Lost Lanes North – The Garden of Eden
Lost Lanes North – The Garden of Eden: This excerpt comes from Jack Thurston’s book Lost Lanes North that features some of the best bike rides from the North of England.
START/FINISH: Appleby
DISTANCE: 58 miles / 93km
TOTAL ASCENT: 1491m
TERRAIN: Lanes, one short section of A-road. Moderate/Challenging.
Between the Lakes and the Pennines lies the Eden Valley, it’s a rolling land steeped in history… and Britain’s highest road climb.
Appleby is the capital of the old county of Westmorland and makes a good base for exploring a section of the North Pennines that, lacking any roads at all, could claim to be the least-tamed expanse of England.
This ride is a freewheeling ramble but it could take on an altogether more fearsome character if you decide to accept the challenge of the optional climb up Great Dun Fell.
The route begins heading west into the north-western extension of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, though this is still very much Cumbria. Like many villages on this ride, Maulds Meaburn is arranged along the road with a stream, green and common grazing land in the middle.
The road climbs steadily from Crosby Ravensworth to cross the A6 on the way to the village of Shap, a key staging point for cyclists riding from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, as it’s just past the highest point in the whole ride. The route then follows the River Lowther all the way to Penrith.
The route passes through Askham and into the grounds of Lowther Castle. Built in the early 19th century, it had 365 rooms, one for each day of the year and was where Hugh Lowther, the fifth Earl of Lonsdale, led a lifestyle of ostentatious pleasure on an extreme scale. He loved the colour yellow and maintained a fleet of yellow-painted cars, yellow-liveried servants and musicians, a pack of yellow dogs and a hothouse full of yellow gardenias. He was the founding president of the AA, Automobile Association, which adopted his yellow livery.
His extravagance came at a cost: when he died in 1944 the estate’s finances were wrecked and the contents of the castle sold off.
From the front of the castle, the route follows the old carriage drive through riverside woodland down to Penrith and a sequence of more historic ruins. Brougham Hall has an imposing early Norman gatehouse and a Tudor-era hall. Just across the A6, and off the route, are a pair of Neolithic henge monuments – King Arthur’s Round Table and Mayburgh Henge, which must have been significant for the people who built them. Finally, the remains of Brocavum Roman fort and Brougham Castle.
From the outskirts of Penrith, the route strikes towards the dark ridge of the Pennines, crossing the River Eden and passing the splendid working watermill at Little Salkeld. The time for a big decision comes just before the village of Knock. Here is the turn for the dead-end road that winds its way to the top of Great Dun Fell
The climb earns a score of 11 out of 10 from Simon Warren, author of the 100 Climbs guidebooks. On Strava the record time to the top is 23 minutes, but most will take a full hour to get up and back. The giant golf ball at the top is an air traffic control station.
The view is as big as you’d expect at 848m above sea level. The Helm Wind, the fierce north-easterly which blows here and is the only named wind in the British Isles. The last miles of the ride passes through the lovely village of Dufton and then back to Appleby.
Lost Lanes North can be bought at www.wildthingspublishing.com if you’re after more great bike rides.
For more great biking ideas click the link below.
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