After spending a few hours investigating Appleby we have moved further down the A66 and, taking a right turn off the bypass, have arrived at Kirkby Stephen.
Being an ancient town it features many historical stories and old curiosities as well as all of the modern considerations of life.
We parked the car in a free car park next to the auction market and walked into the town square, through a narrow alleyway.
Exiting onto the main road crossedthe main road and into the main town square area.
It looks as if this area has recently been redeveloped as it all looks clean and very tidy. To our left is a church, in front a newsagents and just behind it the public toilets.
A sign on the wall indicated Frank’s Bridge, and bridges usually go over water and that means paddling. We pulled mum and dad along as we searched for the fun.
Down some steps and between some houses we came upon the bridge.
It is a narrow bridge with a low green bank on the other side.
We crossed and swinging back on ourselves, scuttled into the cooling water of the River Eden.
It became clear quite quickly that this water was quite cool so after filling ourselves up with water we escaped into the warmish winter sun and the rest of our explorations.
We had a choice here, to follow the path ahead or to turn right and along a tarmac path.
Given that we were soggy, we needed to stay out of the mud, so we opted for the path, following the river upstream.
The path led through a metal kissing gate and up the side of quite a steep field.
A number of seats were positioned to the left of the path so you could take in the ever changing view.
The highest of these is dedicated to Ted Rushton and this is the view from it back towards the town.
Through a big gate at the top of this field and we exit into the village of Hartley.
Things got a little confusing here but we thought we should keep going up. Just incase we were missing out on a good view. So we turned right and came across a very old bridge
It looked as if this solid stone plinth of a bridge had been here for hundreds of years. The rusty railings did nothing to encourage you to use them for support.
After crossing we pondered for a moment to get our bearings and to think about the history of the bridge. How many people over the years had crossed it and what stories it maybe able to tell.
Continuing our theme of going right, we spotted a white sign between two cars that indicated footpath.
Leading alongside the stream and past a dry stone wall, bulging under the pressure from tree roots and the moving earth, we exited onto a tarmac chipped road.
Left took us down hill but to our right was open sky, maybe the view we were looking for, so up the steep hill we walked. Mum said her calfs were hurting, she should try having four paws…
We were not to be disappointed and the climb was well worth it as we came upon a view above the town and to the fells beyond.
Hartley Quarry, now owned by Cemex, was ahead and a wooden noticeboard with the grand carved banner of the Northern Viaduct Trust was to our right.
Here started the next part of our adventure. You can read about it soon.
