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

38 страница из 44

Cross the field, through which runs a second stream, to a track at the far side and follow it right beneath a disused railway bridge to a junction at the entrance to Brownber Hall. Turn right again, the way signed to Smardale. Winding past a barn, meet the course of the Stainmore Railway, which ran across the Pennines between Tebay and Darlington. Join the former railway through a gate on the left, shortly passing the ruin of Sandy Bank signal box, which marked the summit separating Lunesdale and Smardale. The line runs on into a cutting, the banks resplendent in spring with wood anemone, celandine, coltsfoot, primrose, cowslip and violet. After passing beneath a bridge, its parapet still blackened by soot, the track winds past an abandoned limestone quarry and kilns before curving across an impressive viaduct straddling the gorge.

The Smardale Gill Viaduct is an impressive example of Victorian engineering

SMARDALE QUARRY AND SMARDALE GILL VIADUCT

The quarry opened shortly after the Stainmore Railway in 1861, providing stone for the massive lime kilns that were built beside the track. The unprecedented industrial expansion and urbanisation of the 19th century created a huge demand for burnt lime, since it was used not only for fertiliser but also for mortar and cement and in the production of glass and the smelting of iron. The lime here was destined for the steelworks at Barrow and Darlington, but the quality proved inferior, and the quarry was abandoned before the end of the 19th century.