Staveley's Mill Yard and Craggy Wood

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Our view

"How wood and water power brought industry to Staveley."

Walk directions

Walk down Main Street, heading southeast to reach the old tower of St Margaret’s Church. A footpath runs down the side of the churchyard and along the back of the Mill Yard. At the river, cross the bridge and follow the path beyond to the right. Turn left, at the corner of the wall, and go through a kissing gate between farm buildings. Continue straight ahead through a gate to the right of a barn, and keep a wall on your left as you pass through trees and another gate to a minor road. Turn right to a junction.

Turn left up the hill and, at a right-hand bend, dodge left into Craggy Wood. The single path is obvious and first takes you parallel with the road before swinging steeply up to the left towards the crest of the woods. At the highest point a magnificent view is revealed of the fells around Kentmere. Stay with the path through the woods as it undulates, trending downhill slightly, to emerge suddenly at a stile into a field.

Turn right here, through a gap. Keep a wall on your left and aim for a stile that appears on the skyline. Beyond this, maintain your direction across the field to find a ladder stile. Continue down the next field with a wall on your left, to a stile, beyond which the wall is now on your right. Keep to this as you descend to Littlewood Farm. Approaching the farm, follow the fence left then go through a gate into the farmyard.

Now join a lane and turn right. Go through a gate and continue on this minor road until a footpath sign (‘Potter Tarn’) points left down a farm access track. Walk down the track, then through a gate, following the arrow across the yard and through another gate to pass in front of the farmhouse. Now a short stretch of enclosed track crosses a tiny beck. Turn right alongside it, then emerge through a gate into a field. The path follows the beck before heading away alongside a plantation then up a rough field to a gate. Turn right beyond this to join a descending track, ignoring a path left to Potter Tarn, to Side House.

Join the access track to cross the beck then follow the track through a couple of gates. Keep straight ahead at a junction and descend to meet a tarmac lane at a bend. Keep ahead, down the road, to a T-junction in the valley bottom.

Turn right along this for 0.25 miles (400m). By the entrance to a sewage treatment works, take a footpath across a paddock then continue to a gate by the river. Follow the obvious meadow path to a ladder stile. Bear right from this, then left after some hawthorn trees to a gate under trees in the far corner. An enclosed lane now leads you in front of Staveley Park. Go through a gate and straight ahead to rejoin the outward route along the riverside and back into the town.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Woodland and grassy paths and tracks, road, 6 stiles

Landscape - Village, woods and fields

Dog friendliness - Fields grazed by sheep, otherwise reasonably suitable for dogs

Parking - On-street parking around Staveley Main Street, or in Mill Yard

Toilets en route - Beside bus stop in Abbey Square, Staveley

Walks in Cumbria Dog-friendly walks in Cumbria

About the walk

It’s no coincidence that this walk starts and finishes by the modern-day buildings of Staveley Mill Yard. The history of the village and its surrounding area is closely linked to the fortunes of the mills that developed on the banks of the River Kent – at its peak, there were 30 mills drawing power...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Cumbria's rugged yet beautiful landscape is best known for the Lake District National Park that sits within its boundaries. It’s famous for Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake, and Derwent Water, ‘Queen of the English Lakes', but other lesser-known areas in the south, such as the Lune Valley and the coastal towns, are secret gems of wide cobbled streets and rolling hills.