Nine Standards

The North Pennines: Landscape and Legend

Stainmore and Upper Eden

This chapter covers a small but quite distinctive area in the south-west corner of the North Pennines. The ancient pass of Stainmore (now traversed by the A66 road) has long been a very important crossing of the Pennines, encouraging the Romans to build a road from Bowes to Brough. Over time it became a significant packhorse, stagecoach and railway route, with a lingering reputation for snow, wind and fog. In olden times, Moorland Guides were available to escort travellers on the hazardous passage.

Hartley

Away from the busy highway, one can find a very tranquil district with much of interest. A series of rather attractive stream valleys, each with beautiful woodlands, cut through the uplands on the way down to the Eden valley. To the south is Kirkby Stephen, a town with its own rich history and overlooked by the enigmatic 'stone-men' of the Nine Standards, prominent features high on the fell above. Brough also acts as a useful base from which to explore the district, with the limestone landscapes and sheltered valleys nearby providing a series of unexpected surprises for those that take the time to stop and explore.

Meanwhile, amongst the high uplands south of Stainmore Commmon at another historic 'meeting of the ways' are the isolated buildings of Tan Hill Inn. The scene here is archetypal Pennine - broad sweeping landscapes contrasting with the inherant homeliness of the Inn itself, for long a refuge of travellers across the moor, and once the location for an unlikely local industry.