Gunnerside, Blakethwaite Mill, Melbecks Moor, Old Gang Smelt Mill, Feetham, Yorkshire.
[ 21.8 km] Thu  07 May 2009

Start/finish OS grid ref: SD 9502 9823
There had been a lot of rain overnight but thankfully it had now stopped. There was a very strong westerly wind as I drove over the B6270 the Nateby to Keld road. It seemed much calmer when I reached Gunnerside. I set off walking up the lane to the west and stopped briefly to chat to a walker who was about to join friends to do a walk towards the east coast. I continued up to the track which branches to the right and heads off over the moor towards the remains of Blakethwaite Mill. The track climbed steadily to the NE then rounded the mountainside and followed an easier gradient up the side of Gunnerside Gill. There were bits of sunshine breaking through and illuminated the far side of the gill to reveal all sorts of remains of previous lead mine workings. I passed through Botcher Gill Gate and stopped briefly at the bridge before leaving the main track and turning to the minor track to the right. It follows the contour then gently down to Gunnerside Beck and Blakethwaite Smelt Mill. Because of the previous rain Bling Gill had quite a lot of water in it and took a bit of negotiating to cross.

The main Gunnerside Beck has a nice substantial stone slab bridge over it with leads directly to the impressive peat store building. When I was first here in 1980 there was a large arch and it is also shown in Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk book. Unfortunately the arch is no longer there. A short steep zig zag path took me up to a larger path to the right which I followed to the Bunton mine area. There seem to be various paths and a very confusing wooden waymarker. I kept going generally upwards and then followed the wall for a while to join a minor path to the main track over Melbecks Moor. It is an amazing area of old workings, desolations and nothing growing. The only new things up here are several substantial shooting butts dug into the ground. It was very easy walking though rather cold in the fierce wind. I came to level House Bridge where the track improves and there was a bit of shelter from the wind. The track now follows the side of Hard Level Gill all the way to Old Gang Smelt Mill.

Fortunately these ruins were as they were on my first visit 29 years ago and also the same as Wainwright’s book. It was here that I met some walkers who were heading up on to the moor. I joined the road at Surrender Bridge then turned right and over in to Feetham. This is where the main B6270 returns to Gunnerside but I didn’t want to take the direct route as I wanted to explore a minor lane which takes the scenic route. I short spell of sunshine shone on the village as I passed the Punch Bowl Inn with it’s 1638 date stone over the door. Next came Melbecks Parich Church then the narrow lane climbing steeply upwards. At an area called Blades the steep climb was over and I followed a fairly level lane along Low Row Pasture until the tarmac ended and a short stretch of concrete road followed before it was just a soft grassy way. At the gate I took a minor grassy path down to the left as this is the way directly back to Gunnerside.

After a short descent by a spring I came to a more substantial walled track which passed some surprisingly in-tact unoccupied buildings. The map calls one of them the ‘Loaning House’. Further down the lane was a pile of rubble on the left which had previously been two cottages. The only reason I know this is because a very informative information plaque had been fixed to the wall adjacent. I’m all in favour of this sort thing as it gives the casual walker a much better appreciation of what used to be in the countryside. I though it worth putting a full transcription here:

These ruins were once two cottages with sheds. A survey carried out in 2003 concluded that one bilding was built in the late seventeenth century and another added at the west end in the mid eighteenth century. They had mullioned windows and probably a thatched roof.
The owners from 1686 to 1778 were the Reynoldson family. Then Lane Foot passed to Simon harker who left it in 1810 to his sons, who sold it and its land to William Coates fro £215. In 1824 it passed to his sister Dorothy Coates and on her death to her nephews William, John & James Coates. When the last of them died in 1878 it passed to their sisiter Elizabeth Thwaites and it remained in the Thwaites family until 1951.
In 1841 these ruins housed 14 people; - Anthony Miller, a lead miner, and his wife and four children lived in one dwelling, while James Thwaites, lead miner, his wife and six children in the other. It was probably two dwellings intil 1861; by 1871 only one house was inhabited, and by 1891 both were uninhabited.
The survey was done by Don McLellan and the consolidaton by Matt Spensley & Ken Cooper with financial aid from DEFRA.
Researched and written by Timothy Bagenal.

on the museum wall, Gunnerside.