Eamont walks

The little River Eamont marks the border of Cumberland to the north with Westmorland to the south. Once though, Cumberland was part of Scotland, and so the broad, shallow Eamont was the frontier of the kingdoms. It was to this river that five kings and high reeve came in 927 to recognise the unity of England and to acknowledge King Athelstan as overlord of Britain. It is a significant place then.

Today, the Eamont is little regarded. Visitors crowd in to the Lake District to the west to marvel at the forbidding fells and silvern lakes, or to the rugged Pennines to the east. Between the two is Edendale, the gap in the fells providing the road north, and it is very pretty indeed. The Eamont emerges from Ullswater and heads east to the Eden, linking the fells with the green dale, as it divides the counties and once divided the kingdoms.

In the midst of the river is a mediaeval bridge, Eamont Bridge, and the little village of the same name, on the Westmorland bank. Opposite is Penrith, a sizeable town crowned with a castle and with a pretty high street. All around the countryside is green meadowland, if slashed across by roads in places, and with historic, and pre-historic sights to be found: grand, Neolithic earthworks by Eamont Bridge; Dacre, with its ancient church guarded by enigmatic bears; Lowther Castle; Brougham Hall; Brougham Castle guarding a Roman bridging site and in front of a Roman fort.

Several walks can be enjoyed around the Eamont, visiting the sights or just enjoying the dale and Ullswater.

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