Ravenglass

Situated at the point where the three mountain rivers, the Irt, Esk and Mite, finally merge into one wide estuary, Ravenglass appears like a place that has eluded any sense of time. Its broad main street is a charming muddle of terraced cottages, cobbled courtyards, archways and piled lobster pots, but there is little to hint at its illustrious past.d out across the Irish Sea. It was the Romans who first recognised the potential of what, at that time, was a natural harbour, sheltered by sandbars but with channels deep enough for their galleys. From Ravenglass, General Agricola planned the conquest of northern Britain. They built their first fort in AD79 with a cohort of 500 soldiers, but didn't leave Glanoventa, as they named it, for almost 350 years.
Little of the fort can now be seen but just 10 minutes walk from the village is 'Walls Castle', the fort's bath house and the tallest surviving Roman building in Britain. There are numerous legends surrounding the bath house. It is thought to have been Lyons Garde, home to the rulers of Rheged, later to become Castle Perilous in Malory's poem Le Morte d'Arthur. In Ravenglass anything is plausible. A castle, hawks and a haunting jester. Romans, Avalon and wiley smugglers.In 1208 King John got lost in a field outside Seascale, a common occurence, but fortunately not before he had granted Ravenglass a Charter for a market and fair. Hence the expression 'Ravenglass Fair, Eskdale's Fate!'
Ravenglass remained the north-west's principal port until the 17th century, but as the channel silted up so the village changed from trading port to smuggling brandy.
Today the village has numerous attractions. There is Muncaster Castle with its miles of woodland gardens and the Owl Centre; there is La'al Ratty and Muncaster Mill; but for me it is the sheer atmosphere of Ravenglass. It is a place where spectres are silhouetted by the sunsets and the winds whisper the mysteries of a different time.

Eskdale Green to the Coast In the lower third of Eskdale the geography of the valley starts to become confused. The main road follows the Miterdale side of the valley until it veers off towards Wasdale and Gosforth. The true course of Eskdale follows the narrow Birkby Road past Knott End, on one side of the Esk, and the Muncaster bridleway, on the other. Needless to say, it is the far-flung, whale-like ridge of Muncaster Fell, driving a wedge down the middle of the convergent valleys, that causes the confusion.And so it is that, despite the numerous footpaths, this final part of the valley is seldom visited. Here the fast flowing Esk matures into a broader river, with pebbled banks and backwaters overhung with oak and bordered by ancient hedgerows. Here everything follows a mellower mood. The fells overlooking the lower Esk are equally quiet . You can walk from Brantrake to Black Combe and back with only skylarks for company. Just west of Birker Moor is Devoke Water, the Lake District's largest tarn and a perfect mirror for an endlessly changing sky. It is said that the tarn was stocked with golden trout brought back from Italy, by the Furness monks, 700 years ago. If the fells appear silent today then walk a further mile from the tarn until you reach the lost 'City of Barnscar', a Bronze Age settlement with some 400 hut circles - try and imagine the scene as it was then.On the other side of the valley are the wooded slopes of Irton Pike with lovely forest walks both on the Pike and around Parkgate Tarn. From the top of Irton Pike are quite stunning views up Wasdale and out over the Irish Sea
	Ravenglass Situated at the point where the three mountain rivers, the Irt, Esk and Mite, finally merge into one wide estuary, Ravenglass appears like a place that has eluded any sense of time. Its broad main street is a charming muddle of terraced cottages, cobbled courtyards, archways and piled lobster pots, but there is little to hint at its illustrious past.d out across the Irish Sea. It was the Romans who first recognised the potential of what, at that time, was a natural harbour, sheltered by sandbars but with channels deep enough for their galleys. From Ravenglass, General Agricola planned the conquest of northern Britain. They built their first fort in AD79 with a cohort of 500 soldiers, but didn't leave Glanoventa, as they named it, for almost 350 years. Little of the fort can now be seen but just 10 minutes walk from the village is 'Walls Castle', the fort's bath house and the tallest surviving Roman building in Britain. There are numerous legends surrounding the bath house. It is thought to have been Lyons Garde, home to the rulers of Rheged, later to become Castle Perilous in Malory's poem Le Morte d'Arthur. In Ravenglass anything is plausible. A castle, hawks and a haunting jester. Romans, Avalon and wiley smugglers.In 1208 King John got lost in a field outside Seascale, a common occurence, but fortunately not before he had granted Ravenglass a Charter for a market and fair. Hence the expression 'Ravenglass Fair, Eskdale's Fate!' Ravenglass remained the north-west's principal port until the 17th century, but as the channel silted up so the village changed from trading port to smuggling brandy. Today the village has numerous attractions. There is Muncaster Castle with its miles of woodland gardens and the Owl Centre; there is La'al Ratty and Muncaster Mill; but for me it is the sheer atmosphere of Ravenglass. It is a place where spectres are silhouetted by the sunsets and the winds whisper the mysteries of a different time.