Meet at Shap Memorial Hall at 10.30.
From Shap, we cycle through Keld to join the
concrete road towards
Burnbanks, with a detour up the secluded valley of
Swindale. Proposed lunch
stop at Bampton (pub - I recommend the Emergency
Bitter! - or general
store), then we head North to Yanwath, visiting the
very impressive Mayburgh Henge (where you can see what 5 million of something
looks like!). There's also chance to visit another couple of ancient monuments
along the route, if there aren't enough amongst the participants!
From Eamont Bridge, we head South through Lowther
Park (I've checked that
this is OK), emerging near Lowther Castle. When I
did the reccy, I rode
through Hackthorpe and Great Strickland (tea stop),
followed by a long
steady climb to Castlehowe Scar, finishing with a
quick descent into Shap,
total distance 34 miles. However, another, easier,
option would be to turn
right at the castle and return to Shap along the
East side of the valley
through Askham and
Bampton Grange, which I think would be just under 30
miles.
Gradients fairly gentle throughout, apart from the
downhill finish into Shap if we take the longer route.
I recommend that you take a snack to eat at the top
of Swindale, as once we
leave Shap there are no opportunities to buy
refreshments before Bampton.
