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Kirkby Lonsdale to Whittington.

Start. Kirkby Lonsdale.

Route. Kirkby Lonsdale (St Mary's Church car park) - Swine Market - Horse Market - Ruskin Drive - Bridge Brow - Devil's Bridge - Jubilee Park - A65 - B6254 - Wood End - Sellet Mill - Sellet Hall - Hosticle Lane - Whittington - St Michael's Church - River Lune - Stanley Bridge - Jubilee Park - Ruskin Drive - Jingling Lane - Charter Market - Main Street - St Mary's Church.

Notes. Welcome to the small relatively unspoiled market town of Kirkby Lonsdale, nestled in the Lune Valley on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, the start of a ramble through the lanes and pastures above the village, but first we took a wander through the back streets and narrow ways of the town, the parts most tourists never see. Then we have Whittington a quiet back water, an ancient village dominated by the Church of St Michael, it is thought the church has been on this site since 1200, largely restored in 1875, but what makes it special it stands in the bailey of a former motte and bailey castle.

Our morning started wandering through the immaculately kept cemetery of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, it’s a stunning Norman construction built between 1093 and 1130. We exited the grounds into the cobbled square of Swine Market dominated by a 1300 century market cross, here in the past pigs and coal were marketed. We exited Swine Market into Horse Market, one would presume in the past horses were traded in this street, from Horse Market we descended Ruskin Drive which soon turned into a wide foot-path before depositing us at Devil’s Bridge, a slender three arched bridge spanning the River Lune, thought to have been built around the 14th century, although folk law tells us otherwise.

We’ll not go into why the Devil built such a lovely bridge, we had ground to cover if we were going to get back to town for lunch. Across Jubilee Park we wandered, crossed the busy main road then climbed through a small field, a narrow way ushered us between housing onto a not so busy B road, directly opposite a stile with finger-post promising passage to Wood End, this we followed. Through cow pastures we ascended, woodland to our left stunning views over the Lune Valley behind us, the path terminated at white washed Wood End Cottage, we turned left into an secluded walled holloway, this although overgrown was a stunning path, mainly because lanes like this don’t exist in these parts, they have an air, a smell unique to sunken tracks, this had a stream running down it, it ejected us at Sellet Mill.

In the yard at the mill an obvious foot-path climbed the field, we climbed with it along the edge of farm buildings followed by hedgerows, half way up the field a gate allowed access to a small paddock, we passed through this, crossed the Paddock exiting at the next gate. The field boundary then guided us west under the slopes of Sellet Bank, we passed to the right of Sellet Hall before emerging onto a narrow tarmac lane, we turned left. With the tarmac of Hosticle Lane under foot we wandered on to Whittington, visited St Michael’s Church before descending to the main road.

Keeping an eye open for oncoming traffic we wandered passed a row of houses, to our right a foot-path emerged from sheep pastures, this we followed through the next two fields to join a stoney track cutting through crop fields. With the track to guide us we wandered on to access a narrow lane which in turn deposited us on the banks of the River Lune. Riverside rambling from now on, a good path guided us through sheep and cow pastures, passed a pipe bridge carrying the Haweswater aqueduct, it wasn’t long before Stanley Bridge, the main road bridge carrying the A65 across the River Lune tilted into view, a hundred yards further up stream was the romantic named Devil’s Bridge, from the bridge built by the Devil all we had to do was pick our way back through the narrow ways of Kirkby Lonsdale.

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home.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, this stunning building dominates the market town of Kirkby Lonsdale.

Looking to the ornate gates guarding narrow Church Street, our exit is to the left through some not so ornate gates into Swine Market.

The medieval market cross circa 1250 is located on the cobbled square of Swine Market, the cross originally stood at the junction of Main Street, Market Street and Mill Brow, it was moved here in 1822.

On the corner of Horse Market.

The elegant arches of Devil's Bridge, I know you want to here the story, so here goes. An old woman who was separated from her cow by the river made a pact with the Devil, he would build a bridge, in return for the soul of the first living thing to cross it, the woman tricked her dog into running across, the Devil had to be satisfied with the soul of an animal.