Westmorland Way

WW01: Appleby to Rutter Falls (or Force)

Saturday 10th April 2010

Spring has finally arrived after the long, cold winter, giving us the motivation to start a new long distance walk, the added attraction of this one being that the logistics should get easier as the route nears Kendal.

Despite the glorious weather, we were unable to get away early. We were further delayed by finding it was Farmers' Market day at Orton so, rather than rush by, we stopped in this lovely village to explore the stalls and lunch on venison burgers before inspecting its strange looking All Saints Church.

Orton Farmers' Market

Alrl Saints Church

It was therefore nearing three in the afternoon by the time we parked at Appleby.

What did we know about Appleby? That its castle had been the home of the remarkable Lady Ann Clifford and was now under plastic wraps. That it had a fine wide mainstreet. That it was taken over by gypsies in June. And that is about it. I had long wanted to explore and although our late start meant that we could not linger, it looked a lovely little town as we walked across the market square, in front of the fine St Lawrence's Church and across to Bongate on the eastern side of the River Eden.

St Lawrence's Church, Appleby

Crossing the River Eden

That was possibly a bit of a mistake. Our route actually lay on the western side but I thought it would be interesting to loop round on the east to cross back on the next bridge. What I didn't realise (not having the 1:25k map of the area) was that this entailed climbing up and down a sharp hill before we even left the town.

Bongate Mill

Flyfishing at Bongate Weir

After this unexpected exercise and crossing back over by a huge mill and a weir with fly fishermen, the Wway sets off south along the river Eden through pleasant parkland then fields and copses full of primroses and other wild flowers. Before long, we discovered something else about Appleby- how friendly its people are. A lady walking two dogs engaged us in conversation about how the otters have made a comeback and can be seen at dusk on the riverbank.

Reflections on the Eden

Team picture crossing a beck

The only other folk we saw on this stretch were a Geordie couple striding along with all the gear, map in its smart protective case, gps in hand but they didn't know where they were! Very friendly, though!

I don't know if Lady Ann has a footpath named after her. We didn't see any signs for it but we did spot four marker posts along our route with decorated panels, starting with one of her ladyship herself. But no explanation as to why or to where.

We soon realised that actually we were rather ill equipped. To be precise, we had forgotten to bring any water and given the unaccustomed warm day and a drinkless burger lunch, we were getting rather thirsty. Relief seemed to be at hand. The Wway goes through Great Ormside which is shown on the 1:50k map as having a public house.

Well, no doubt it once did but not no more and no village shop either. It does have some other attractions-

a farm yard with a Trabant and old machinery

an attractive tree marking the approach to the hall and church,
(time pressures prevented us exploring St James' Church)
a farm sign that would not disgrace a pub

some rather grand new houses,
a fine display of washing

and a convenient seat where we had a slurp of coffee from the small flask that we had with us, before setting off in the hope that the public house shown at the next village, Hoff, would still exist.

We set off west, partly along quiet roads. In the distance, we could see the Pennines, High Cup Nick being especially prominent and patches of snow still on Cross Fell.

Pennine View

Soon, we came to Rutter Falls (or Force, as per the map). This was quite a revelation. I expected a little trickle down a narrow gully. What we saw was more like a miniature Niagara Falls. I must stress miniature- the height is not massive, but the width of the falls was a surprise.

Rutter Falls or Force

Here we left the Wway and headed back towards Appleby through fields along Hoff Beck. The recent floods had done quite a lot of damage to the steps to the bridge across the beck but fortunately the bridge itself was still standing,

On a rock near the bridge we saw a classic still life subject. No, not a naked body or bowl of fruit but a pair of old boots. Why?

The damaged bridge steps

The abandoned boots

Not much further on was Hoff. And the New Inn. Or to be more precise, the empty building formerly known as the New Inn. Another friendly person told us that it had closed eighteen months earlier and that one day that winter it had been so cold that all three of his tractors failed to start and ditto those of the farmer.

The former New Inn

Across the fields to Appleby

Still thirsty, we had the remains of our coffee by Hoff Beck before crossing a small hill and fields to drop down into Appleby where a young lad told us his name was Bob. I am not so sure that he was actually being friendly- I think he was trying to be cheeky but hadn't yet completed the training course. After nearly getting run over, he disappeared. I could imagine him, in a few years time, being a Westmerian version of Billericay Dickie:

Ah cums from Cumbria
As 'appen tha can tell
They call me Abbalaba* Bobby
And Ah'm doing - very well!

*Abbalaba is the old name for Appleby, according to John Speed's 16th Century map

High on the hill above was more washing, silhouetted in the evening sun.

On the gates of the castle were some large plaques explaining why it had been closed to the public since 2004 and how it was all the fault of English Heritage. One suspects that there is another side to that story but whatever, it is a shame for the town that the castle is no longer open to the public and looks in a fairly sorry state.

Washing silhoulette

A rather sad Appleby Castle

On the other hand, Boroughgate, with its wide street and attractive old buildings looked lovely.

Upper Boroughgate

Lower Borough Gate

The influence of Lady Anne Clifford was there for all to see; the St Anne's Hospital (almshouses) that she founded being a good example.

St Anne's gate.....

..... and almshouses

But we were still looking for a pub to quench our thirst. We were confident of finding one on Boroughgate. But the White H rt Inn was no longer open, the clue being the missing "a"! The strangely named A Board Inn looked more promising. There was a light on, a man in the bar but the door was locked even though it was 7:05 p.m. A friendly passer by told us "He opens when he feels like it".

We passed on but all the other pubs were full of yoofs enjoying themselves so we headed back to the car park where a car stopped and yet another friendly person asked if we had had a good day.

As we drove up Boroughgate, we noticed the A Board Inn door was now open so we stopped and went in. Unlike all the other open pubs in town, it was totally empty. The music system was competing with the television, presumably to occupy the bored barmaid. And it was still empty when we finished our well earned drink and left.

Shame, as it is a potentially a lovely little pub but doesn't seem to know who is its market. On that showing it will be the next to close.

A Board Inn

It was a lovely drive home in the evening sunshine, reflecting on what a nice walk it had been and looking forward to the next stage of the Westmorland Way.

Don, 10th April 2010