Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in the Pennines. 50 classic hillwalking routes онлайн

61 страница из 71

Turn left, up the lane, and then keep on past Swinholme Farm, beyond which the route descends to cross the River Greta by a footbridge. On the other side, cross a meadow to a gate, and just after this join a lane to go past Lady Myres Farm. The route then continues as a rough track, and runs around West Charity Farm to a footbridge spanning Sleightholme Beck. A good path now leads round towards East Mellwaters, which conceals a considerable history of farming in the area, probably going back as much as 5500 years, but today offers specialist accommodation and holidays for less-abled people, for whom a network of trails has been constructed. Follow one such as it runs from a lane near a single-arch bridge and follows the River Greta all the way to the limestone feature known as God’s Bridge.

Bowes Castle

God’s Bridge, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is a natural limestone bridge formed by a process of cave development in the limestone beneath the river bed. It is the best example in Britain of a natural bridge formed in this way. The SSSI covers a portion of the river above and below the bridge where shallow cave development by water erosion is still taking place.