Swindale Meadows

Swindale Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. This protected area is located in Shap Rural parish, alongside the Swindale Beck.

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Swindale Beck (Lowther)

Swindale Beck is a river in Shap Rural parish of Cumbria, England, near Haweswater. It starts at Swindale Head where Mosedale Beck, from the slopes of Tarn Crag, joins Hobgrumble Beck from Selside Pike. The stream flows north-east along Swindale and joins the River Lowther near Rosgill between Shap and Bampton. Its waters then flow via the River Eamont and River Eden into the Solway Firth. Prior to 1859, Swindale Beck had been straightened to clear land for grazing. In 2016, 750 metres (2,460 ft) of straightened channel was replaced with 890 m (2,920 ft) of a new sinuous channel, reconnecting the stream to its surrounding floodplain. This resulted in a rapid and marked improvement in its diversity. In 2022, the project was part of Cumbria-wide river restoration work which was awarded the European River Prize by the International River Foundation.

Landmark

Mosedale Beck (Swindale)

Mosedale Beck is a stream in Cumbria, England, which runs between Tarn Crag and Branstree, flowing north to join Swindale Beck at Swindale Head; Swindale Beck then flows north east to join the River Lowther near Rosgill, between Shap and Bampton. The upper valley of Mosedale Beck is broad and boggy, containing a single building: Mosedale Cottage, a bothy supported by the Mountain Bothies Association, and whitewashed to make it more clearly visible in poor weather. The beck then changes character and forms waterfalls called Forces Falls or The Forces as it drops to the valley of Swindale.

Hiking Landmark

Seat Robert

Seat Robert is a hill in the east of the English Lake District, south west of Shap, Cumbria. It is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. It reaches 1,688 feet (515 m), and has a cairn and an Ordnance Survey "ring" at ground level rather than the usual trig point column. Wainwright's route is a clockwise circuit from Swindale reaching Seat Robert by way of Langhowe Pike at 1,313 feet (400 m) and Great Ladstones at 1,439 feet (439 m), and continuing over High Wether Howe at 1,705 feet (520 m) and Fewling Stones and 1,667 feet (508 m). The first section of his route follows the Old Corpse Road, a corpse road, along which corpses were carried from Mardale to be buried at Shap.

Naddle Horseshoe

The Naddle Horseshoe is a group of summits in the English Lake District, south of Mardale valley, Cumbria. It is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. Wainwright's walk starts at Swindale and ascends Scalebarrow Knott at 1,109 feet (338 m) before making a clockwise circuit of the valley of Naddle Beck (not to be confused with the better known Naddle Beck which runs north to the River Greta near Keswick). His route includes Harper Hills at 1,358 feet (414 m), Hare Shaw at 1,639 feet (500 m), Naddle High Forest (this and the next are "nameless" according to Wainwright) at 1,427 feet (435 m), Wallow Crag at 1,380 feet (420 m), a nameless summit at 1,390 feet (420 m), and Hugh's Laithes Pike at 1,390 feet (420 m).

Hiking Landmark