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BB2312
: A River Restored
Wednesday
19th April 2023
It
was supposed to be my birthday outing but
as others variously excused themselves,
claiming visits to Spain, Scotland, Wales,
the Isle of Man and various exotic places,
I was left as Billy One Mate. Only
Tony was left as a true friend.
I
can’t recall the last time I visited Swindale.
Uncle Google thinks it was in 2006
but I know that I have been more recently.
I remember some of the machinery that
United Utilities had installed in the beck
to aid water supply to Haweswater.
However,
I read recently of dramatic and environmentally
sympathetic changes that have taken place
subsequently. Time to discover more.
As
usual, we ignored the No Entry signs and
followed the Engineers Road from Shap.
The
old Filter House is in advanced state of
restoration as a smart dwelling- further
proof of a fairly recent visit as
I seem to remember the work having started
though it was certainly pre Covid.
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There
was a surprising number of cars arriving
to park at the last permissible place before
the road tightens. They didn’t look
like walkers. In their designer outdoor
clothing they were too young and too well
dressed for mid-week hill top adventures.
Tony
and I, in our old scruffs, took the track
that leads north-west under Bewbarrow Crag
and then over the moor from which we could
see Burnbanks, the Haweswater worker's
village
On
reaching the watershed wall we turned southwest,
eventually reaching what is marked on the
map as “Reservoir”. It looked in much
worse condition than when Bryan and Mike
were there on their circuit of the Naddle
Valley in 2016 (BB1638).
We
turned to climb Powley’s Hill. There
were three young (by our standards) people
who were marking out stretches of ground
with a long tape, then banging in marker
posts.
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We
asked them “Why?” They explained it
was a joint project between United Utilities
and the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds, laying bug traps to research the
small creatures to be found on the fell.
We
followed the little marker posts up the
hill. It was very hard going- the ground
was mostly tufty heather so you had to lift
your foot about eighteen inches to gain
six of real height. It has to be said
that, so far, the views had not been great.
I thought we might have glimpsed Haweswater
but not so, it was shielded by Naddle Forest.
Tony was able to proudly point out
Kidsty Pike.
Once
we reached Hare Shaw things were rather
different. We could now see down into
Swindale and across to Forces Falls where
it climbs up impressively to the hanging
valley of Mosedale. Yes, I know in
terms of water flow that’s the wrong way
round but it is how the eye travelled.
Once
down in the Swindale Valley, it was clear
what had happened. The old line of
the beck had been replaced by a much more
natural meandering stream, correcting the
work that had taken place generations ago
to create additional farmland. The
restored shape would hold back the river,
encourage flora and fauna and create a flood
plain.
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I
hadn’t been looking forward to the long
road slog back to the car so was delighted
to discover that a new footpath has kindly
been created through the fields, more or
less along where the beck used to flow.
Something
strange struck us. We hadn’t seen
a single farm animal all day. Normally
we would have expected to see sheep. Herdwicks
on the hills and other varieties on the
lower reaches. Not a single one. The
only explanation we could think of was that
this was the consequence of the new way
of rewarding farmers. Perhaps environmental
projects such as we were witnessing are
more lucrative than sheepfarming in this
sort of terrain and certainly far less arduous.
A rewriting of The Silence of the
Lambs?
We
encountered some of the folk we had seen
earlier. One had the most expensive
set of camera equipment I have ever seen
anyone carrying in all our BOOTboy
years. He
stopped to photograph the union of the remains
of the old beck with the flow of the new
one. We tried to engage him in conversation
but he claimed to be in a dash to get back
somewhere. Maybe he was on a TV assignment
and had to return to show his results on
the 6 o’clock Border Television news?
Back
at the car, rather than head home, we decided
to go on tour. Tony was keen to see
the old church at Clifton and I was keen
to ensure we had enough petrol to reach
Kendal. First we stopped at Bampton
Grange to explore its church with its somewhat
macabre wall plan of who is buried where
and its fine stained glass windows.
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Then
on to Clifton where the church was locked.
Come back on Saturday or Sunday. Tony
found the memorial stone dedicated to the
memory of the Troopers of "Blands Regiment"
who were killed in the Battle of Clifton
Moor, 1745.
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The
nearest Petrol Station was at Penrith where
something strange was going on. Two youths
in a car seemed to have attracted the attention
of a policeman who was spending a lot of
time on his phone. We never discovered
why.
Tony
gave me the choice of birthday treats. An
ice cream from a farm or a pint in Shap.
As he couldn’t remember where the
former was but had no problem about the
latter, which do you think won?
Don,
Wednesday 19th April 2023
Comitibus:
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Don,
Tony
Swindale Beck: a River Restored
To
find out more about the changes made to
Swindale Beck and the reasons why, visit
RSPB's Swindale
Beck : a river restored.
The video is especially worth watching.
You can do this from the webpage link
above or by clicking on the picture below.
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