Eskdale, Cumbria

Eskdale is a glacial valley and civil parish in the western Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It forms part of the Borough of Copeland, and in 2001 had a population of 264,[1] increasing to 304 at the 2011 Census.[2] One of the Lake District's most popular tourist attractions, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, runs through the valley, though along with other western valleys of the Lake District, Eskdale is notably quieter during the high summer season than the more accessible eastern areas.

For articles about other places named Eskdale, see Eskdale.

Eskdale

The panorama across Eskdale from Hardknott Roman Fort
Eskdale
Location in Copeland Borough
Eskdale
Location within Cumbria
Population304 (2011)
OS grid referenceNY1700
Civil parish
  • Eskdale
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHOLMROOK
Postcode districtCA19
Dialling code019467
PoliceCumbria
FireCumbria
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament

Topography

The River Esk flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. The valley is notable in being one of few major valleys in the Lake District not to have its own lake, although several tarns are perched above the valley sides.

The main access to the valley is from the western end; however, there is also a steep pass with a motor road leading out of the valley to the east over Hardknott Pass, as well as a road with beautiful views leading southwards over Birker Fell to the village of Ulpha in the Duddon Valley.

Alfred Wainwright in his guide "Walks from Ratty" describes Eskdale as "One of the loveliest of Lakeland's valleys, descends from the highest and wildest mountains in the district to the Sands of Ravenglass in a swift transition from bleak and craggy ridges to verdant woodlands and pastures watered by a charming river." Upper Eskdale is a remote wilderness surrounded by Sca Fell, Scafell Pike, Ill Crag, Esk Pike, Bow Fell and Crinkle Crags; the Woolpack walk takes in this classic horseshoe.

Governance

Eskdale is within the Copeland UK Parliamentary constituency and the North West England European Parliamentary constituency. Trudy Harrison is the Member of parliament.

Before Brexit, it was in the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency.

Historical districts

The former Eskdale ward of north eastern Cumberland was named after the River Esk in the Scottish Borders, whereas the valley described in this article was located in the former ward of Allerdale Above Derwent which is the present-day local council district of Copeland.

June 2010 shootings
Main article: Cumbria shootings

The area became one of the locations involved in a killing spree perpetrated by 52-year-old taxi driver Derrick Bird, who shot and killed twelve people and wounded eleven others. Several of the wounded victims were shot in Eskdale and the surrounding area.

St Catherine's chapel, Eskdale, Cumbria
St Catherine's chapel seen from across the valley in autumn

Proposed nuclear waste facility

In June 2012, it became clear that Eskdale (specifically the Eskdale granite formed in the Ordovician Period around 450 million years ago) has been identified as a potential site for a Geological Disposal Facility for the UK's high level nuclear waste. Two other sites have also been identified - Ennerdale and the Solway Plain. Eskdale was not named by the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership, rather they referred to the 'granitic rocks forming part of The Lake District Batholith'. These are the Ennerdale and Eskdale granites. This was in (publicly available) document 285 of the West Cumbria MRWS in a report written by Dr Dearlove, the consultant geologist recruited by MRWS.

In Literature

In a note to her poem Eskdale. (Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836), Letitia Elizabeth Landon remarks on the hospitality of the 'estatesmen' of this district.

See also

References
  1. Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish headcounts : Copeland Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 June 2010
  2. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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