The village of Orton’s original name was Sker-Overton, changed to Orton in the local dialect. I found this out when I was researching my novel Villain – the third in the series which brings some reality back to the legend of Robin Hood. My book starts on the wild moorlands above Orton, before my villains returnContinue reading “A Stroll in the Westmorland Dales”
Tag Archives: #KirkbyStephen
Walking the old railway at Kirkby Stephen
One of the loveliest short walks from Kirkby Stephen is along what was once a stretch of the line of the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway, devised in the 1850s to take coke over Stainmore from the North-East coalfields to the iron furnaces of Furness. The railway line closed around fifty years ago, andContinue reading “Walking the old railway at Kirkby Stephen”
Walking into Prehistory
A Neolithic stone circle, a Bronze Age burial cairn used again in the Dark Ages, and a Romano-British defensive settlement – centuries of history in a walk of several miles from the village of Orton in the Westmorland Dales. Confusingly, the Westmorland Dales are part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, though not actually inContinue reading “Walking into Prehistory”
A Land of Peaceful Footpaths
I never walk a public footpath without wondering why it’s there? We’re fortunate to have so many of these fascinating tracks to explore, many of them deep-rooted in our social history. We’ve walked several times from Crosby Ravensworth in the Westmorland Dales (although now in Cumbria, the Dales are part of the Yorkshire Dales NationalContinue reading “A Land of Peaceful Footpaths”
The Hoff Beck Walk
I was pleased to see that the Eden Rivers Trust has created a formal walk – the Hoff Beck Walk – along the lovely little river of that name close to Appleby in Westmorland. The new trail follows the Hoff Beck from Colby to the picturesque Rutter Falls, passing through peaceful and uncrowded countryside. I’veContinue reading “The Hoff Beck Walk”
Walking the Old Ways 