Bolton Fell is the fourth largest lowland raised peat bog SSSI in the North West of England and among the ten largest in the country.

Most of the bog is designated as an SSSI. Despite this 80% of the site is being worked. Peat has been commercially extracted from the site since 1959 and the peat workings now extend over much of its area. Even areas where there is no planning permission to dig peat are being damaged because the peat extraction has affected the hydrology of the area and the uncut bog is drying out and shrinking.

This description taken from Friends of the Earth Briefing "last chance to see"