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112 Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and Leck Fell Ruskin’s View is the only point along the Lune that the Ordnance Survey considers worthy of a viewpoint symbol. I’d prefer that OS maps kept to matters of fact rather than opinion. For what it’s worth, my opinion is that the view is OK, but neither high enough to provide an extensive view of the Lune valley, with its fine surrounding hills receding into the distance, nor low enough to enable an appreciation of the sights and sounds of the riverside. Instead, we see one bland bend of the Lune, with a backdrop of Brownthwaite and Middleton Fell, among the least impressive of Loyne’s hills. The viewpoint is called Ruskin’s View, in thanks to the art critic and thinker John Ruskin, whose opinion was that “Here are moorland, sweet river and English forest at their best … [the view is] one of the loveliest in England and therefore in the world”. According to the Cumbrian Directory, Ruskin said this in the 1870s after seeing J.M.W. Turner’s 1818 painting of the view. One might query Ruskin’s status as an art critic if he really considered this view comparable to the one from his own window at Brantwood, looking over Coniston Water. Ruskin was a fervent promoter and protector of Turner’s reputation. So much so that art historians had always believed his statement in 1858 that he had destroyed a set of erotic paintings by Turner, not wanting his reputation to be sullied. However, the paintings were found in 2005. Ruskin himself was fond of young girls. So that’s two reputations sullied. My point is that we should not just follow the opinions of others – eminent aesthetes such as Turner or Ruskin, or the OS, or, certainly, me. It is better to form your own judgements about this and other views of the Lune. trendiness (as epitomised by the renaming of the Green Dragon as the Snooty Fox), and there is a profusion of hanging baskets and other floral decorations. The market square, however, has an unstylish crown-shaped structure, now serving as a bus shelter, which used to have a sort of dome with a cross atop. It was donated in 1905 by the vicar of Kirkby Lonsdale, whose generosity could presumably not be declined. The ambience is suburban, rather than rural, for, apart from Ruskin’s View, Kirkby Lonsdale is inwardlooking, focused on its own business, with little outlook onto the surrounding fields. The older buildings are of limestone, which outcrops locally. Apart from the church and pubs, there are few buildings earlier than the 18 th century and on the outskirts many standard 20 th century houses. Although there are few features of antiquity, Kirkby Lonsdale is old, appearing in the Domesday Book as Cherkeby Lownesdale and being granted its market charter in 1227. The manor of Kirkby Lonsdale, including the church, was given to St Mary’s Abbey in York in the 1090s and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the church rights were granted to Trinity College, Cambridge. Kirkby Lonsdale used to play up to its history, without going back quite that far, by holding a Victorian Fair in September, with participants in period dress. This tradition was ended in 2008, being considered to have outlived its usefulness. Up to the 19 th century there was a series of mills by what is now called Mill Brow. From the market square Jingling Lane drops down towards the Lune. The lane meets up with the footpath that proceeds from below Ruskin’s View alongside the Lune, where there was a millrace for further mills. Anyone walking along this path will notice the flood debris in the tree branches above their head, indicating the torrents that sometimes rage through this narrow valley. All the more surprising, then, that the elegant, three-arched Devil’s Bridge has withstood the Lune for five centuries, or even longer. The date of the bridge is unknown but, to be on the safe side, it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Some think it to be Roman, but this seems unlikely; others can detect the same Norman hands as built the church; others refer to records of repairs in 1275 and 1365 Left: The other view from Ruskin’s View, looking to The Island. This is Chapter 7 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
The Top 10 bridges in Loyne 1. Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale 2. Batty Moss (Ribblehead) Viaduct 3. Loyn Bridge, Hornby 4. Lowgill Viaduct 5. Lune Aqueduct, Lancaster Canal 6. Skerton Bridge, Lancaster 7. Crook of Lune Bridge, Lowgill 8. Artengill Viaduct, Dentdale 9. Lune’s Bridge, Tebay 10. Waterside Viaduct (which show only that there was a bridge here but not necessarily this one); others consider the form of the arches to be late 15 th century at the earliest. The name of the bridge is more recent, for until the 19 th century it was simply the Kirkby Lonsdale Bridge. The uncertainty about the origin of the bridge’s remarkable design encourages thoughts of a supernatural agency. The legend is, in brief, that a woman entered a Faustian deal with the devil to get the bridge built and Devil’s Bridge The Lune from Barbon Beck ... 113 then sacrificed her dog to meet the conditions of the deal. For many people, hurrying between the Lakes and the Dales and pausing at the Devil’s Bridge, this is the only glimpse they will have of the Lune. It is a pity that quiet contemplation of the bridge and the scenery is difficult. There are normally crowds milling around the snack bars and over the bridge and, at weekends, motorcyclists, canoeists, picnickers, and maybe even divers off the bridge. If we could but focus upon it we’d appreciate the unique beauty and elegance of the old bridge, 12m high, with ribbed, almost semicircular arches, two of 17m and one of 9m span. The breakwaters continue to the parapet to provide refuges in the roadway, which with a width of only 3.5m is too narrow for modern vehicular traffic. Below, the Lune swirls through sloping crags. The Lune runs under the A65 at Stanley Bridge, built in 1932 150m south of the Devil’s Bridge. Stanley – that is, Oliver Stanley, MP for Westmorland, after whom the bridge was named – does not compete with the devil. Instead, the new bridge, with its off-yellow This is Chapter 7 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
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The Land of the Lune John Self
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The Land of the Lune A guide to the
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The Land of the Lune - and its trib
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Contents Introduction 9 1. Northern
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The Land of the Lune - and its trib
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Acknowledgements Writing a general
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Chapter 9: Gretadale and a little m
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CHAPTER 1: Northern Howgills and Or
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The River Lune ... A great oak may
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Looking down Bowderdale Bowderdale
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The Lune from Bowderdale Beck ... T
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A walker near the head of Langdale
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Rais Beck gathers pace as it passes
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ancient earthworks on the Orton Fel
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The Lune from Chapel Beck ... Immed
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CHAPTER 2: Shap Fells and Birkbeck
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Birk Beck Birk Beck arises in Wasda
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Bretherdale Beck Bretherdale Beck r
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The Lune from Birk Beck ... At thei
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The Lune below Jeffrey’s Mount Wa
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Borrow Beck 41 This is Chapter 2 of
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44 Chapter 2: Shap Fells and Birkbe
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46 Chapter 3: Western Howgills and
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The Lune from Carlingill Beck ... A
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The presence of dippers along any b
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Walk 6: Lowgill and Brown Moor Holy
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Page 62 and 63: 62 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale The
Page 64 and 65: 64 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Sea
Page 66 and 67: 66 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Sal
Page 68 and 69: 68 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale the
Page 74 and 75: 74 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Clo
Page 78 and 79: 78 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Bau
Page 80 and 81: 80 Chapter 5: Lower Rawtheydale and
Page 94 and 95: 94 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Hall B
Page 96 and 97: 96 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Killin
Page 98 and 99: 98 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Stockd
Page 100 and 101: 100 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell The L
Page 102 and 103: 102 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Barbo
Page 104 and 105: 104 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Crag
Page 106 and 107: 106 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell a doc
Page 108 and 109: 108 Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and
Page 124 and 125: 124 Chapter 8: The Greta Headwaters
Page 135: The roof was so high, and the botto
Page 140 and 141: 140 Chapter 9: Gretadale and a litt
Page 154 and 155: 154 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwat
Page 156 and 157: 156 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwat
Page 159 and 160: Opposite: Ingleborough from Moughto
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Fen Beck Fen Beck arises on the eas
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often evidence, in the form of old
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silence is complete, apart from bir
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CHAPTER 11: Wenningdale, Hindburnda
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The Wenning from Keasden Beck ... T
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is split into four smaller cast-iro
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The River Hindburn By the time it r
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in spring is not, however, in silen
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Furnessford Bridge, although the 18
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182 Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindbu
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184 Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindbu
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CHAPTER 12: The Lune Floodplain and
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The Lune from the Wenning ... The a
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ather than shale, has been reached
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there are remains of about thirty c
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The Lune from Bull Beck ... The ste
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Foxdale Beck passes Littledale Hall
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four Roman miles from Lancaster, wh
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CHAPTER 13: The Lune to Lancaster
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The Lune from Artle Beck ... After
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entirely natural. Within Loyne the
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Halton washed away. This was swept
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Turner sketched it on his 1797 tour
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castle and priory now framed by the
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with the Dissolution of the Monaste
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St George’s Quay from the Millenn
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CHAPTER 14: The Salt Marshes
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The Lune from Lancaster ... Beyond
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Burrow Beck We followed the Roman r
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The River Conder The River Conder a
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from Clougha Pike. The valley seems
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nearby Church of St Thomas and St E
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The Lune from the Conder ... East o
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CHAPTER 15: Into Morecambe Bay
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The Lune from the Conder (continued
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then walk south along the coast. Th
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largest remaining uncultivated peat
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The remains of Cockersand Abbey Wal
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that there was a large local commun
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Reflections from the Point of Lune
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Bibliography and References Bibliog
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Contact Details for Further Informa
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Contact Details for Further Informa
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Austwick Game Cock Inn “ 51226 ht
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Tourist/Visitor Information Centres
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Bridge End (Caton) 198 Bridge End (
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Foul Gutter 125 Foundry Beck 207 Fo
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Leck Beck 105, 114-121, 117, 119, 1
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Ripley Orphanage 213 Rise Hill 75-7
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Walk 23: Ward’s Stone 225 Walk 24
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