
 

gb

Forager
Nov 4, 2003
134
0
Cornwall
I suppose its not so bad if they are maintained. Still dont know why they allow it though.

cheers gb
 

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