Walk by the Cocker

Cockermouth stands at the mouth of the River Cocker and it is along this lovely waterway that this walk takes you. In the 13th century, Cockermouth developed as a new town around its castle, which stands on one of the two little hills between which the River Cocker joins the River Derwent.

Today the town has a wide, tree-lined Main Street which, together with Station Street and Market Place, provides for interesting shopping. The town has many fine buildings, alleyways and yards. At the western end of Main Street stands a four-square Georgian house where, in 1770, William Wordsworth was born. He lived here with his sister Dorothy and three other brothers until 1783. It is now called Wordsworth House and belongs to the National Trust. Near the church is a hall that stands on the site of the old grammar school. Here Wordsworth was educated for a while. Another famous pupil was Fletcher Christian, ringleader of the Mutiny on the Bounty. He was born in 1764, in Moorland Close, a farmhouse two miles outside Cockermouth.

Park in the small pay and display car park, at the top of Sullart Street, in the town, grid ref 118305.

• 1/ Leave by the pedestrian entrance of the car park and turn left to walk down Sullart Street to the mini-roundabout, with Wordsworth House opposite. Cross right and stroll on along the lively Main Street. Continue over Cocker Bridge and wind right into Market Place. Almost immediately bear right again to walk ahead towards the gracious town hall. Just before the building, descend the steps, on the right, to the side of the River Cocker. Continue through a small car park and then cross Quaker Bridge, over the hurrying water, to turn left at its end into Rubby Banks Road. Stroll on to pass under a fine stone bridge, carrying Lorton Road. A short distance beyond, climb a long flight of steps up onto the old railway track, now developed as Cockermouth Greenway, a landscaped public footpath.

• 2/ Turn left and pause on one of the strategically placed seats to enjoy the stately River Cocker hurrying below. Go on across the viaduct to take, at its end, a signposted footpath on the right, which leads into deciduous woodland, with houses to the left and the river, far below, to the right. Emerge from the trees by a small footbridge. Ignore the long sturdy bridge over the river, which leads to Double Mills. Carry on along the path across the continuing green sward, which cuts off a wide curve in the Cocker. The way then continues beside the river. Pass below the A66 and continue on to a stile onto the access track to Simonscales Mill. Turn left to walk an un-made road. Watch out for the signposted stile on the right, which you take in to rough pasture.

• 3/ Continue on the stiled way, keeping beside the fenced hedge on your left, with a good view ahead of the Lorton Fells. When eventually you reach a gully, with a fence beyond, turn right. Walk the nearest edge of the gully and descend with it towards the Cocker. Bear left, step over a small stream and climb a stile over the fence. Head on, beside the alder-lined river, with Southwaite Mill on the far side. Beyond the next stile climb the slope, keeping to the left of the trees. Continue on to come to a narrow road.

• 4/ Turn left, away from Southwaite Bridge, and a few steps along take the signed stile on the right. Bear slightly left to cross a footbridge and then ascend through a hawthorn copse alongside a reedy gully, keeping parallel with the fence to your left. Go on ahead until your way is blocked by a hedge. Here turn left through a stile and then carry on, remaining beside the hedge on your right, to a narrow road. Walk right to Low Stanger and Stanger farms, where a signpost directs you to Lorton. Go past this sign and turn left on to a bridleway between the farm buildings. At the no entry' sign take a signposted path on your right to a gate. Beyond, turn left to go through another gate and then, leaving the farms behind, walk on a track leading to a gate into a field.

• 5/ Walk on along the hedge, on the left, to pass a waymark and carry on to the boundary at the foot of the slope. Here a waymark directs you right to a gate and then a stile, on the left, into a hawthorn copse. Follow the path between the bushes and then over the marshy ground (often very wet) to arrive at the delightful little roofless building of Stanger Spa. It stands on a slightly raised dry area close to scattered birch trees. The spa dates from the early 19th century. Over the saline well, which was lined with stone, a building was put up. Seats were provided and there were niches for jugs and bottles. Townsfolk and people from the surrounding area would walk to the spa to take the water'; invalids would come too. The water was recommended as an excellent purgative' and for skin ailments, and was considered better than prescribed medicines. It was sold at 6d (2.5p) a gallon. In 1997 the building was partly restored.

• 6/ Leave this quiet area by the gate beyond the building. Turn left alongside a hedge to a stile and then follow a wall. At its end go left and continue beside a fence soon to pass through a gate in it. Then head north across a pasture to go through another gate. Head on in the same general direction, through gates. Then bear steadily right to reach a final one in the far top left corner that gives access to a B-road. Walk left for 300 yards to a sign on the left, directing you to High Stanger Farm. Stride the track until just before the farm, then cross the signed bridge on the right to a stile beside a gate. Continue with the hedge to your left and then to your right to arrive at the narrow road walked earlier. Cross and retrace your steps, to the road that leads to Southwaite Bridge.

• 7/ Remember to bear left here and almost immediately right to follow the track to the trees above the River Cocker. Descend the stile close to the water. Walk on to the gully, climb up to level ground and then bear left to walk beside the fence on your left. Follow this to descend the green sward and carry on the lovely way beside the river, for half-a-mile, to Simonscales Mill. Cross the access track and go on. Bear left when you can to continue by the river to pass under the A66. Dawdle on and then stroll the path that cuts off the large bend in the river.

• 8 This time cross the long footbridge, just beyond the picturesque Double Mills. Ignore the path to Harris Park and take the steeply climbing Double Mills track. Go on along the continuing Fern Bank. Take care as you cross the junction of The Level with Fern Road. A few yards along, on the left, is the pedestrian entrance into the car park.

Information

Distance: 7 miles.

Time: 4-5 hours.

Terrain: Level walking for most of the way on generally clear paths. After all this year's rain expect plenty of water and mud, especially where cattle have been. Pasture around the Spa can be very wet.

Map: OS Explorer OL 4 NB: Restrictions on space mean that this article provides a general summary of the route. It is advisable for anyone who plans to follow the walk to take a copy of the relevant Ordnance Survey map.

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