A walk can be great for many reasons, the height, the length,
the scenery or perhaps a surprise along the way. Today fell
into that latter category.
We set off expecting a reasonably level walk along a railway
cycle path with some road walking to 'round the circle' back
to the start,
but ended up with a a bit of a tour through the industrial
history of this area of Cumbria.
Rowrah, notably home nowadays to the Ennerdale
Brewery, a Nissan main dealership
also retains the old workers cottages that grew
up in support of the industrial enterprise that created work
in the area.
Not a popular tourist area so the limited off
road areas still meant we could park right at the start of our
walk.
It had rained all morning, and by delaying our
start and moving west out of the hills, the weather was now
decidedly better.
The road walls were very reminiscent of railway
bridges but looking over the parapet only revealed trees and
an earth bank.
However my hunch was right, as we were crossing
the filled-in track bed of the old Cleater Moor (and west coast)
to Cockermouth railway.
The second bridge in the picture spans the old
Rowrah to Workington railway route.
These were all old mineral lines serving the
heavy industry of West Cumbria, now all seemingly gone.
We have planned an easier, circular route skirting
around some lakes marked as the High Leys Nature Reserve,
so a left turn took us onto the Sustrans Cycleway
which at this point had been forced to abandon the railway track
beds below.
Passing the grand house that was named as Rowrah
Hall . . . there'll be some interesting history there I would
think.
The Hall is a listed building and dates from
either 1705 (on the ruined barn) or 1729 (the plaque on the
house)
It has been modernised and now advertises itself
as Guest
House and B&B accommodation
Our cycleway / footpath descends to the track
level but swings south (right), leaving the old rail line to
continue on.
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As part
of the Sustrans system there's artwork from local children
. . . |
. . . and the path has
been cleared and is in reasonable condition. |
Signs of old railway buildings, though these
walls indicate something larger than a simple track-side shed.
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We are still
at a slightly elevated level, crossing another bridge
. . . |
with what looks like
a water filled railway cutting below. |
The maps shows evidence of multiple quarries
(disused) but exactly where our track changed from a railway
track to a path was a little uncertain.
The long distance route has now evolved into
a country walk, complete with the occasional cyclist and dog
walker along the way.
As the nature reserve has a similar name to
mine (High Leys - higher fields), I just had to cross to look
into what was an old quarry.
I had a real surprise when this large lake came
into view.
The old workings have become full of water and
now the changed habitat is classed as a nature reserve.
I was expecting red soil from old iron ore workings,
but in fact the geology was grey . . . it was a limestone quarry.
What's more the man made hole in the ground
extended on, as far as the eye could see.
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A marker
on this Whitehaven/Keswick/Sunderland long distance
track. |
The more-local information
is incorporated into the blue post. |
At this point the specific long distant route
changes, as it has reached a local country lane.
The Route 71 now headed off on the back roads
to Kirkland, Lamplugh, Loweswater (almost past my house) and
away to Keswick and beyond.
Our round walk continues south and looking across
the fields we get distant views of Ennerdale.
Keen eyes will spot an embankment and old brick
structure. This must be more of the historic tramway links
to other local quarries.
We're in the shadow of a cloud now, so the views
back highlight a sunny Knock Murton and Blake Fell.
"Up in them there hills" are the iron
ore mines that surround Cauda Brow and Kirkland area, just a
mile or so away.
If you want to smelt iron you need three basic
raw materials . . . iron ore, limestone and coal.
The coal was sourced from pits in West Cumbria,
so the juxtaposition of these three key ingredients gave rise
to the West Cumbrian iron and ship building
trades, now sadly closed in Workington but alive in the ship
building of Barrow in Furness.
Walking on, Spring is in the air as we reach
the hamlet of Salter Hall.
The farm or the old house gave it's name to
the Salter hall Quarries that we have just passed.
To stay on the road and re-gain the long distance
cycleway heading back north meant a few more miles road
walking
so we set off across the fields on a short cut,
a marked but seemingly hardly used public footpath.
A small lake in the field could have been an
old sink hole, this being a limestone area.
The heavy rains of the morning have moved east
and the last of the cloud was lifting from the high fells, giving
us a lovely afternoon.
However, that lovely looking green grass was
in fact water-logged and claggy and wasn't as easy as it looked.
Another water-filled quarry, part of the Eskett
Limestone Quarry system this time.
Our path heads up alongside the fence, the raised
ground helping little to clear the water from the surface of
the field.
As for the quarry, it all looks a bit abandoned
and closed.
More old workings to the right, judging by the
disturbed nature of the ground.
To the left, surprise, surprise, the quarry
is very much a working environment,
as a lorry turns up and a bucket loader fills
it with limestone aggregate.
Looking down on Eskett Quarry as we pass alongside
it.
Here the navigation got a bit complicated.
The mapped footpath took several unexplained
turns and ended up on this flooded and overgrown path, necessitating
an unplanned diversion.
Obviously this footpath is for fine weather
walkers only !
Another water logged section brought us out
at the quarry buildings and the road . . . relief . . . but
no !
The path turned and followed this side of the
fence and never joined the road.
Oh ... if the company could just fine time to
cut back a bit of the overhanging branches, re-appraise the
drainage on their side
and spread a ton or so of their quarried chippings
to raise the path adjacent to the fence, it would make so much
easier.
Leaving this last couple of hundred yards behind
feels like an escape to normality once again . . . so much for
an gentle country stroll.
- - - o o o - - -
Geographically, this whole area is criss-crossed
by old tracks ways,
some of which are still obvious in their purpose,
some of which have been absorbed into the local road
network.
This was the view through the obvious railway arch
towards a property on the map called Croft House.
This whole area is known as Winder
which we approach after crossing Winder Gill,
passing the footpath to Winder Farm and adjacent
Winder Gate.
- - - o o o - - -
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The redundant phone box was full of gardening
items including a compost bin alongside.
I couldn't work out whether it was someone's
personal store or whether it was available for public use.
At Winder Brow, a signpost to which I had passed
many times on the way to St Bees.
Our route dives off to the right and re-joins
the old railway below, once again part of the Sustrans Cycleway.
South, through the bridges to Cleater Moor.
But we're heading back towards Rowrah, on the
curved section of cycleway to the right of centre on the map.
The old Station House remains, but now as a
private house.
- - - o o o - - -
The house has maintained many of the
old features
plus a few of the old signs
and the old platform edge is still
evident,
which makes it interesting.
The tarmac covered track bed heads north to join
the Cleator and Whitehaven line
the remains of which can be seen in the elevated
bridge ahead.
Above, the sky is a clear blue which emphasises the
presence
of an early full moon, now high in the sky.
- - - o o o - - -
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We're back at Rowrah, close to where the track
bed was blocked under the bridges,
so here the pathway leaves the railway and re-joins
the road above.
That brings us full circle, albeit via a tricky
route at times, back to Rowrah Hall.
A short walk back over those bridges brings
us back to the main road and the car at the end of the walk.
Technical note: Pictures taken
with my iPhone 11pro mobile phone camera.
Resized in Photoshop, and built
up on a Dreamweaver web builder.
This site best viewed with
. . . the serenity to cope with the unexpected, less easy
sections of the walk !
Go to Home Page .
. . © RmH . . . Email
me here
Previous
walk -
11th and 18th February 2024 - Mob
Raven Crag
A
previous time near here -
19th March 2022 - Longlands
and Cleator Moor
(
including pictures of the heavy industry of Cleater further
down the line )
Next
walk -
22nd February 2024 - Silloth
Foreshore Walk