The North Pennines: Landscape and Legend
East Fellside and Eden Valley
The old market town of Appleby-in Westmorland opens this next chapter, a place indelibly associated with the sturdy 17thC personality of Lady Anne Clifford. The main emphasis of this section, however, is with the landscapes and villages on the western slopes of the Pennines, at the fringes of the beautiful Eden valley. This setting, which forms the transition betweeen valley floor and high fell, provides the distinctive scenery of the East Fellside with its series of lovely villages such as Dufton, Milburn and Melmerby. The mellow sandstone buildings and spacious village greens are overlooked by the conical profiles of the Pikes.
Deep narrow valleys penetrate into the hills above the Eden, providing the unforgetable scenery of High Cup Nick and the secretive recesses of Scordale. The high tops culminate in the lofty summit of Cross Fell, which on a clear day provides a sumptuous panorama, but is more frequently in a belligerent and surly mood. These upper slopes provide the source for the infamous Helm Wind, a capricious feature that is the scourge of the East Fellside, shreiking down from the high tops to cause havok in the villages and fields below.
North of the A686 road, which carries traffic up to the celebrated viewpoint of Hartside Cross, are further attractive Eden villages. Amongst these are Kirkoswald, Renwick and Croglin, the latter having a church with a rather macabre vampire legend. Here also is Long Meg and her Daughters, one of the largest stone circles in the country, and believed to be built as an ancient calender. The nearby River Eden is particularly delightful in these northern reaches, and spectacularly so where it rushes through the gorges at Lazonby and Armathwaite. Back in the 19thC, local character William Mounsey had a deep affinity with the river and as a consequence, produced many interesting features along its course.