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128 Chapter 8: <strong>The</strong> Greta Headwaters<br />
Anyway, let us be grateful, for if <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had so decided all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Settle-Carlisle<br />
line would be outside Loyne. However, we<br />
should always remember that <strong>the</strong> “thrilling<br />
story <strong>of</strong> this magnificent engineering<br />
enterprise”, as Wainwright’s Walks in<br />
Limestone Country puts it, involved a<br />
few thousand people working here, under<br />
appalling conditions, for six years (less<br />
for <strong>the</strong> two hundred or so who died). <strong>The</strong><br />
Batty Green shantytown sounds jolly but it<br />
must have been a hard, tough life here in <strong>the</strong><br />
cold, wet, muddy desolation. I hope that <strong>the</strong><br />
workers’ sacrifices were not in <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong><br />
some vainglorious adventure.<br />
Today, we may admire <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir labours. <strong>The</strong> Batty Moss Viaduct is<br />
<strong>the</strong> most spectacular <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> engineering<br />
works on <strong>the</strong> Settle-Carlisle line and an<br />
awesome sight from Whernside and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
vantage points. Its 24 arches are made<br />
from local limestone and <strong>the</strong> embankment<br />
from earth excavated from Bleamoor Tunnel. <strong>The</strong><br />
viaduct is 32m high and 400m long and <strong>the</strong> spans are<br />
7m wide, with each sixth pier thickened to help prevent<br />
collapse. Its gentle curve seems fully in keeping with <strong>the</strong><br />
surroundings, now that <strong>the</strong> shantytown has long gone.<br />
Winterscales Beck makes its way intermittently<br />
southwest, repeatedly disappearing through its limestone<br />
bed and being re-created by resurgences, <strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong><br />
largest is from Gatekirk Cave. In summer much <strong>of</strong> its<br />
bed will be dry but it is obvious from <strong>the</strong> erosion that<br />
after heavy rain this is a ferocious torrent. In places,<br />
one can stand in <strong>the</strong> dry bed and see debris in <strong>the</strong> trees<br />
several metres above.<br />
After Winterscales Beck disappears, a series <strong>of</strong><br />
potholes and caves continues its line until <strong>the</strong> emergence<br />
<strong>of</strong> Chapel Beck below Chapel-le-Dale. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se<br />
potholes are described in <strong>the</strong> overblown prose <strong>of</strong> John<br />
Hutton, vicar <strong>of</strong> Burton-in-Kendal, who in 1780 wrote<br />
a 49-page pamphlet considered to be <strong>the</strong> first-ever book<br />
on caving. He considered Wea<strong>the</strong>rcote Cave to be “<strong>the</strong><br />
most surprising natural curiosity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> kind in <strong>the</strong><br />
island <strong>of</strong> Great Britain … a stupendous subterranean<br />
cataract.” Hurtle Pot, however, was “one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
dismal prospects we had yet been presented with … [and<br />
he viewed] with horror and astonishment its dreadful<br />
aspect.”<br />
Winterscales Beck near Winterscales Farm<br />
Like many rural hamlets, Chapel-le-Dale is known<br />
for its pub and its church. <strong>The</strong> Hill Inn was long regarded<br />
as a rowdy base for potholers. St Leonard’s Church is a<br />
more sombre resting place for <strong>the</strong> “many men, women<br />
and children … who died through accident or disease<br />
during <strong>the</strong> construction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Settle-Carlisle railway and<br />
who were buried in this churchyard”, as a millennium<br />
year memorial plaque puts it. Sadly, <strong>the</strong> plaque does not<br />
list <strong>the</strong> two hundred names given in <strong>the</strong> burial register.<br />
A notice in <strong>the</strong> St Leonard’s Church porch<br />
(Perhaps <strong>the</strong> boggards <strong>of</strong> Hurtle Pot - to which legend<br />
attributes <strong>the</strong> strange noises that Hurtle Pot makes<br />
when in flood - have been up to <strong>the</strong>ir tricks.)<br />
This is Chapter 8 <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Land</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Lune</strong> (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/land<strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong>lune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self