Tracks by the Eden

I did two short and easy walks with my wife last weekend in the Upper Eden Valley near Kirkby Stephen. The second one, which I'm planning to blog about in the near future, was along the track bed of the dismantled Stainmore Line at Smardale. There is now a National Nature Reserve where the Smardale Viaduct of the Settle-Carlisle railway crosses Scandal Beck, an Eden tributary.

The earlier walk was on the same old railway track but a little to the east between Stenkrith and Hartley, starting by the spectacular Stenkrith falls under the Millennium Bridge.

Both of these walks are very easy, being on the level. I've blogged about the Stenkrith walk on my main Around-England.co.uk blog. The Eden Valley is a special place for walking. There are so many options, from easy walks like these to more strenuous routes such as those up Mallerstang and along to Nine Standards Rigg, or on the opposite side of the upper valley up to the cairns on Wild Boar Fell. One of my aspirations is to follow the course of the River Eden and to photograph all bridges and its feeder becks from Hellgill Force to Temple Sowerby, and maybe later to the coast.