Few of those passing through to the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales or points further north afford it little more than a passing glance and most are largely oblivious to the loveliness of its uncluttered countryside. The Howgill Fells and the Forest of Bowland are among the country’s least frequented hills, and few but locals are aware of the attractive hamlets and villages scattered along the length of the valley.
Looking back to Beckside from the path to Harprigg (Walk 19)
The rewards of such relative obscurity are found in unfrequented hills and vales, an absence of the trappings of commercialism, and a freedom from the obligation to undertake a handful of ’must do’ routes. In and around the Lune there are no ’highest peaks’ to climb or ’longest ridges’ to traverse, and the one or two spots that have gained a justified popularity have yet to succumb to over-exploitation. Travelling from one end of the valley to the other reveals an ever-changing scene that is constantly and subtly altering to offer something uniquely special.
Much of the upland catchment is open-access land where walkers can roam at will, while miles of paths, trackways and quiet lanes offer endless scope for inquisitive and uncrowded explorations. The revelation of far-reaching views from the tops contrasts with the intimacy of secluded woodlands and deep, winding valleys, while the abundance of plant and wildlife and endless wayside curiosities more than matches that to be found along the well-worn trails of the more popular haunts.
Across the Lune Valley from the top of Firbank (Walk 14)
Origins and landscape
The waters of the Lune
Identifying the origin of any river depends upon the rules by which you want to play – highest point, longest course, farthest from the sea and so on. An unambiguous answer is rare, and the River Lune is no exception.
The first reference to its name on the map is the hamlet of Newbiggin-on-Lune, where the river is held to bubble up from the ancient and holy perennial spring of St Helen’s Well. Other authorities point out that the stream below the village is called Sandwath Beck, and only beyond its confluence with Weasdale Beck, a mile downstream at Wath, does it become the Lune. Yet by the time its reaches Newbiggin, Sandwath Beck is already into its third name, having started life out as Dale Gill and then become Greenside Beck. Up the hill behind Newbiggin, Dale Gill issues from a couple of uncertain springs, just below the summit of Green Bell, and it is from here that longest meandering course to the sea can be traced.
Built in the 18th century, Smardale Bridge straddles Scandal Beck (Walk 2)
However, the consideration of height adds yet another factor to the debate. Without doubt, at 723m Ingleborough is the river’s most lofty source, although any rain falling on the summit is immediately sucked into the labyrinth of fissures, pots and caves beneath the mountain and only reappears much lower down its flanks. The beginning of the highest continuous stream is a shallow tarn at around 665m on the summit of Baugh Fell, from which flows the River Rawthey. Perhaps the only way to be certain of having dipped your toe in the river’s source is to visit all five locations.
Whatever its beginnings, the River Lune has a catchment extending over 430 square miles (1114km2), but it is peculiarly one-sided in that, for much of its length, the western watershed is less than two miles from the river, so all major input is from the east. The only significant streams that contradict this lopsidedness are Birk Beck and Borrowdale, which fall from the Shap Fells on the fringe of the Lake District National Park, and Chapel Beck and Raise Beck, springs seeping from the limestone of Great Asby Scar, which overlooks the budding river from the north. The Lune’s infant tendrils almost completely encircle the Howgill massif, with only a couple of streams that feed Scandal Beck escaping capture to flow northwards into the River Eden. Further south the Lune’s tributaries penetrate deep into the western dales of North Yorkshire, stealing all the rills and rivulets from Baugh Fell, Whernside and the majority of those from Ingleborough too. Even in its final stages, the Lune maintains its intimacy with the high hills, for the northern slopes of the Bowland fells also come within its grasp.
Landscape
While the Lune catchment lacks the unified identity that designation as a national park or AONB creates, it impinges upon the existing national parks of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, as well as the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Since the national park boundary changes of 2016, virtually all the catchment north of Kirkby Lonsdale now lies within one or other of the national parks and is a formal recognition of its special qualities. The catchment compares well with both the scale and character of such designated areas in Britain, for although only half the size of the Lake District, it is double that of the New Forest. The sheer variety of its unblemished landscape is compelling, and ranges from remote upland fell, crag and rambling moor through ancient woodland and rolling pasture to tidal marsh and coast. Threading through it all is the Lune itself, a river of ever-changing mood sustained by countless springs, becks, streams and lesser rivers, which each display a different facet of the valley’s beguiling character.
A moment’s pause to enjoy the view along Bowderdale (Walk 4)
Although surrounded by mountainous ground, the abrupt mass of the Howgill Fells stands apart and is obviously different from all around. Severed from the volcanic rocks of the Lakeland hills by the Lune Gorge, and from the Dales limestone by the Dent Fault, the daunting flanks guard a citadel of high plateau grounded on ancient shales and sandstones, which is deeply incised by steep-sided, narrow valleys that penetrate its heart. Any approach from the south demands a stiff climb to gain the broad, grassy ridges that radiate from its high point, The Calf, but if you settle for a longer walk the more gently inclined fingers that extend to the north offer something less energetic but equally rewarding. The tops have been rounded smooth by erosion over countless millennia to leave few crags or rocky faces; however, where they occur, they can be dramatic and create impressive waterfalls. Unlike the neighbouring hills, the fells have never been fenced or walled, and grazing livestock and wild ponies wander unimpeded across the slopes. The walker, too, can range at will and experience a wonderful sense of remoteness, although a paucity of unambiguous landmarks and the confusing geography of the ridges can make navigation something of a challenge when the cloud is down.
Flanking the infant Lune to the north are the more gently rising slopes of Great Asby Scar, which is protected as a National Nature Reserve for its expanse of limestone pavement. Scoured of their overburden by the moving ice sheet, and subsequently littered with erratic boulders as the ice retreated at the end of the last ice age, the bare limestone beds are crazed by grikes (fissures created as the slight acidity of rainwater exploits natural cracks and crevices). The deep fissures separating the clints (blocks) collect windblown soil and moisture, and harbour a surprising range of plants and even occasional trees that would otherwise be unable to survive these desert-like conditions.
Looking back to Grayrigg Common and Tebay Fell (Walk 13)
Collecting the waters flowing from the peaty mosses flanking the Shap Fells, the river turns abruptly south at Tebay to enter the Lune Gorge. Squeezed between steeply rising hills, the valley follows the line of a geological fault, which was further deepened by ice moving from the north. It is perhaps the Lune’s most dramatic section, and, despite the fact that both railway and motorway have been shoehorned in alongside the original
