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Date & start time: Monday 2nd March 2009. 10.35 am start.

Location of Event : Calvert Stables, Windebrowe, Keswick, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 277 240 )

Places visited : River Greta, Brundholme Woods, Brundholme Linesman's Hut and back via the old railway track to Low Briery and Forge Brow.

Walk details : 3.5 ml, 750 ft of ascent, 1 hours 40 mins.

Highest point : Brundholme Woods 475 ft (146m )

Walked with : Myself and the dogs, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Overcast with a hint of rain at the end.

Calvert Trust Stables . . . a "Riding for the disabled" morning.

 

While Ann was volunteering her services for the "Riding for the Disabled" support team at the Calvert Trust,

I took the opportunity of a local walk in the Keswick area.

Chance for me to explore the valley of the River Greta.

The old stone arched bridge at Forge Brow crosses the Greta just below the stables.

   
Winter Beech leaves add colour to the woods
A concrete structure spans the valley . . . more about this later.
   
   
Down at the waterside Harry searches for his stick.
A white fronted Dipper mid-stream (just visible on the other photo)

The River Greta water level is low at present but the pools and cataracts are a delight nevertheless.

   
As we walk the left hand bank the path rises up through the woods . . .
. . . giving us views down to the river and across to Clough Head.

One of the many iron bridges that carried the old Keswick Railway across the river.

The Brundholme Woods path eventually drops down and joins the old track, now a popular cycle and walking path.

Someone has been doing some tree clearance and the wood is stacked to one side.

   
The old Linesman's Hut, now a shelter and information point.
The bridge over Whit Beck seen through the old railway ironwork.

The signboard describing the river, the aquatic life and the coming of the railway.

   
Walking back towards Keswick now, we follow the river down.
What happens if you catch a Trout with your bait when Salmon fishing ?
   
   
Safety mesh starting to look ever so slightly artistic.
The designer hung this one upside down for some reason !

An old track side bunker survives though the track has long gone.

The station platform at Briery.

The signboard describes the old Bobbin Mill that used to manufacture wooded Bobbins in the riverside buildings here.

The railway was important for importing timber and exporting finished products from the mill.

A sturdy bridge over the railway gives access to the Briery site.

A short way on and the path rises and turns sharply along the hillside.

The stonework was the old railway tunnel entrance, now filled and by-passed.

The boardwalk allows us to continue on towards Keswick

making this a practical proposition for cycling, pushchair use and for access for the disabled .

   
High above the river, looking down on the mill leat for the old Forge Mill.
The end of the boardwalk leads us back to the A66 bridge.

Controversial at the time, the new A66 has certainly made access to Keswick, the North Lakes and the west coast towns a lot easier.

This high viaduct design is full of graceful curves, both on the structure itself and of the roadway above.

It's design won a rather prestigious award . . . for the Best Concrete Engineering Structure of the 20th Century . . . impressive.

   
The Sustrans signpost highlighting the Keswick to Penrith Cycle way.
Back down at the riverside, is this house called "The Dragon's Den" ?

[ Almost Serpently Not ]

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with with my Cannon G7 Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . an hour or two to spare to walk the dogs.

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© RmH.2009 # Email me here # or leave me a Guest Book Entry

Previous walk - 28th February 2009 Kings How and Grange Fell

A previous time up here - 13th July 2006 Castlerigg and the Keswick Railway Path

Hi Roger,

As always, I get home from work and the first thing I do is look at all the lakeland websites. I love the railway walk in Keswick but more so because I trained as a civil engineer and I just love looking at Victorian structures.

I don't know whether you know ( you referred to him as the designer of the inverted bridge ) but the man who designed and built the railway was none other than Sir Thomas Bouch - the man who designed the ill-fated Tay bridge that blew down in a storm on 28th December 1879.

I won't bore you with any more detail but it was a tragedy in every sense of the word. He was a mild mannered and very unassuming man who was completely out of his depth, but with typical Victorian aplomb he didn't realise it.

Kindest regards . . . Martin Scott