Route: Appleby-in-Westmorland
Area: Eden Valley
Date of walk: 4th June 2016
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 11.3 miles
Ascent: 900 feet
Weather: Cloudy at first, sunny later, very warm
The Appleby Horse Fair is an annual meeting which has been held for about 200 years and is the biggest gipsy fair in Europe, with around 30,000 visitors. It’s a get-together rather than an organised event, and a chance for the travellers to meet up with old friends – and make some new ones
I’d already planned a walk starting in Appleby and decided to combine this with a visit to the fair. For anyone following this route when the fair is not in town it’s best to start in the centre of Appleby and this would shave 2-3 miles off the route which I’ve described
I parked at Fair Hill and after visiting the market on Jimmy’s Field headed into the town to see the traditional horse washing. This was a wonderful diversion and I could have stayed much longer, but there was a walk to be done
The walk was through beautiful rolling countryside, typical of the Eden Valley, an area which would be much busier were it not for the attractions of the nearby Lake District. As it was, I only saw one other walker on the entire round
A lovely stroll along the bank of the River Eden took me back into Appleby and from there I made my way through the merry crowds (very merry in some cases) back to the start
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Before setting off to Appleby I made an early morning visit to the Buttermere area
Mellbreak and its reflection in Crummock Water
Foot of Grasmoor
Woodhouse Island Crummock Water
Rannerdale
Time to set off for Appleby - this is looking back to Red Pike
Later that morning I arrive at the car park on Fair Hill near Appleby-in-Westmorland
Treavellers travelling the same route as me into Appleby
Washing the horses in the River Eden - a wonderful spectacle…
After that entertaining diversion, the start of the walk as I head out off Appleby
After a few minutes I’m in open countryside
Looking back to Appleby Castle and the North Pennines
Descending to Hoff Beck
I cross the footbridge over the beck
Hoff Beck
I follow a path beside the beck into Hoff
Old barn in Hoff
The New Inn
I went slightly off course through this field in order to bypass a herd of cattle
I’m escorted from the premises
Newly mown fields
I pass through the farm at Lookingflatt
Heading in the direction of the North Pennines
Unspoilt countryside…
I walk under the bridge carrying the Settle-Carlisle railway line
Entering Great Ormside…
…and leaving it
I pass under the railway line again
Speckled Wood butterfly
Wild garlic as I approach the bank of the River Eden
The River Eden, which I followed all the way back into Appleby
Approaching Appleby
The weir and Bongate Mill Appleby
I pass by The Sands again, where large crowds have gathered to watch the horse washing
Back at the car park, these two young travellers came up to me and asked if I’d take their photo and put it on the internet, so here you are lads
