Hi all, I’ve recently got a drone for the first time so am trying to figure out where I can and cannot fly. I’m looking at hiking up and flying a drone at Blencathra in the lake district. I’ve seen online that you cannot take off and land at SSSIs of which Blencathra is apart of, however I have seen many people online flying in that area and am wondering will they have had to get permission to fly there or are there certain rules I may have missed?
Thank you for any response!
If you use the clubs awesome drone map - Drone Scene you can click on area and it will give you the SSSI link —
It seems that this area is more to do with the ground and what is growing in it so as long as your not damaging the land around you then your fine - but I would also keep an eye out for birds / wildlife as you could be at risk of disturbing them too and that’s also a NO NO
Other than that the standard drone code rules apply - take off / land from public land or if you can’t ascertain who the land belongs too, be prepared to just say sorry and move on if challenged as it would be basically like trespass and a bit of a civil matter really.
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Perfect, i thought it may be something to do with the land but couldn’t find any information about it but that’s great info thank you!
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Wherever you fly in the Lakes, avoiding National Trust land of course, it’s a good idea to inform the RAF as it’s a low flying training area and the Windermere/Keswick corridor and out west over Bassenthwaite is a popular route for them. Either email them on Swk-mamclfcoord@mod.gov.uk or ring them on 0800 515544. Give them your OS grid ref and tell them 1 nm radius, ground level to 400 feet and the time slot you’ll be flying. They’re pretty helpful and will take your flight into account when planning their sorties. Don’t be surprised though if a couple of Typhoons come screaming over 5 minutes before your time slot or 5 minutes after it ends as a sort of ‘we’ll show you. Stop us flying would you’! They’ve done that to me! Give them your mobile number too as they once rang me the morning of my planned flight to check if I would still be going ahead.
Search for National Trust land map online which shows all their property and footpathmap.co.uk lets you search for public footpaths where you can fly from.
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The military tend to decide ad hoc when to vo practice flying. They do so according to schedules but are just as likely to decide ‘it’s a nice day, let’s get some hours in’, much the same as we do! There are low-flying areas specified for this, inclunding the Lakes and the ‘Mach Loop’