A composite of three walks, two historical and a third noting
a point in time in the valley.
A visit to Egremont Castle on the way back from St Bees was
a short walk that has been waiting to be done for so long.
The other walks were local but very different in aspect . .
. do read on.
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On the way back from St Bees
we had time to spare and a desire to stretch the
legs.
The road back to Loweswater passes through the town
of Egremont
and in the Middle Ages the castle was an important
hub
for the village and the surrounding area.
The original settlement goes back to The Danes of
the 10th Century
but the present castle dates from around AD 1130,
when William le Meschin became 'Lord of Egremont'
after the Scots were driven from this part of Cumbria.
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Egremont has a long heritage of the wool trade,
including weaving, fulling and dyeing cloth.
Mining particularly for iron ore and coal (hence
the miner's lamp) was also historically important
as was the modern interests of trail hounds
and rugby, so making it to the mural on the end of the local
building.
Running through the mural like a snake and of
course the town, is the ever present River Ehen which flows
from Ennerdale Lake to the sea near Seascale.
Egremont Castle was built on the high ground
at the southern end of town, close to the bridge over the Ehen
(seen below).
The town was granted a market charter and the
right to hold an annual fair in 1267.
That has evolved into the popular Egremont Crab
Fair (names after crab apples, not crustaceans by the way).
The Castle mound had two levels, this lower
courtyard area with the usual buildings nestled safe inside
the high walls
and a Great Hall set higher up on the top, so
as to command prestige and give extra protection.
From the flat top of the Motte or mound we can
look back through the walls of the main keep to the courtyard
below.
There has been a lot of work done recently to
remove the overgrown vegetation and expose the castle to view
once again.
It is a real improvement and with the signage,
does give meaning back to this ancient ruin.
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The inner and outer views of the gatehouse of Egremont
Castle.
Well worth a view of you have an hour to spare.
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Later that week we had one of those very wet
days, where you sit at the window watching the rain falling
in stair rods
and really don't want to take the dogs for a
walk.
It had rained from early morning to late afternoon
and just when you thought it had reached its peak . . . it rained
even harder !
Fortunately the rain eased later in the day
and there was time for a dry walk after supper.
Sunset was about eight thirty to nine o'clock
and whilst on the walk the clouds broke to reveal a spectacular
sky.
The bright sun cast a yellow hue across the
valley, just catching the top of Grasmoor with the last of the
direct sunlight.
The twelve hours of rain had filled rivers and
they were flowing fast and brown, full of mud and sediment dislodged
by the flood.
Park Beck. normally flowing over exposed shingle,
was full to the brim and had been even higher by the look of
it.
From the footbridge I could see a brown plume
of water stretching far out into Crummock Water.
The rainbow heralded the passing of the rain
clouds, chased away by the setting sun.
You can tell the river has been overflowing
its channel when the track back to home was six inches deep
in water !
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Even tip-toeing along the edge it
was a case of wet socks
by the time I had crossed to the other
side.
However for the younger of my two
companions
the water was great fun
and Dougal just bounded across.
He had no shoes and socks to care
about !
There is a formal history society
walk
which hopes to use this track the
tomorrow.
Let's hope it dries up in time
otherwise there will be a lot more
wet socks to dry
than just mine today.
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Chalk and Cheese . . . the weather's changed
and the rain clouds have gone . . . it was a lovely summer's
day once again !
A crowd of about eighteen or twenty local members
of the Lorton and Derwent Fells Local History Society
gathered at St Bartholomew's Church to join
a walk, led by our resident valley historian, Dr Derek Denman
(centre).
He had researched the history of the valley,
the buildings, the people and the land ownership of the area
since the time of the first settlement records
were made.
After discussing the basic history of the church
and the development of the Kirkstile Inn from the "Church
Sty",
the stable where the priest kept his horse
during clerical visits to the area, we walked on up the lane
towards Kirkhead.
The Church Bridge seen here was the limit of
enclosed land at one time.
[ The detail of the walk is best described in
a booklet published by him via the Derwent
Fells History Society ]
A brief stop to discuss the land ownership and
the influence of St Bees Priory in the life of the valley.
The first chapel dates from 1130 though there
was thought to be an established community here long before
that.
At that time the land was held by Ranulph de
Lindesay, a knight on the service of Stephen I of Scotland (yes,
we were Scottish).
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In the 1600's Kirkhead House
was known as The Hall,
a grand building owned over time by various folk
including the lords John Robinson and
Henry Patrickson.
The current house was rebuilt in the 18th century
by the yeoman family of The Hudsons.
We admired it through the arch in the rhododendron
hedge.
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Proceeding up the land past some recent wall repairs.
To fix the stone wall properly one first has to take down
all the unstable stones . . .
Just around the corner, the dry stone waller has just finished
his previous repair . . . you can hardly see the join !
We stopped next at the fields of Bargate Farm, the buildings
of which were destroyed by fire in the early 1900's,
the fields of which are now incorporated into those of Kirkhead
Farm.
The farm featured a fulling mill and this field is named
on the old maps as "Tenters" implying the drying
area for 'fulled' or 'washed and processed' cloth.
The enclosure seen here and mentioned on the O.S map could
be to do with that, or an even older fortified enclosure dating
back to medieval times.
We walked on up the lane to the edge of the farm land and
to what I know as "Harry's Pool".
This was the site of an old weir and water leat that would
have fed the water that powered fulling mill at Bargate.
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We had a short walk along the Ennerdale track to
get a view
of the distant Mosedale Holly
and the Great Borne / Starling Dodd skyline.
This Derek told us, formed the southern boundary
of the ancient Loweswater Parish of "Balnes".
Land ownership at that time was often determined
as much by marriage arrangements as by physical battles
!
[ The photo was from a previous walk by the way ]
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We then retraced our steps and walked the bridleway that
follows the old enclosure boundary.
The woodland, known as Flass (white) Wood is an ancient oak
woodland
and may owe it's long term existence to the commercial use
of the timber as a raw material for charcoal burning in the
distant past.
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The seasons are changing
and I spotted this new fungi on the track behind
the woods.
Down in the valley a lizard took the advantage of
some late summer sunshine
to warm himself on an old fencepost on this fine
sunny day.
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Across the boggy footpath onto the headland
known as The Peel.
This is thought to be part of an old deer park
and though Peel implies a wooden structure, there is an old
ruined stone house on the headland.
The building could have been an old farm, part
of a small holding dating back to the 1500's, but Derek wouldn't
commit himself on that.
It was last inhabited in the early 1900's. The
13th century landowner, Thomas de Lucy, had a 'seat' somewhere
in this area,
either here or at low Park, but the exact site
of his grand family home is not known.
The raised area of the Peel would have provided
a fine viewpoint in terms of prestige and protection.
Peel farmstead sat above a moat which enclosed
the promontory, but that moat is thought to be of a much older
date.
It is possible that the headland could have
been the island known as Sleningholme at one time
as it would be an island today if the lake level
was just a few feet higher.
It was thought to be an area of some importance
during the battles of the Scottish incursions of the 1300's.
Back towards home now as we cross the bridge
over Park Beck.
Derek explains that the meadows we are about
to pass had a history of their own.
The better land to the left tended to be arable
land for growing crops for the peasant families of the area.
The poorer land to the right nearer the river,
areas more specific for growing crops for animals to feed on
during the winter months.
The direction and shape of the fields hints
at ancient layouts for ploughing, with the lane being the 'headland'
where the oxen and ploughs were turned.
Many of those river-side fields have been 'improved'
over time and now provide good year round grazing for animals.
Today my eye was caught by a brown dot in the
distance . . .
For the first time on a long time I spotted
a Roe Deer grazing on the open fields of the valley.
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Just when you spot one, two come along.
I was fortunate to see two deer grazing in the adjacent
rough field
just a few weeks later.
After months of not spotting them at all on my dog
walks
their re-appearance here is most welcome.
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As far as the valley history is concerned, there
was an important period of lead mining in the early 1800's
but once the lead mines closed, the farms began
to amalgamate, a process that continues to this day.
Improved transportation over the centuries meant
that subsistence agriculture ended, but the village of Loweswater
never really embraced
any long term industrial or commercial aspects
once the wool trade fell away, so now it is a mixture of tourism
venues like the hotels and pubs,
larger livestock farms and private homes of
limited commercial significance.
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A big thank you to Derek Denman and the organisers
of today's walk, for the historic background to where most of
us walk and live today.
More information can be found at the Lorton
and Derwent Fells Local History Society website.
Derek has published a booklet, on sale at the
Lorton Shop, if you wish to repeat this interesting walk in
your own time.