Stenkrith Park, Cumbria, Winter
By the gods, there has been a lot of rain.
By the gods, there has been a lot of rain.
It’s made getting out for some winter hiking difficult, if not impossible. In decades past, the Lake District was more known for a lurking misty drizzle that saturated everything. With climate change ever more present, these days rain in Cumbria crashes down in sheets of massive downpours, overwhelming infrastructure and rivers alike.
Finally, after careful cross-examination of various weather services, there appeared to be a gap in all the rain. We quickly made our way to an area not only familiar to us but that also had the best chance of some clear skies: Stenkrith Park in Kirkby Stephen.
It felt good to be out.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 zoom and Laowa 9mm ultra-wide prime lenses. Shot using the camera’s Pro Negative Standard film emulation. RAWs developed in Capture One for iPad, and finalised in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Stenkirth Park, Cumbria, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The crown of Stenkrith Park, known as the Devil’s Grinding Mill. Here the River Eden takes a sharp bend and has carved a deep and narrow gorge, dropping in several stages below the Millennium Bridge. It’s a spectacular sight, but I’ve never seen this much water flowing through. It was roaring.
We followed the Northern Viaduct trail towards the village of Hartley, the trees now bare. Winter afternoon light showed the way forward.
From atop Podgill Viaduct there are excellent views all the way to the Northern Pennines. Their summits never escaped the clouds.
Looking the other way from Podgill Viaduct. The bare trees allow the shape of the meandering beck to be more visible, making a stronger leading line towards the hills.
Kirkby Stephen’s always a pleasure to visit. We stopped for lunch and a potter around some of the charity shops, before relocating the River Eden for the return stretch of the walk.
Quintessential British quirkiness or a scene of horror? You decide!
Did you enjoy these photos?
Stenkrith Park, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, Spring
Woohoo, Spring Bank Holiday weekend!
Woohoo, Spring Bank Holiday weekend!
On the first day of our 3-day weekend, we ventured northeast towards the bonny Cumbrian town of Kirkby Stephen. Aware of the rush of people heading into the Lake District, we’ve decided to largely stay out of Cumbria for this Bank Holiday. Near Kirkby Stephen is Stenkrith Park, which I’ve written about before. Here one can enjoy the incredible sights of the River Eden and the limestone gorge it’s created, then follow the Viaduct Trail for more glorious views and scenes.
Fortuitously, the weather’s decided to perk up just as the Bank Holiday arrived. Although hazy, the sun was warm and conditions were uplifting. Summer is finally coming.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses: a Samyang 35mm f/1.2, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0 lens. Image made 80% in-camera using a customised Classic Chrome film simulation, the minor edits afterward in Lightroom and Affinity Photo.
The “Devil’s Grinding Mill” viewed from the Millenium Bridge. This is where the River Eden has carved out a gorge deep into a collapsed cave system. With the viaduct serving as a frame, it makes a wonderful scene.
Lovely to see families out enjoying the trail, too.
Around here, it’s easy to tell that this trail was once a railway line.
A lovely cluster of dock leaves, or Rumex obtusifolius. You can often find these growing near stinging nettles. Folklore states that if you’re stung by stinging nettles, rubbing the affected area with some dock leaves soothes the pain. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence this actually works.
Looking straight down at Pod Gill from high up Podgill Viaduct. A seriously gorgeous day.
Nowt like wandering amongst the fruiting vegetation and breathing in the summery fragrances.
A couple of Swaledale ewes and their lambs nibbling away at the hedges. In the far distance to the right is the unmistakeable peak of Wild Boar Fell.
The way back into Kirkby Stephen, over Frank’s Bridge, a 17th-century Grade II listed stone foot bridge.
Kirkby Stephen is an old town, with records dating back at least to the Domesday Book of 1086, where the town was recorded as “Cherkaby Stephen”. This door belongs to Mitre House, dating back to 1663.
I took a shot of this statue mostly for my own reference. She’s located in the town centre and there’s no plaque or stone indicating who she is. Turns out it’s Lady Anne Clifford, unveiled in September 2020. Lady Anne improved and expanded lots of her family’s properties around Westmorland, as well as restoring churches in the area.
Pubs, cafes, and restaurants are all quickly filling up once again. It very much seems that life is starting to return to “normal”, whatever that is.
Did you know there’s a Clock Museum in Kirkby Stephen? I didn’t.
Making our way back to Stenkrith Park, the trail runs alongside the River Eden, which we had fun exploring. There’s loads of beautifully carved limestone and rushing cascades to photograph. This child was not happy that we were standing on “his” rock.
A lovely series of cascades.
One of the ledges in the river features this hollowed out hole with the river running underneath it.
Trying to get as close to some of the bigger cascades as I could.
Plenty of flowering wild garlic in the woods of Stenkrith Park, too.
On this day, this was close as we could get to the Devil’s Grinding Mill, the main drop of the River Eden. Nevertheless, it was lovely to shoot the soft light and textures in the gorge.
All the wild garlic, plus an inscribed poem for your viewing pleasure.
Bonus: the Lune Gorge near Tebay
For an added extra, we stopped off near Tebay on our way home to clamber down into the Lune Gorge for some more photos. Plenty of water in the Lune meant incredible sights and sounds.
My lovely Lisabet doing what she does best: getting close to the action.
My turn for a view underneath the bridge.
The powerful cascades of the Lune Gorge.
The view of the Lune Gorge downstream.
The Lune Gorge from high up the river’s banks.
Stenkrith Park, Cumbria, Autumn
The River Eden has carved out some wonderful geology.
The River Eden has carved out some wonderful geology.
If you’re a frequent visitor of my website (hello!) you’ll have read me writing about the River Eden’s geology specifically around Mallerstang and Wetheral.
The River Eden begins life high up in the Mallerstang valley—now part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park—where it has carved an impressive gorge known as Hell Gill, before dropping 25 ft as a waterfall called Hellgill Force. The river turns north, carving its way out of Mallerstang into the wider Vale of Eden.
Just before the river reaches the small Cumbrian town of Kirkby Stephen, it drops through a partially collapsed cave system in Stenkrith Park called “The Devil’s Grinding Mill” (also known as “The Devil’s Mustard Mill” and “Coop Kernan Hole”). The scenery here is absolutely fascinating.
We took the opportunity for a more gentle walk, starting at Stenkrith Park and following the Northern Viaduct trail to take in the sights of both Pod Gill Viaduct and Merrygill Viaduct. We then circled back into Kirkby Stephen before rejoining the River Eden for some more river photography of the incredible limestone formations.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 lens using a customised Classic Chrome film profile.
This is “The Devil’s Grinding Mill”, where the River Eden drops into a collapsed cave system. The Millennium Bridge crosses above the gorge for fantastic views.
From the bridge we followed the North Viaduct trail east. The trail follows the old South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway, which was setup in the 1850s to transport coke (the fuel kind) to Barrow-in-Furness’ iron furnaces. The railway was dismantled in the 1970s.
We saw plenty of people walking the Northern Viaduct trail, especially with their dogs.
If you’re in Cumbria, there will be sheep. I managed to surprise this Swaledale.
Just south of Coop Kernan Hole the River Eden begins widening out again through a series of beautifully sculpted limestone formations.
There was some lovely light filtering through.
Autumn’s quickly on its way.
The red colouration in the water is due to the river carrying peat from the fells above Mallerstang.
My lovely Lisabet found a sizeable hole in the one of the rocks, and I couldn’t resist a photo!
Lisabet hopping rocks to get a closer shot of some of the falls.
This is the bottom of Coop Kernan’s Hole, only really accessible when there’s no much water in the river.
A little bit of sun managed to break through the canopy, picking out some of the features of this fascinating gorge and its structures.
Viaduct Country
The River Eden starts its life up on Black Fell Moss in the Mallerstang valley.
By the time it’s made its way out of Mallerstang into the Vale of Eden, it starts cutting through the brockram rock (a type of mix of limestone and sandstone). South of Kirkby Stephen, at Stenkrith Park, the Eden drops dramatically into a gorge called Coopkarnel, otherwise known as the Devil’s Grinding Mill. It’s a spectacular sight from the Millennium Bridge, and the roaring sound makes your tummy flip in awe of the forces involved.
Lisabet and I were delighted to find this place still fairly resplendent in autumn colours.
Camera: Fujifilm X-T2
Lens: Samyang 12mm ƒ/2.0 NCS CS
ISO: 100
Aperture: ƒ/22.0
Shutter speed: 3secs
Software: Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, Nik Collection