Dave
posted on July 19
Here is the Second in my Series of Bike Rides … this time it’s a Mountain Bike ride around Kirkby Moor .. 2 hours for experienced riders .. maybe 4 for others.
Surface – Tarmac Minor Roads, Offroad Tracks and Bridleways
Terrain – Hilly, Fantastic Views if the weather is kind !
Suitability – a mixed terrain route and introduction to more technical mountain biking. Some navigation will be required (using a 1:25000 map) and understanding of Grid References will be useful. It might also be useful to have a cycle distance computer fitted to the bike.
Places of Interest –
Old Hall Lane
The Cumbria Way
Kirkby Slate Quarry
Kirkby Moor Windmills
Pennington Reservoir
The Route
To complete this route you will need a road (and off-road!) worthy Mountain Bike, a certain amount of technical riding capability, a degree of navigation capability and a reasonable amount of fitness. The reward for completion will be some fantastic views and some excellent riding challenges along the way. Where Grid References are mentioned these are 6 figure and approximate. Where distances are measured these are in miles from the Start.
We start in The Gill, Ulverston and head north up Stanley Street towards the medical centre, then turn left up Garden Terrace. At top of Garden Terrace turn right , then left at crossroads (286789) and your on Old Hall Lane. This lovely old road passes between Flan Hill on your right and Gamswell Hill on your left as it makes it way steadily upwards in the general direction of Kirkby Moor windmills. Look out for the Llamas in the fields on the left near Stone Briggs, they can be quite curious and might even come to have a look at you ! Don’t feed them of course, they might have big teeth !
Be certain NOT to turn left at the crossroads (281802) after Stone Briggs, that way leads to the notoriously steep Knottallow Hill road, instead stay straight ahead up Old Hall Lane staying roughly parallel to The Cumbria Way until you reach Well House. (274821, 2 ½ miles)
At Well House, turn Left up a steepish hill that heads directly for Kirkby Moor, you’ll need a low gear here, but your still on tarmac so the going isn’t too bad.
At the top of the tarmac hill you’ll come to a crossroads (269819, 3 miles) with the ‘Slate Road’ starting on the other side. Now you have to shape up as you are about to climb this track up to the Wind Farm area, although you are more than half way up in total now at least !.
It’s a good climb ! … rideable all the way if you’re reasonably fit and it brings you to an access gate (259830, 4 miles) into the Wind farm area and a great view north-west over The Duddon Estuary towards Black Combe. Savour it for a moment or two. Heading through the gate the track turns into a rougher ‘landrover’ track with a few ruts sometimes filled with water for a splash through. Continue along this to a T junction and turn right uphill passing close under some windmills – a bit disconcerting if they are whipping around just above your head !
The windfarms have been here since 1993, they develop 400 megawatts each and, when the wind is blowing, supply electricity to 2,600 homes apparently .. but of course no-one can tell you which 2600 houses exactly ;-) .. there is no doubt they do it though as you can hear it happening on a windy day !
A left turn takes you to the very highest point on Kirkby Moor at 333 metres (about 1100 feet in old money) (260840, 4 ½ miles). And now, finally, you get to ride downhill for a while !. The track becomes a bit rougher now, after the high point continue north, taking 2 left turns and you will end up on a stony track that bends and descends towards some stone workings. There is a lot of fun to be had on this track for the experienced, but if your not, go steadily as it is stony !
In the area of the stone workings (there is a strange ‘conveying’ machine here usually) take a left turn and after a few hundred yards another left turn up a sneaky little hill. Your legs will feel this, but it’s the best\only way and leads to better things !
The track you are on now skirts around the top of a very big hole indeed, which is the actual Burlington Kirkby Moor Slate Quarry. You could, very carefully, take a peak over the edge and see just how big it really is! They are still digging in there, and they have been for nearly two hundred years now ! It was at one time THE largest man made hole in the whole of Europe! Fancy that!
Head toward the windmills south west of you, taking a left turn to reach the one that overlooks the estuary. At this windmill you are now looking down a grassy track that heads towards a bridleway, I couldn’t possibly suggest that you went this way, but if you did and you take a very faint left hand track you might end up on the bridleway that crosses Gill House Beck (244827, 6 ½ miles). You might then take a left turn onto this bridleway and continue along this. This bridleway has several watery places and in others is very narrow and then has a very steep, short climb that is un-rideable (I don’t know how horses ever came this way!) ! Go carefully along this section.
However, soon, all technical difficulties are past and you are faced with a long, steady climb. Select low gear and concentrate on where your front wheel is going as there are one or two ruts. It’s a great test to be able to clean this climb in one go, I can tell you it took me a few times before I could ! Just when you think you’ve done it , there is a right turn and the gradient increases just a bit, the final test, but after 100 yards you’ve made it to a col at 252821. (marked 265 on the 1:25000 map)
Now you are an improving land-rover track that heads all the way to Pepper’s Wood. The track has a few ruts, puddles and stones, but it’s pretty well all downhill and there is chance to have a bit of fun. Go through the gate and after a short section through some trees and past a farm, you’ll pop out on a tarmac road at 253804.
There are several ways back to your starting point from here. You could just turn left and stay on this road past Horrace Farm and downhill right into Ulverston. Or at Horrace farm you could turn right and then straight on down past Pennington Reservoir. At the very bottom of this hill, turn left at the T junction past the Church, then left again following the road up to Rosside. Continuing through Rosside take the left turn to join the Horrace Hill descent back to Ulverston.
Which ever way you come back you will need to negotiate Ulverston’ One-Way system to get back to the Gill. An easy way to do this is once you get to the Oxfam Shop, get off your bike and turn left and push it to the next left turn (Upper Brook Street) you can ride from here into the Gill.
It will be very hard to ride past Ulverston’s favourite Fish & Chip shop (The Chippy Bank) .. Many have weakened at this point
Hope you Enjoyed the Ride ! Come back for more in about a month.
Please note :- you undertake this ride under your own responsibility. The author accepts no responsibility for any mishap of any sort .. Ride Safely !
