A walk around Armathwaite
Last updated 11:36, Thursday, 20 March 2008
A pub walk around Armathwaite and Coombs Wood
MAP: OS Landranger 86, Haltwhistle, Bewcastle and Alston area; or Explorer map OL5.
PARKING: In Armathwaite. Please park considerately in the village.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Armathwaite is on the Carlisle-to-Settle railway line. It is also served by the infrequent 133 and 134 bus services (telephone 0871 200 2233).
REFRESHMENTS: The Duke’s Head Hotel and the Fox and Pheasant Inn, both in Armathwaite.
DISTANCE: 3.7 miles
TOTAL ASCENT: 669ft
TIME: 90 minutes – two hours
GRADE: Easy
OVERVIEW: This is the perfect Sunday morning stroll. It starts from one of the loveliest of the Eden Valley’s villages and then, to the sound of birdsong, enters pretty woodland.
With the sparkling river far below, you head deeper into the forest until you are confronted by a magnificent view upstream. But the delights don’t end there; after a short section of road walking, you reach one of Cumbria’s more off-the-beaten-track hamlets – Longdales – and then head north along a lovely, sandy track with wonderful views down the Eden Valley and across to the northernmost outposts of the Pennines.
If you’ve timed things carefully, you should arrive back in Armathwaite just in time for pub opening.
THE WALK: Starting with your back to the Duke’s Head Hotel in the village, turn right along the road and walk downhill to cross the River Eden. Beyond the walls on your right here is Armathwaite Castle, a four-storey pele tower converted into a country house in 1752 by William Sanderson. Continue along the road for about 200 yards beyond the bridge and then turn right along the track in front of the Fox and Pheasant Inn.
Follow this wide track up to a metal gate and cross the stile beside it. The track soon ends, but the way ahead is obvious – along a clear path running alongside a fence on your right. This fence ends when you enter sparse woodland.
With the sound of the weir on the River Eden below, you climb easily to a wooden step stile (0.7 miles from the start) beyond which you continue in the same direction along a wide forest track high above the river. You soon pass one of the Eden Benchmark sculptures – this one is “Vista” by Graeme Mitcheson (see “points of interest” later). The “vista” at this point is actually restricted by the trees, but you can still get some tantalising hints of the beauty of this area.
Another track comes up from the right as you swing left to head deeper into Coombs Wood. Climbing gently all the while, you keep to the clear, wide track, ignoring all paths off. As you approach the end of the forest track, the trees on your right disappear and those wonderful views that you have been snatching tiny glimpses of up until now are suddenly and dramatically revealed, stopping you in your tracks. Far below, the River Eden has carved a beautiful valley, the graceful, curvy sides of which are covered in woodland and rolling farmland.
Beyond the next large metal gate at the edge of the woodland, you reach a road (1.8 miles from the start). Turn left here and then take the next road turning on your right, opposite a phone box – signposted Longdales.
Immediately after passing the last cottage on your left (2.1 miles from the start), turn left along a track (signpost reads: “To Bridleway”). The track climbs to a high point of about 550ft, from where you get a superb view of the pretty rolling farmland to the north and the Pennines to the east. Those heart-lifting views stay with you as you continue straight ahead and drop down to a road (2.8 miles from the start).
Now turn left. Ignore one road turning to the right and another to the left soon after and then head downhill to recross the River Eden and retrace your steps into the village.
POINTS OF INTEREST: The 10 Eden Benchmark sculptures, which also function as seats, were commissioned by the East Cumbria Countryside Project to celebrate the new millennium. Each by a different artist, they have been installed at various locations beside public paths along the entire length of the River Eden. The artists’ brief was to produce sculptures that harmonised with the landscape and captured the essence of each locality.
The first is “Water Cut” by Mary Bourne, located close to the source of the river at Mallerstang. The other nine are at Kirkby Stephen, Temple Sowerby, Appleby, Lazonby, Edenhall, Armathwaite, Wetheral, Bitts Park in Carlisle and Rockcliffe, close to the mouth of the river.
Armathwaite is the second station on the Carlisle-to-Settle railway line and features a signalbox restored by the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line. Work on the 72-mile line began in 1869 and lasted for seven years. About 6,000 men were involved in building the line, which was the last main line railway in England constructed almost entirely by hand. Many were injured or killed during the construction period; many more died through outbreaks of smallpox and other diseases which spread quickly in the makeshift, unhygienic settlements in which they lived.
The line opened to passengers on May 1, 1876 and includes 14 tunnels and more than 20 viaducts. It has survived two attempts to close it – once in the early 1960s and again in the 1980s.
