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 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.
The Eamont Way is a walk along and around the River Eamont, from Penrith Castle in Cumberland, to Pooley Bridge, where the river emerges, and where visitors may enjoy Ullswater.
The route: map
Maps
- Lake District – Pathfinder walks guidebook: Ordnance Survey
- Explorer maps (1:25 000): Lake District Map Set, including:
- OS Explorer OL04: The English Lakes: North-Western Area (incl Skiddaw and Keswick)
- OS Explorer OL05: The English Lakes: North-Eastern Area (incl Helvellyn and Ullswater)
- OS Explorer OL06: The English Lakes: South-Western Area (incl Scafell and Coniston)
- OS Explorer OL07: The English Lakes: South-Eastern Area (incl Windermere)
- Landranger maps (1:50 000):
- OS Landranger 90: Penrith and Keswick
- OS Landranger 89: Appleby-in-Westmorland
Books
- Lake District – Pathfinder walks guidebook: Ordnance Survey
- Athelstan : The Making of England by Tom Holland
- In Search of the Dark Ages: a history of Anglo-Saxon England by Michael Wood