Muncaster Castle, West Lakes

 

The weather did not disappoint and I think I spent most of the night listening to the rain, muttering to myself I hope those ponios are ok. Of course they were, they were in a lovely field with lots of grass. A real luxury for Ryan practically as his diet is normally restrict to keep him trim! Feeding horses is an art and it does not take a lot to send the balance the wrong way!

We were going to ride high up to Burnmoor Tarn, but the weather was most defiantly against us so we decide to ride on a loop around and over Muncaster Fell. Most of this route is promoted as the Eskdale Trail from Muncaster Castle so hopefully it should be straight forward for a rainy day. With a lot of the route under trees we hoped that this would provide some shelter from the weather!

 

From the Woolpack we turned right down the lane past Dalegarth Station and then took the lane that leads to the bridleway past Dalegarth Hall. You will then pass through Low Wood and continue onto Forge Bridge. Here the bridleway comes out on the lane, where you have a short section on road before joining the bridleway again to Muncaster Head. This is a lovely track though forestry, which takes you through to High Eskholme. Here take the bridleway up the hill towards Muncaster Tarn. This is a steep climb, but you are rewarded with great views through the trees of the valley below. The route then takes you along Fell Lane and down to Muncastler Castle. On a clear day you can see the Isle of Man, which we could just about make out even on a very rainy day.

Officially very wet! 

Riding next to the Ratty Railway Line 

 

Once at the end on Fell Lane, you follow a track that takes you away from the main road and then turn right though the woods towards Muncaster Mill. Look out for the unusual Rhododendron plants. They are huge and reminded me of something from the Jurassic period! The bridleway then loops down to the Ratty railway line. If your not sure how your horse will react to a small steam train, it may be wise to check the time table to plan to go through this bit without a stream train going past. The route runs directly adjacent to the railway track. Ryan and Hope are very use to the West Coast Main Line trains, but we were not sure how they would react to smoke breathing trains! We did not have to worry about that though on the day we did the route we learnt later that there had been a landslip on the line due to all the bad weather and trains were therefore not running.  

 The route crossed the track and then you pass through a few fields. The route here is not well used and you may like to check your map so you do not take a wrong turn and you need to be prepared for a few difficult gates. You then come out on a track that leads up to the road. From here you turn right and work you way along the road all the way back to the Woolpack. Even though we had only been in the valley 24 hours Ryan started to recognise the route and as we got to Dalegarth Station Ryan’s hear pricked up and our pace went up a gear. After being out for nearly six hours my hands and water proofs were starting to fail with the wet and cold! It was a fantastic day despite the weather and it was great to do a long ride where we clocked up 15 miles.

You can also do this ride from Muncaster Castle car park. Best to ring the Castle before you visit to check there are no events on and their happy for you to park.

A GPX file of this ride can be downloaded from Ride Cumbria Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/367414084781168

Route Map showing Day 1 and Day 2 rides combined