Friday 7th August 2026
Another short stretch of Lady Anne's Way but progress is slow because I am having to do circular walks of five miles or so, therefore only two or three miles on the route. I am not too bothered about that, the main objective is to have an enjoyable walk regardless. But becsuse this is proving to be a worthwhile campaign suited to the parameters for my limited walking I am keen to make progress. I will keep going with what I think is easy walking to the northern end at Penrith and then think about starting at the other end from Skipton.
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| The short blue line is my approximate progress to date. |
Today I decided to motor to Tebay instead of going via Sedbergh and although it is longer I saved about ten minutes getting to Lowmill Bridge at Kirkby Stephen where there is good parking.
The way follows the river Eden north on a gnarly rootpath lined with tunnel forming trees to arrive at the A685 and couple of hundred yards thankfully on on a good footpath alongside this busy road. Branching off a minor road passes Eden Place, a National Trust garden venue which may be worth a visit sometime. Now a pleasant footpath leads across semi parkland to Winton with views of the distant Pennines triggering memories of past forays.
Winton is a pleasant village where I parked a while ago for a circular which followed part of Lady Anne's but omitted a short link further on to continue the LDP from Brough Sowerby, but more of that in the next section.
More easy field walking took me to Kaber, my furthest today on the Way. Here I was able to confirm a small car park right at the re-commencement of the route for next time. Walking out of Kaber there is a splendid Primitive Methodist chapel which seems rather grand in the context of this small village. It was closed as a chapel in 2005 and is now a holiday let, but having retained much of its interior and outward appearance. Just before that the Kaber villagers have constructed an attractive circular stone wall resting spot with seats, all in all a worthy millennium project.
From here my return followed quiet lanes repeating part of that Winton walk in July last year;
From the lanes a tricky section of interconnected footpaths skirted Winton and I wandered off line briefly which can be seen on the map below. Sod's Law had me repeating what was the steepest bit of hill on the whole walk, but it was only a short pull.
I am enjoying this project and look forward to the coming sections.
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| The tree root path leading off up river from Lowmill Bridge |
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| A short stretch on the A685, but a good path. I've driven up that road many times over the years. Now there will be another spot along its way that coincides with a previous walk. |
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| Off into parkland |
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| A good stretch of the Pennines - memeories |
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| Winton.Note the telephone box where I parked last July |
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| Perfect field walking with views. On the way to Kaber |
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| Kaber's tribute to the Millennium, plaque detail below. Perhaps the influence of the Primitive Methodists lingers on? |
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| "A thousnd years in thy sight are as but yesterday" Psalm 90:4 |
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| The impressive Primitive Methodist chapel |
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| Half a mile back to the car from here at Hartley |
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| Green: Lady Anne's. Purple: me. Just short of 6 miles |
In reply to BC's comment here is my guess at the hills in the photo:
I'm just re-reading Wainwright's A Pennine Journey; he comes down that bit of the Eden Valley on his return leg.
ReplyDeleteYour photo of the distant Pennines perfectly captures the scene. Cross Fell in the far distance?
BC - I have added the annotated photo above. Even though these are distinctive hills it is always difficult identifying at such a distance.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteGreat picture
Its such a shame that after all her efforts to maintain her estates that Pendragon Castle has been allowed to deteriorate so badly.
ReplyDeleteAlan R - I seem to have passed and photographed Pendragon on my earlier visit without much comment. I wasn't aware of problems or history that you mention. Do you have access to some information, I tried a very brief internt search with no relevant result.
ReplyDeleteI did quite a bit of research into her life when i started my walks but as i mentioned earlier, i didnt finish it and so never blogged it. She spent most of her life in court batles trying to rescue the estate. She eventually won and set out to rebuild the castles from Skipton up to Appleby and Penrith. She was quite a strong willed lady and fearsome although she was short in stature. She commanded respect and was generous to the locals although a tough business woman. Her letters and will can be found on the internet.
DeleteAh! I thought you were referring to recent history. I have read about Lady Anne and put some clips and link on an earlier post.
ReplyDelete