The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

164 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwaters
Kettles Beck
Kettles Beck is the first of many becks that we will
meet that flow north off the Bowland Fells and that,
because they flow over millstone grit, slate and sandstone
covered with glacial till, have a different character to
the becks of the mainly limestone Yorkshire Dales. At
first, the marked contrast between the dry whiteness of
the Dales and the muddy darkness of Bowland rather
depresses the spirits.
Bowland valleys tend to be deeply eroded, with fastflowing
becks tumbling through rocky channels over
small waterfalls. Trees have largely been cleared although
patches of ancient woodland remain in some steep-sided
valleys and there are a few conifer plantations, such as
Brow Side Plantation by Kettles Beck. The valleys are
rural, with verdant, rolling fields for cattle and sheep.
Population is sparse, being scattered in small villages
and isolated farmsteads, the latter being evenly but
thinly distributed, although many are no longer actively
farming. The buildings are usually of local gritstone,
adding to the sombre greyness, particularly in winter.
The farms are situated by flowing water and there is
Knotteranum
A Kettlesbeck welcome for visitors: a stile on the
public footpath near East Kettlesbeck, with
eye-level barbed wire
This is Chapter 10 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self