right beside the stream past a well-preserved lime kiln.
The 18th century was an age of agricultural improvements, which included the use of lime as a fertiliser. Thousands of field kilns were built up and down the country, in which limestone was burned using culm, a poor quality coal, as a fuel. The process took a couple of days, after which the quicklime was raked out and left to weather before being laboriously spread over the fields to counteract acidity in the soil.
At Beckstones Farm, cross a bridge to the other bank, but where the track then shortly swings right, keep ahead on a narrow path into thicket. Parting company with the stream, mount a stile and walk the length of a field to meet a lane at the edge of Newbiggin-on-Lune. Head towards the village, but go right at the first junction to reach the main road beside the Lune Spring Garden Centre. Taking the narrow lane diagonally opposite, look over the left wall to see a grass mound, the site of St Helen’s Chapel, and a stream that upwells beside it, the River Lune. A stile a little further along gives access to the field.
The perpetual spring of St Helen’s Well was probably revered long before the arrival of Christianity and, as was often the case, adopted by the new religion with the foundation of a chapel. The resurgence has traditionally been regarded as the true source of the Lune, a Celtic name meaning ‘pure’ or ‘healthy’. St Helen was the mother of Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, and she was credited with discovering the ’true cross’ on which Christ was crucified.
Cross the field, through which runs a second stream, to a track at the far side and follow it right beneath a disused railway bridge to a junction at the entrance to Brownber Hall. Turn right again, the way signed to Smardale. Winding past a barn, meet the course of the Stainmore Railway, which ran across the Pennines between Tebay and Darlington. Join the former railway through a gate on the left, shortly passing the ruin of Sandy Bank signal box, which marked the summit separating Lunesdale and Smardale. The line runs on into a cutting, the banks resplendent in spring with wood anemone, celandine, coltsfoot, primrose, cowslip and violet. After passing beneath a bridge, its parapet still blackened by soot, the track winds past an abandoned limestone quarry and kilns before curving across an impressive viaduct straddling the gorge.
The Smardale Gill Viaduct is an impressive example of Victorian engineering
SMARDALE QUARRY AND SMARDALE GILL VIADUCT
The quarry opened shortly after the Stainmore Railway in 1861, providing stone for the massive lime kilns that were built beside the track. The unprecedented industrial expansion and urbanisation of the 19th century created a huge demand for burnt lime, since it was used not only for fertiliser but also for mortar and cement and in the production of glass and the smelting of iron. The lime here was destined for the steelworks at Barrow and Darlington, but the quality proved inferior, and the quarry was abandoned before the end of the 19th century.
The viaduct, a little further along, was an impressive demonstration of Victorian engineering, its 14 arches spanning 168m and carrying the track 27m above the river. It was built with the foresight to accommodate twin lines as traffic increased, but although much of the route was soon upgraded to two-way operation, the section here remained single track. With the closure of the Barrow steelworks in 1961, the line was shut and the rails removed, along with several viaducts, including that across the River Belah, which lay 9 miles (14.5km) to the east. At 60m high, it was the tallest bridge in Britain. The Smardale Gill Viaduct almost shared the same fate, for by 1980 its condition had deteriorated to the point of becoming dangerous. However, British Rail offered a grant reflecting the cost of demolition for its restoration, and the bridge was re-opened in 1992 as a link to the Smardale Nature Reserve along the valley.
On the far side of the viaduct leave over a stile on the right, from which a path runs back up the valley, giving a superb retrospective view to the viaduct. After passing the limestone quarries over on the other side, watch for a fork and climb to a stile above. Those with their noses to the ground will have noticed the rock underfoot change from limestone to sandstone, which was cut from the hillside a little further along for the construction of the viaduct. Beyond the quarries, cross a stile and follow a bridleway down to Smardale Bridge.
Climb away to a stile a short distance up on the left and head out across the hillside to meet a low earthen dyke. It was part of a boundary enclosing the valley and was raised by monks from the small Gilbertine priory at Ravenstonedale to protect their timber and fishing rights. The hillside terraces above are lynchets, which were created by medieval strip ploughing. Follow the dyke past the end of a stand of timber above a narrowing of the gorge. Later, the path loses height across an open field, where low grass pillow-mounds are the remains of conies or warrens, built during the Middle Ages to encourage breeding rabbits to provide a ready source of meat. At the far end, posts mark the path down a steep bank to a footbridge across a side-stream from Hag Mire.
Walk up to join a rising track towards Park House, but after 100m branch down beside a fence. Through gates, cross a second track coming from a bridge and carry on past a byre beside the river. Through a gate on the right by a footbridge join the adjacent track and follow it beneath the road bridge into Ravenstonedale. Reaching the main lane, cross Coldbeck Bridge, and at the junction immediately beyond bear right between buildings, from which a path leads across a playing field back to St Oswald’s Church.
WALK 3
Wath to Kelleth
| Start | Wath (NY 684 049) |
| Distance | 4 miles (6.4km) |
| Time | 1¾hr |
| Terrain | Field paths and quiet lanes |
| Height gain | 105m (344ft) |
| Maps | Explorer OL19 – Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley |
| Refreshments | Lune Spring Garden Centre café, Newbiggin-on-Lune |
| Toilets | None |
| Parking | Roadside parking at start |
Set in a wide valley between Great Asby Scar and the northern extremities of the Howgills, the upper reaches of the Lune’s valley provide lush grazing for cattle and sheep. The main road commandeers the base of the valley, following the embankment built for the Stainmore Railway. However, set further back, field paths and peaceful lanes invite relaxed rambling, with fine views to the wider backdrop of hills. This walk links the hamlets of Kelleth and Wath, both founded as farming settlements.
The Stainmore Railway ran between Darlington and Tebay and was completed in 1861. A strategic east–west route, the line was built by the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway to transport Durham coke to the steelworks at Furness, and then return with high quality hematite needed for steel production on the Tees. Crossing the Pennines through the Stainmore Gap, the railway’s summit at 457m (1370ft) was the highest of any English main line and, being a particularly scenic route, it helped popularise the Lancashire seaside resorts as a destination for those in the north-east. However, the line remained predominantly used for freight, and after the demise of the Barrow steel industry in 1961 it was closed and the track taken up.
Join the minor lane, which burrows beneath the A685 bypass at Wath, and follow it south towards Bowderdale and Scar Sykes. At a fork take the Bowderdale branch to the right. Cross the stream at Bowderdale Foot and
