The Eden Valley, Cumbria

The River Eden at Kirkby Stephen

The beautiful Eden Valley stretches from the source of the River Eden high on the Westmorland fells above Mallerstang to the Solway Firth. The Eden flows down through Kirkby Stephen and Appleby, then along and around the edge of the North Pennines to Carlisle and into the Solway Firth. Along the way it picks up tributaries including the Lyvennet and the River Eamont which flows out of Ullswater.

Cumbria-based writer Vivienne Crow has produced an excellent book of Eden Valley walks: Walking in Cumbria’s Eden Valley

Below is a selection of posts from the Around-England blog illustrating and describing a variety of aspects of this very special area of Cumbria, the upper reaches of which are sandwiched between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

Ravenstonedale – Twixt Eden and Lune

April 23, 2015

I’m still trying to get a decent photograph of the Howgills from the top of Ash Fell. Somehow the weather or the time of day (sun angle) always seems to defeat me. Anyway, here’s my latest and despite its inadequacies I’m using it here to illustrate “Twixt Eden and Lune”. The Eden and the Lune […]

Hellgill Force near the source of the Eden

May 14, 2013

Today I did another of my photo-drive-walks, returning to Mallerstang for the second week in succession. Last week I did a circular walk between Nateby and Pendragon Castle, taking in Lammerside Castle, so today after a few shots of Pendragon Castle (over the wall; it’s now “closed to public access for building repairs”) I started […]

Beautiful Mallerstang, and Disgusting Litter Louts

May 8, 2013

Yesterday was a beautiful early Spring day in Mallerstang. Yes, I know that in many parts of the country Spring is already well and truly sprung but up here in the North, in a valley whose lowest points are around 1000 feet above sea level, Spring is still on its way in. The photo here […]

Appleby in Westmorland – An April Afternoon

April 22, 2013

After spending Saturday morning listening to lectures on bridges at a Cumbria Industrial History Society conference I suppose it is appropriate to show a photo from Saturday afternoon of the Appleby “New” Bridge over the River Eden – that is, it was new in 1888. The next shot is taken from the bridge looking dowstream. […]

By the Lyvennet Beck at Maulds Meaburn

November 3, 2012

Lyvennet Beck flows down from Crosby Ravensworth Fell where it rises close to one of the country’s many “graves of Robin Hood”. After passing Maulds Meaburn and Kings Meaburn it takes the name River Lyvennet before joining the Eden. Here at Maulds Meaburn it passes through one of the most beautiful villages in Cumbria, if […]

Northern England – Land of Rivers and Castles

October 30, 2012

Last updated: The North of England is rich in scenic landscape, ranging from historic coastlines with fishing villages and castles to mountains, moors and lakes. Last week I was speaking at an event in Babes Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, the second city of Romania. Many people asked where in England I lived. On being told […]

Return to Mallerstang

April 5, 2012

Having spent a long weekend in Cambridge, and travelled back by train via Leeds and on the Settle-Carlisle line to Appleby in Westmorland, I managed on Monday afternoon to get this quick shot (on my phone) of the very top of the Eden Valley as the train came over from Garsdale and began the long […]

River Eden near Appleby on a Wintry Afternoon

January 17, 2012

Three more shots of the beautiful Eden Valley. Before reaching the centre of the town the River Eden passes Bongate (the place where in ancient times the ‘bondsmen’ used to live), down below the cliff where Appleby Castle stands proud. Here is a cold January midday shot of the river, reduced in level from what […]

Protection of the North Pennines

January 4, 2012

The North Pennines, stretching from the Eden Valley up towards the Scottish Border, are characterised by wild moorland with long expanses of silence apart from the wind and the birds. This special landscape needs protection, and it is good that the staff of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have it under their […]

Happy New Year from the Eden Valley

January 2, 2012

I had not expected to be sitting at my keyboard this afternoon. The sun was shining, there was blue in the sky, and it would have been an excellent opportunity to drive to one or two of the places here in the Eden Valley where I’ve been wanting to take photographs but have been waiting […]

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