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The return leg follows the course of the
River Eden. The walk can be extremely muddy in places and
gaiters are strongly recommended in the absence of a prolonged
dry spell.
The walk starts from the
Moot Hall in Appleby. Walk the short
distance up Boroughgate taking a right at High Wiend, past the
end of Doomgate and left up Banks Lane, following the
footpath sign for “Bandley Bridge”
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The path divides at a
children’s playground. Take the right fork along Margarets Way. Turn right and at the ‘T’
junction then left where you will see a footpath across the
fields
indicated by the fingerpost for “Bandley Bridge”.
At the end of a section of hedge, go over a stile next to a gate and turn left. Head
for the diagonally opposite corner of the field. Here you will
find a blue bridleway arrow indicating your onward route along
the left hand boundary of the next field.
At the bottom of the field, go through a gate bearing a plaque
for “Rachel’s Wood”.
At the end of Rachel’s Wood, cross a stile, then Bandley
Bridge and turn left to follow the right hand
bank of Hoff Beck indicated by a blue bridleway arrow. Now follow this path along the route of the beck to Hoff.
The only thing to watch out for is a split in the path marked
by a post, where the bridleway branches right. Keep left
following the yellow arrow.
You arrive at a farmyard at Hoff. Go through the gate, then
left through another gate, to exit into the road next to the
New Inn.
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Continue straight across the road following the road
sign for “Oakbeck
½ mile and Drybeck 1¾
miles”
. Follow this road for about three hundred yards, round
a right hand bend, then take a footpath off to the left,
indicated by a fingerpost for “Rutter Force 1 mile”. Follow
a short broad track then through a gate, follow the left hand
boundary to a footbridge. Cross it and turn right to follow
the left hand boundary of the stream. Ignore the first bridge
you come to. Follow the bank of the beck until just before
reaching a plantation, you arrive at a footbridge. Cross and
turn left to follow the opposite bank. You will get to a stile
where above to the right is a white house. Once over the
stile, the path bends right towards the left of house,
actually emerging on its drive. Turn left here and you are at
Rutter Force. Cross the footbridge in front of Rutter Force
and continue up the road. At the ‘T’ junction, turn left along
the road for less than a quarter of a mile. Take a footpath on
the right indicated by a public footpath fingerpost for
“Donkey’s Nest”. Follow the right hand field boundary. At the
top of the field, cross a stile and bear slightly left at
about 45° and cross a stile by the gate into the road. Turn
left. At the cross roads, keep straight ahead and follow the
road into Great Ormside. As you come into the village, there
is a phone box and a bench for a potential picnic stop.
Continue along the road on which you entered the village and
not far past the bench, turn left on to a footpath indicated
by a public footpath fingerpost
. The path is well marked with
yellow arrows. Follow it to a broad track and turn left.
When the track divides, keep left. The track passes under the
railway line. Immediately after the railway line, keep
straight ahead over a concrete ladder stile. The route then
curves left, under the power lines. Cross a footbridge over a
beck, then fork right at the other side, climbing slightly.
You soon start to get glimpses of the River Eden through the
trees on the right and after descending some rough steps, you
arrive at the riverbank. Turn left to follow the bank all the
way to Appleby entering the town via the top of Boroughgate
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