hedged lane leading towards the village of Leck. Turn right at the crossroads and then follow the road round to the right to come to the Church of St Peter. After a fire the church was rebuilt in 1912 to the original design of Paley and Austin (1878–9).
After a pause here to enjoy the fine parkland all around the church, and the churchyard itself, return along the lane. Where it winds left, take the gap stile in the wall on your right and walk ahead, keeping to the right of a barn. Continue to a stile giving onto a narrow track to the left of a cottage. Walk along this grassy track to the road and cross to a gap stile. Keep going until you come to the side of Leck Beck, where you wind left on the track and, at the gate into a pasture, drop right to walk nearer to the river. (Look for dippers and grey wagtails here.) Move up left from the riverside to walk beside the fenced field on your left and continue to a gap stile. Beyond, go on to pass below the viaduct then follow the path to a further gap stile onto the A65.
Cross the road with care, go through a very narrow gap stile (you may have to walk round it to left or right if it is too narrow) and turn right to walk over the bridge. Turn sharp left immediately to descend a grassy slope to the bank of Leck Beck. Continue along the path, enjoying the dancing Leck to your left, to join a metalled lane. After a short distance along this lane you go over the site of the Roman Road again, but this time there is no trace of it. Ignore a bridge and then a footbridge over the Leck, but before a cattle-grid take a stile on your right. Turn left and walk to the right of a fenced track to the right side of Low Gale. Beyond, move slightly right to climb a small ladderstile and then cross an unusual stone footbridge, with a squeeze stile at its right end, over a tiny tributary of the Leck. Use convenient stones to cross more of the stream – primroses grow here in early spring.
Climb the sloping pasture ahead, keeping beside a fence on your left, then descend to reach a copse on your right. Go on to a difficult-to-spot, awkward stile over the wall at the foot of the slope. Directly ahead stands imposing Burrow Hall, beneath which are believed to be the foundations of the Roman fort of Calacum. Continue ahead, and just before joining a farm track beside a wall, left, observe an unusual stile. Go through the gate by Leck Beck Barn and descend gently to the next gate. Beyond, go up the banking on the right to avoid a ford and continue through a small settlement to the A683. Turn left and walk with care along a short narrow stretch of the road, then use the verges to go over Burrow Bridge and on into the village to rejoin your car.
WALK 5
Kirkby Lonsdale and Whittington
| Start/Finish | Kirkby Lonsdale |
| Distance | 10.4km (6½ miles) |
| Time | 3–4 hours |
| Terrain | Easy walking all the way, except north of Sellet Mill where the path goes along the stream bed |
| Maps | OS Explorer OL2 |
Kirkby Lonsdale stands on high ground overlooking a stunning bend in the River Lune. Its name is believed to be of Danish origin, as the area was settled by these marauding seafarers. Perhaps spend some time exploring the delightful town before setting off on this delectable walk, which takes you for 5km (3 miles) beside the stately river. Enjoy the abundant birdlife before pressing on to the charming village of Whittington. After a short wet walk along a stream bed, where good boots are essential if you are to remain dryshod, the way takes you down over quiet pastures back to the start.
Park in the well-signposted car park, grid ref 609786, opposite the supermarket at the southwest end of the town. Cross the road at the north end of the car park to descend right to pass the Institute on the left. Turn left at the post office along King’s Arms Lane. Turn left again into Market Street and wind right through Beck Head. Enter the churchyard to visit St Mary’s, built between 1093 and 1130.
The Devil’s Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale
DEVIL'S BRIDGE
One of the legends about how Devil’s Bridge got its name claims that an old woman whose cow and pony strayed into the river promised the devil that if he raised a bridge so that her stock could cross, he could have the first thing to do so. Early next morning the old woman threw a bun over the bridge and her mangy dog ran after it. The devil, expecting he would gain a pony or a cow, vanished angrily in flames.
Turn right as you leave the building, looking for the eight-sided gazebo in the churchyard which marks the beginning of the terrace over-looking Ruskin’s View. Walk along here and see where the River Lune makes its gracious curve, and where you will want to pause. Ruskin described it as, ‘One of the loveliest scenes in England – therefore the world’. Next, descend the Radical Steps to reach the side of the river. Walk right and continue along to the spectacular Devil’s Bridge where you join a narrow road (to your right is a toilet block).
Cross the road and go through the squeeze stile opposite, just before the bridge. Take the stone steps down to the path beside the river on the south side of the magnificent 15th-century twin-arched bridge known as Devil’s Bridge.
Continue along the footpath beside the water, walking beneath oak, hawthorn and elm. Pass through the kissing gate just before the next bridge and walk up the slope to the A65. Cross this busy road with care and descend more steps to regain the footpath – the Lune Valley Ramble – and continue downstream. The next bridge carries great pipes over the Lune for the waterboard, but just before this bridge bear to the right, go up a small embankment and over a stile. Carry on to pass through a squeeze stile, and after a few metres take another stile on the left where steps lead once more to the riverside.
Continue along the stiled way beside the river, watching out for a waymark that directs you up a slope once more. The way then goes left beside a copse where trees slope steeply down to the river. Descend a short slope to come down to the Lune once more, and look left for a magnificent view of Ingleborough. At the water’s edge you might spot a dipper running into the shallows and then back to a shingle reach.
Amble on along the way, sometimes high above the river and sometimes close beside it, to come to a wooden hut for anglers – across the river stands the small village of Nether Burrow. Stroll on along a grassy track with the Lune, now immensely broad, beside you. Press on along the narrow flood bank, which is edged with straggly hawthorns, to take a stile into a track called Coneygarth Lane.
This hedged way is muddy to start with and then, after a gate, becomes grassy as it gradually bears northwest. At its end you cross the B6254 and, after a few steps right, take a stile on the left onto a long grassed track leading to the Church of St Michael the Archangel, with the houses and cottages of Whittington gathered around it.
After a pause here, either in the church or on a seat on a terrace outside, walk on and leave the churchyard by the north gate. Turn left and after a few metres take narrow, sheltered Hosticle Lane on the right, climbing steeply uphill. The lane is walled and supports a hedge 2 metres (6½ feet) high. At the top of the slope look right for another grand view of Ingleborough. Go on past Lane Hall Farm and then descend a little to pass another dwelling. Continue on for a few steps and take a stile on the right just before the lane joins a busy road. Bear slightly right to descend gently, following the waymarks on the fence. Wind round a small wood and continue along its edge to a stile over a fence. Bear left and follow the hedge downhill, with the steep slopes of Sellet Bank to your right.
The
