Crossings River and Forest Walk

This is a 12 mile walk designed by Liam that we went on from the Crossings Inn located near to Roweltown in Cumbria.

Difficulty: 2/5 (not technically difficult, low amounts of ascent)

Adventure: 3/5 (some adventure needed here, a couple of small streams need walking through, there are overgrown areas as a few small sections aren’t frequently walked, with the need also to be mindful of cows in fields)

Beauty: 4/5 (this is a beautiful walk, with sections of forest, rivers and farmland so plenty of variety)

History: 1/5 (there’s relatively little obvious here, an abandoned property and some old bridges)

Facilities: 1/5 (this is a remote walk, there are no shops or pubs on the route other than the starting and finishing point of the Crossings Inn)

This is just a summary of how we got on, a GPX file and route description of the walk is available by emailing me at jw@julianwhite.uk.

Walking by one of the Outdoor Inns cabins at the rear of the Crossings.

I like a bit of foliage to walk through, it adds some jeopardy to the whole arrangement. Although it also concerns me that there might be adders hiding amongst the grass, but apparently they’re likely to scuttle off when they hear adventurers plodding through the landscape. Liam reassured me that adders don’t tend to sit in the wet grass waiting to eat walkers, but he’s not a trained herpetologists and so I ignored him.

There’s a mixture of delight of seeing a wooden bridge which avoids a trek across a ditch, whilst also thinking it’s all a bit easy. Ditch jumping does add so much to an adventure.

A slippery path, how lovely. I’m pleased to report that I remained standing.

An 1853 parish marker. And also my walking shoe which I forgot to exclude from the photograph.

Liam had located us a well worn path…… But we could have walked along Hadrian’s Wall if we wanted lots of people and clear paths. The element of the rural here was undeniable, it was peaceful and calm.

We went very slightly wrong here, but the helpful farmer soon let us know when we were about three metres off course. He opened a gate to a public footpath that I’m not entirely sure should have been closed off, but he also ensured that his dog was behind closed doors which was also a relief. I would have made a poor postman in the countryside as I’m not entirely confident that I can trust dogs, but I’m pleased to note that there were no issues and the farmer and his wife seemed pleased to see a walker. I’m not sure how many they get here.

We walked down to see the River Lyne and I had a little paddle about.

Liam sensibly decided to keep his shoes and socks on.

One more look at the Lyne and we decided to continue on with the walk.

An abandoned building which looked rather more residential than agricultural.

This area was heavily attacked by the border reivers, but this structure seems to be from a later period, perhaps a family that was part of the migration to the United States.

A stream to cross without a bridge, which I did with gusto. Liam and Ross decided to walk across a drier route further along.

There then followed a forested area which seemed to be in near complete silence. As someone who lives in a city, the sound of complete silence is hardly commonplace.

Liam on a collapsed tree. It had collapsed before he got on it I’d better add.

The overgrown foliage meant that we nearly missed the stream that was merrily flowing away under our feet, but fortunately there were no disasters. Not for the first time on this walk, I did wonder just how many people actually walked along this route.

The sheep came to play. I called these sheep Keir, Rose and Mia.

Very sweet.

This was the point where we were meant to go straight ahead and into the next field. Liam, who is oblivious to fear which is quite annoying, and Ross, who didn’t realise what he was letting himself in for, went ahead and promptly were in the middle of a herd of charging cows and a flock of demented sheep. I walked along the road, past a farm that sounded like it was breeding dogs for a Hound of the Baskervilles remake and met up with them a few fields further along.

Matters became more sedate after that, with this field of calm sheep and lambs in.

Over what is marked as Chainfoot Suspension Bridge on the map, which excited Liam as he’s currently building a bridge.

I had no chance of avoiding this field full of marauding cows without walking an extra two miles, so I sent Liam ahead to scare the cows.

Liam didn’t scare the cows, he just walked straight by them. Fortunately, they didn’t prove to be a problem, but it’s always sensible to take care about this animals as they’re large and somewhat unpredictable. For walkers with dogs, they might have to be extra careful, I just always make sure that there’s an escape route as cows can be quite clumsy when they’re charging about.