The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

102 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell
Barbon Beck
Barbon Beck flows for 10km through the magnificent
valley of Barbondale, with the steep scree and grass
slopes below Calf Top to the west and the less steep,
peaty moorland below Crag Hill (682m) to the east. The
beginnings of Barbon Beck are interesting to explore
although what exactly is seen depends upon the amount
of recent rain. Normally, the beck appears to arise
hesitantly as Barkin Beck, 3km within the Yorkshire
Dales boundary, beside the road to Dentdale. Before
reaching the boundary it usually disappears and restarts
a few times. Our suspected explanation for this is
confirmed by an examination of the Short Gill tributary,
which forms the Dales boundary from Crag Hill.
Short Gill runs contentedly in a deep gorge of grey
slate, stained brown with peat, over a series of waterfalls
until, 100m above Barkin Beck, it crosses a clear ridge
of limestone and enters a canyon that is eerily silent. All
the water disappears through the limestone. The line of
limestone continues on the eastern slopes of Barbondale
but there is no limestone to be seen on the western slopes,
the grey scree being of the Silurian slate that we saw in
the Howgills. The transition from limestone to slate can
be clearly seen in the walls by the roadside, from the
white-grey limestone to the north to the dark-grey slate
to the south.
We are on the continuation of the Dent Fault, as you
may have anticipated. Here, the upheavals of 300m years
ago turned the limestone beds into a roughly vertical
position and today Short Gill provides the best examples
in England of caves formed in vertical limestone. About
200m south of Short Gill Bridge, a large resurgence
from under a limestone outcrop joins Barkin Beck,
which is usually dry at this point. This I assume to be
the lost waters of Short Gill, which therefore ought to be
regarded as the major source of Barbon Beck, which is
at last properly established.
The beck here is a favourite haunt of the wren, which
we tend to think of as a bird of the garden and woodland.
They delight in flitting in and out of the crevices and
Right: Barbondale from Barbon Low Fell.
Below: The head of Barbondale.
This is Chapter 6 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self