Читать книгу The Lune Valley and Howgills. 40 scenic fell, river and woodland walks онлайн

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Built in the 18th century, Smardale Bridge straddles Scandal Beck (Walk 2)

However, the consideration of height adds yet another factor to the debate. Without doubt, at 723m Ingleborough is the river’s most lofty source, although any rain falling on the summit is immediately sucked into the labyrinth of fissures, pots and caves beneath the mountain and only reappears much lower down its flanks. The beginning of the highest continuous stream is a shallow tarn at around 665m on the summit of Baugh Fell, from which flows the River Rawthey. Perhaps the only way to be certain of having dipped your toe in the river’s source is to visit all five locations.

Whatever its beginnings, the River Lune has a catchment extending over 430 square miles (1114km2), but it is peculiarly one-sided in that, for much of its length, the western watershed is less than two miles from the river, so all major input is from the east. The only significant streams that contradict this lopsidedness are Birk Beck and Borrowdale, which fall from the Shap Fells on the fringe of the Lake District National Park, and Chapel Beck and Raise Beck, springs seeping from the limestone of Great Asby Scar, which overlooks the budding river from the north. The Lune’s infant tendrils almost completely encircle the Howgill massif, with only a couple of streams that feed Scandal Beck escaping capture to flow northwards into the River Eden. Further south the Lune’s tributaries penetrate deep into the western dales of North Yorkshire, stealing all the rills and rivulets from Baugh Fell, Whernside and the majority of those from Ingleborough too. Even in its final stages, the Lune maintains its intimacy with the high hills, for the northern slopes of the Bowland fells also come within its grasp.