More images

More (2)

Caldbeck Green and the Howk

Recommended by

Our view

"To the summit of a fell famous for its beauty, returning through a waterfall-filled gorge."

Walk directions

Leave the parking area at the far end of the car park, leading out onto the village green. Turn right and after 50yds (40m) turn right. As the road swings right, look for a bridleway sign on the left to Faulds Brow.

Follow this through a gate and up an enclosed track between hedgerows. Emerging into fields, ignore any turnings and keep straight ahead, with a fence on your right. After the next gate, turn right to a gate and stile. Beyond these, bear left across a faint field path towards a gate on the opposite side. Through this, turn left, heading for a gate at the top of the field. Bear half right up the hill beyond this, picking out an ancient sunken lane at the brow, weaving between trees to a small gate. In a few more paces reach a stile on the left.

View all directions

Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Grassy paths and tracks, 3 stiles

Landscape - Fields, riverside, limestone gorge and village green

Dog friendliness - You are likely to encounter sheep throughout this walk so dogs should be on leads

Parking - Caldbeck car park, close to village green on north side of village

Toilets en route - On main street in Caldbeck village

Walks in Cumbria

About the walk

‘Howk’ means scooping out in the old dialect of these northern fells, and it feels appropriate for this peculiar phenomenon, created by a change in the underlying rock. This is a limestone gorge with a waterfall, a Gordale in miniature. The Howk is surprising whichever way you approach it, but this... walk brings you in from the top end. The Whelpo Beck looks benign until it slips away into woodland and suddenly disappears over an edge into a chasm; no wonder the old folk called it the Fairy Kettle. Beside it, the Fairy Kirk is a cave hollowed out of the limestone – a magical place deserving a supernatural name. Auld Red Rover Beyond, going downstream, is another immediate surprise. No sooner than you have stepped away from the little shelf-like viewing area of the Howk, you are confronted by another oddity. The high, stone-built mill that blocks your passage was once the home of Auld Red Rover, in its time one of the largest waterwheels in the country. Over 17 tons of metal held this monster together. It was over 42ft (12.8m) in diameter and at full pelt turned barely three times in a minute. Built in 1857, Red Rover powered a bobbin mill, the rest of which is remarkably well preserved beyond the wheel pit. Here is the coppice shed, where the dressed poles of wood were stacked to dry, and the turning floors where skilled men would craft millions of bobbins – reels and spindles – to serve the voracious cotton mills of Lancashire. Up to 60 men and boys worked here, the youngest lads perhaps only 10 years old when they were started on the basic tasks of peeling the bark off the hardwood logs. Cumbrian mills like this one supplied over half the bobbins to Lancashire’s booming industry, and once there were over 70 of them, turning away. The last working mill was at Stott Park, near the bottom of Windermere. Here English Heritage allow you to see a working mill in action, with craftsmen showing how the bobbin makers spent their time. Turned goods The Howk mill was in production until 1924, by which time the biggest cotton mills were making their own bobbins, and new materials were starting to replace the traditional wood. The Howk produced hundreds of different items too, from ‘dolly pegs’, for washing clothes in your ‘dolly tub’ to tool handles. Potato mashers, egg cups, rolling pins, clog soles, even actual children’s dollies all came out of the mill at one time or another, and the market for turned goods stretched beyond Manchester to Ireland and even Kolkata.

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Cumbria's rugged yet beautiful landscape is best known for the Lake District National Park that sits within its boundaries. It’s famous for Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake, and Derwent Water, ‘Queen of the English Lakes', but other lesser-known areas in the south, such as the Lune Valley and the coastal towns, are secret gems of wide cobbled streets and rolling hills.

Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

2 miles (3.2kms)

Ascent:

230ft (70m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

Find more walks in Cumbria

Caldbeck Green and the Howk

Recommended by

Our view

"To the summit of a fell famous for its beauty, returning through a waterfall-filled gorge."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

2 miles (3.2kms)

Ascent:

230ft (70m)

Walk directions

1 of 5

2 of 5

Cross this and walk across the bottom of a field to a kissing gate. Now descend with the wall, then a fence on your left. At the bottom, by the Whelpo Beck, turn left over a stone stile and follow the beckside path. The route narrows to step over a joining beck and pass through a kissing gate. A short flight of steps leads to another gate, where you bear right still heading downstream.

3 of 5

As the beck twists away into trees, the path rises up the bank to a gate in a hedgerow. Now a narrow, enclosed path descends towards the sound of rushing water. Pass a waterfall; the path then levels above a limestone gorge. A footbridge over the beck on the right affords a fine view of what is known as the Fairy Kettle. Don’t cross the bridge, but continue to a flight of steep steps with more views into the gorge.

4 of 5

At the foot of the steps continue downstream, passing the ruins of the Howk bobbin mill. A level path leads back towards the village, swinging away from the beck and passing through a gated yard. Head half left (not sharp left) at the road and then turn right in a few paces to return to the car park.

5 of 5

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Grassy paths and tracks, 3 stiles

Landscape - Fields, riverside, limestone gorge and village green

Dog friendliness - You are likely to encounter sheep throughout this walk so dogs should be on leads

Parking - Caldbeck car park, close to village green on north side of village

Toilets en route - On main street in Caldbeck village

Walks in Cumbria

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Cumbria

Caldbeck Green and the Howk

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our travel newsletter

Get the latest insider tips and recommendations to make the most of your next trip

Caldbeck Green and the Howk

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our newsletter

Join over 4,000+ travelers who are getting the most out of their trips