22/08/2021
Ousby sits in-between Melmerby and Langwathby, so both villages are easy to visit from our cottages
www.edenvalleybarncottages.co.uk
The villages of Langwathby and Melmerby lie on the A686 which leads from Penrith over Hartside Pass on its way to Alston, a route chosen by the AA Magazine as one of their 'Ten Great Drives'.
Melmerby village at the foot of the Pennines, has red sandstone buildings overlooking an 11-acre green. The 'washfold”, one of Andy Goldsworthy’s “Sheepfolds”' is at the south end of the village beside the A686. The fold can be seen by parking above the village green, but access to the fold is over a small footbridge beneath which Andy Goldsworthy has carved a 'dub' stone set in the river.
From Melmerby, the road climbs the Hartside Pass to a height of 1904 ft, from where there are magnificent views across the Solway Firth to Scotland. This long and steep climb also forms part of the Sea to Sea cycle route.
Langwathby has a large green in the centre of the village and a station on the Settle to Carlisle railway line.
The Bailey bridge over the River Eden on the edge of the village was built in 1968 to replace a sandstone bridge that had been swept away by floods. The bridge was meant to be a temporary measure and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest lasting temporary bridge in the country.
https://orlo.uk/lkQxk
