12th – 14th May 2023
We stayed for the weekend at Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Club, at a temporary holiday site organised by the Lakeland District Association of the Camping and Caravanning Club. Our thanks goes to the stewards for the warm welcome.
We had visited Kirkby Lonsdale and included it in the blog post of 16th January 2022. On that occasion were on the way home from our stay at Ingleton, so did not stay long. This time, we had planned a full weekend.
There is evidence of human occupation in this area since the neolithic era. The town was also one of the few towns in Cumbria to have been mentioned in the Domesday Book and granted a charter to hold a market in 1227.
There was much evidence of coronation celebrations still in evidence in the town.
It is a busy, vibrant town with some unique retailers, selling interesting items:
Taylor’s sell hardware, outdoor clothing, camping goods and army surplus clothing, including some which looks like it belongs on a Beatles album cover:
Just south of the town, is the regular biker’s meeting spot, Devil’s Bridge.
The bridge dates from around the year 1370 and is 45ft high from river to parapet. An amazing feat of medieval engineering; of the three spans, the two main spans are around 55ft wide. On the eastern end of the bridge, set into the wall, is this small pillar which resembles a shallow baptismal font. Its purpose is unclear, but an information board presents one theory of it being a plague stone, where coins paid for goods would be placed in vinegar as a way of avoiding the plague. An inscription on it, reads: “Feare God and Honer the King, 1673”.
The bridge gained its name when reputedly an old woman outwitted the devil who had promised to build a bridge overnight in return for the first soul to cross that day. She threw bread to send her dog over.
For many years, it was popular on hot days to jump from the parapet into the river, which is quite deep at this point, with sometimes queues of people waiting their turn. Now this has been made illegal.
On our way back to the town centre, there was a cricket match taking place. The spectators didn’t seem very impressed by the home-team performance.
The following day, Sunday, we went for a walk along paths near the River Lune, upstream from the town.
The path took us through some beautiful woodland…
…then on over a bridge in what was once a large country estate centred on Underley Hall, built in 1828 by Alexander Nowell (1761-1842).
The bridge was a clear demonstration of the landowner’s wealth before you even approached the house. Built of stone, by with mock-medieval arrow slits and turrets, the bridge stonework also bears a coat of arms
"See-u-Later" 