Around Ravenglass (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Around Ravenglass

9:40am Friday 7th October 2011

• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

I first visited Ravenglass on my eleventh birthday in 1947. I became fascinated by the village which had been so important to the Romans and also by the riches of the natural history on the shoreline and around the rivers Mite, Irk and especially the Esk.

Ravenglass is still a joy for the railway enthusiast as the mainline station is home to the narrow gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, better known as Ratty. Near to the Ratty Arms Pub (telephone 01229-717676) is a museum. This tells the history of Ratty. The line began because a narrow gauge was needed from the shore quarries to the main line. It is now a wonderful tourist attraction and is a well organised and fascinating place.

There are good walks from the station but one of my favourites strolls is from the village and is a lesson in Roman history.

How to get there: From the A595 follow the signs for Ravenglass where there are two large car parks. There is a pay and display car park at the railway and a free car park in the village itself.

Map: OS Explorer OL6

Grid reference: 085 963

Length: 3.5 miles

This walk is ideal in the autumn and a perfect family stroll.

Route 1 From the free car park at the far exit which can be seen on the right. Look out for a signpost pointing to the old Roman bath house. The name of this can be confusing because it is often called Walls Castle. It is not a castle but a bath house, but the ruin is so substantial that you can see why it resembles a castle. The Romans did have a large camp and a substantial harbour built about AD130. Cross over railway bridge and descend a path to meet a road. Turn right and follow the signs to the bath house.

2 The area around the bath house should not be rushed. There are humps and bumps all around the area indicating just how huge the Roman fort once was. A school party was busy making notes and a young lad made friends with my black labrador. He proudly showed us a photograph of Ratty taken in 1930.

3 Follow the obvious footpath which leads to a fork in a minor road and approach a sign marked Knott View and New Town. The word knott has two interesting meanings. It means both a hill and also a bunch of flowers. The rhyme should read ‘Here we go gathering knotts in May’ - You cannot gather ‘nuts’ in the Spring!

Bare left and climb gently and pass through a woodland. Here in mid September I saw a spotted flycatcher which will soon be on the way to the warmer climes of Africa. Pass Newtown House and Knottview Cottage on the right.

4 Ease Gently to the right and pass barns to reach a metal gate, continue onwards to reach another gate close to the stone gatepost, pass through this gate.

5 Then follow a damp track and descend through a stile in a wall. Once you see the river Esk descend through fields with marker posts which make the route obvious.

6 At a T Junction turn right keeping the river Esk on the left. The route then finds its way through woodland.

7 As you reach an open area dominated by an estuary salt marsh which in the autumn has fascinating birdlife. Here I counted seventy six Shelducks and a couple of thousand Dunlin and Knots. The birds seen depends on the state of the tide. This means that there is a low tide and a high tide route.

8 The high tide route leads to the railway line. Pass under this to reach the bath house and return to the starting point.

9 The low tide route leads directly to the main street of the village and the car park.

My advice would be to arrive early and enjoy the morning stroll before having a picnic or a bar snack. Then you can relax and enjoy a trip along the Ratty line.

NB Restrictions on space mean this article provides a summary of the route. It is advisable for anyone who follows it to take a copy of the relevant ordnance survey map.