Lacey’s
Caves and other interesting 'adit's' in the Eden Valley.
A lovely afternoon walk
starting at the car park by Eden Bridge, Lazonby. (Free parking by the way.) It’s
a circular ten mile route mostly flat. If you can make it on a Wednesday, a
mobile chippy is on the car park from 5.00 till 7.00, and there’s a picnic
table overlooking the river.
The path
passes the remains of Kirkoswald Castle, destroyed by Robert the Bruce in 1314,
which makes an interesting little detour. There are still signs of the old moat
and it’s easy to get right up to the castle ruins for a good look around. St
Michael’s church, dating back to the 13th century is also worth a
look inside. The door is open and it’s very well maintained, with an
information board just inside the entrance detailing the church’s history and a
display of some 12th century stone artifacts rescued from the ruins
of an earlier church in Addingham.
Long Meg’s
stone circle is the next attraction on the walk worth inspection. We kind of
counted 70 stones! The road/track to the farm cuts right through it. It is said
to be the third biggest stone circle in Britain. Described as a druids circle,
it’s actually much older, dating back to Neolithic era. (4000-6000 years ago)
Distinctive cup and ring markings can be seen on the largest sandstone (Long
Meg) At the village of Little Salkeld there’s a working water mill
where refreshments can be bought
(I can’t vouch
for them as we didn’t call
in.) The track follows the railway for a while then the river, with views of
the railway viaduct and first sightings of Lacey’s Caves up ahead.
Lacey’s Caves are a folly,
carved out of the sandstone by Samuel Lacey in the 18th century,
when romantic follies were all the rage on country estates. There has been some
erosion and you will find the path around them (riverside) a bit narrow in
places with a rather long drop off into the river below. Not for the
faint-hearted, (piece of cake for cavers) but there is an
alternative path over the top if you are with less adventurous friends. You can
explore the caves and take some nice shots of the river from inside, framed by
the cave entrances.
After the caves, the walk
climbs above Kirk Bank, dropping onto the road at Daleraven Bridge before
picking up the riverside footpath back to Eden Bridge, and a chippy tea, if you
time it right!
Susan Osborne.
