Warcop Training Area
| Warcop Training Area | |
|---|---|
| Warcop | |
| File:Mickle Fell - geograph.org.uk - 19150.jpg Mickle Fell | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Training Area |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator | File:Flag of the British Army.svg British Army |
| Location | |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 411: Malformed coordinates value. | |
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1942-Present |
The Warcop Training Area (WTA) is a UK Ministry of Defence military training area near the village of Warcop in Cumbria. Part of the Defence Training Estate, the area consists of approximately 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) of MoD freehold land.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]
The training estate was established in 1942 originally as a tank gunnery range and tanks still use it to this day.[2]
On 19 October 1944 a Short Stirling bomber (LK 488), crashed on Mickle Fell whilst on a training flight from its base at RAF Wratting Common in Cambridgeshire; of the seven crew, only one survived.[3]
On 22 April 1999 a soldier died when a grenade exploded in his pocket.[4]
On 4 June 2014, one soldier died and two others were injured in a training accident when a military vehicle rolled over.[5]
Coverage of the training area
[edit | edit source]Within the training area are Little Fell (745m) and Mickle Fell (790m[6]), Burton Fell, Warcop Fell, Cronkley Fell and part of Murton Fell.[7]
Most of the training area is in Cumbria but a portion is County Durham. The area forms part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and about two-thirds of the area falls inside the Appleby Fells Site of Special Scientific Interest.[8][9]
Army use
[edit | edit source]Warcop Training Area is used six and a half days a week by the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick Garrison, other regular British Army and Army Reserves using the Warcop Training Camp.[1]
References
[edit | edit source]Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').
- ^ a b Ministry of Defence - Defence Estate and Environment, What we do(website accessed: 26 August 2010)
- ^ English Heritage - Warcop Training Area National Mapping Programme (NMP)(Website accessed: 26 August 2010)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Streetmap, Warcop Training Area (Website accessed:26 August 2010)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Cumbria County Council - Access on MOD Warcop training area (Website accessed: 26 August 2010)
- ^ Appleby Fells SSSI map, MagicMap, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs