Blencathra Trig Detector Ring Appeal

The Hallsfell Top on Blencathra is, or rather was, marked by a simple concrete ring, what the Ordnance Survey call a "trig detector ring", as opposed to the usual trig point. The concrete ring was a low concrete circle about 50cm in diameter, that actually sat on top of a buried block. Here's a photo we took of it a few years ago.

You can see these trig detector rings marked on our WayMaps mapping as a blue circle with a blue dot in the middle. There's also one on Latrigg for example, just south west of the summit, although that one is hidden beneath the turf, and there are others scattered around the Lakes if you search around.

The one of Hallsfell Top sadly went missing last August. At the time the Ordnance Survey said:

This was a phosphor-bronze ring, encased in concrete and buried below surface level over a secondary trig (buried block). It could be located using a metal detector to aid the finding of the station in areas where a description alone was not enough. To hear that thieves have made off with it is very disappointing.

Like trig points these rings are no longer used by the Ordnance Survey so they had no plans to reinstate it but now John Beamson is raising funds to replace it with a replica. He said:

We are aiming to replace the summit ring to the best of our abilities with a replica made by skilled craftsmen and backed by the veteran community and outdoor enthusiasts.

At the time of writing, John's JustGiving page showed that £846 had been raised from his target of £1,000 so if you can help get over there now and add to the total. John says that any funds left over from the appeal will be donated to Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, in whose area Blencathra stands, so none of the money will go to waste.

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