The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

and, like the Lowgill Viaduct, the Waterside Viaduct has
recently been renovated.
The Lune accepts the tributary of Crosdale Beck,
which runs off the slopes of Arant Haw, and moves
towards the 17 th century Lincoln’s Inn Bridge. Sadly,
Mr Lincoln and his inn are no longer with us, and some
might wish the same of the bridge, as it makes a narrow,
awkward turn on the busy A684. Like most bridges, it
forms a better impression from the riverside.
Here we detect some pride in being next to the Lune,
for as well as the farm of Luneside there is, just along the
A684, a Vale of Lune Chapel, now called St Gregory’s.
This was built in the 1860s, whilst the railway line
was being constructed, and, judging from its unusual,
robust design, it may have been built by rail workers.
This supposition is perhaps supported by a comment
in a booklet about the chapel that it was designed to be
“a plain building of studied ugliness”. Would a proper
architect take on such a challenge?
Opposite Luneside, Capplethwaite Beck enters the
Lune.
Left: Waterside Viaduct.
Below: The stained glass windows of the Vale of
Lune chapel, which illustrate nature rather than
religious themes.
The Lune from Carlingill Beck ... 57
Capplethwaite Beck
Capplethwaite Beck and its tributary Priestfield Beck
run from Firbank Fell behind the ridge to the west
of the Waterside Viaduct. This unprepossessing moor
is known only for two things: Fox’s Pulpit and its
magnificent views of the Howgills.
From the plaque at Fox’s Pulpit there is a view
south along the Lune valley to the Ward’s Stone ridge
of Bowland Fells, 35km away. However, there is no
view of the Howgills, which is strange. One of the
Quaker beliefs, as noted in Fox’s journal, is that “the
steeplehouse and that ground on which it stood were
no more holy than that mountain”. Surely Fox would
have positioned himself about 200m east so that when
expressing such a sentiment he could gesture towards
the Howgills. That would convince anyone, and I could
even imagine listening to a three-hour sermon myself
Fox’s Pulpit marks one of the few events in Loyne to be
considered of national importance. Here on June 13 th 1652
George Fox preached to one thousand people for three
hours, according to his own journal, an event nowadays
often regarded as establishing the Society of Friends (or
Quakers).
The Quaker movement has been particularly
influential in the Loyne region. No doubt the emphasis on
equality and on the spirituality within people, rather than
churches, rituals and sacraments, appealed to independent,
poor northerners.
The mid 17 th century – Oliver Cromwell, Civil
Wars, and so on – was a fertile, if challenging, time for
non-conformist religious movements but Quakerism was
a social movement as well, because the promotion of
equality naturally upset the privileged, powerful members
of society who did not receive from Quakers the respect
or deference they expected. This partly explains the years
of persecution suffered by Quakers. Fox himself was
imprisoned seven times.
It also explains the large number of ‘meetinghouses’
that we will pass. Quakers did not build churches, as it
was against their beliefs and would have been asking for
trouble. To begin with, they met within one another’s
houses. In some Loyne valleys almost every farmstead
may be described as an old Quaker meetinghouse – that
is, an old farmstead within which Quakers met. After the
Restoration of the monarchy (1660), matters gradually
improved for Quakers but the laws under which they had
been persecuted were not ended until the 1689 Act of
Toleration.
This is Chapter 3 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self