This month’s walk was in an area new to a number of members, a circular route in Mallerstang from Nateby, a small village just outside Kirkby Stephen. The weather forecast was mixed, with the possibility of showers, but clearing later, so we had our waterproofs ready and our fingers crossed, as our group of eight set off from outside the Black Bull Inn on the village green. A walled, sunken path from the village emerged into a meadow carpeted with buttercups and took us across a footbridge over Thringill Beck, onto the lower flanks (and fortunately not up) Great Bell. Continuing along this valley of the River Eden, with intermittent views of Wild Boar Fell through the low clouds, we stopped for coffee at the inbye wall of Dalefoot Farm, then waded through a couple of fields of knee-high bracken and a slightly boggy area around Carr House, before crossing Southwaite Gill. We walked carefully, single-file through another wildflower meadow, with buttercups, clover, yellow rattle and an abundance of eyebright, hauled ourselves over a couple of tricky stone stiles and emerged onto a road in front of Pendragon Castle. Legend has it that Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur, built a castle here in the fifth century, although there is no archaeological evidence for this. It’s possible that he died there, after the Saxons poisoned the well, but what is certain is that it was owned in the 17th century by the redoubtable Lady Anne Clifford, who restored and extended it, before it was abandoned after her death in 1676. Walking on, we had our lunch sitting on a grassy bank overlooking a charming beck and, inevitably, the weather gods visited on us the only shower of the day. Returning on a lovely trod beside the river and past Lammerside Castle (actually a pele tower and barmkin built to withstand the raiding Scots from across the border), we crossed more fields and passed the fortified manor house of Wharton Hall, occupied by the Wharton family after they vacated Lammerside Castle. From here, we soon regained Nateby and drove back to Kirkby Stephen for tea and cakes, where we were able to sit outside and ponder the (inexplicably barefoot) statue of Lady Anne Clifford, seen walking with purpose towards the tourist information office opposite. A new walk and a grand day out.
Report by Peter Singer