Apart from photography, another interest I have is in enjoying the great outdoors,usually on foot and sometimes also on a mountain bike. I’ve built up a collection of routes over the years and these have appeared on my Bikes and Boots website. Around 14 months agao, some idiot thought it would be fun to hijack it and add all sorts of unsuitable content which made it unusable. I had a false start to re-create it but I was niver happy with it and it seemed to suffer with slow performance.
So, I made a decision to move host and to rebuild it using the WordPress platform (as this is). It has a long way to go to get back to have all the walks and rides that it used to have but I hope to do this over the coming months.
Please visit my Bikes and Boots (opens in a new window) website when you have a few moments.
Set among the dales at the upper end of Eskdale, St Catherine’s dates back to the 12th century when the Priory of St Bees owned a chapel here. The setting is magnificent, with a backdrop of Scafell Pike.
It is said that in the sixth century a Hermit lived on Arment Hill – quarter of a mile east of the parish church of Saint Catherine. People used to travel miles to seek his prayers and healing. His Well is still recognisable and some of the farmers still draw water from it when they bring their children to Baptism in the Church Stepping stones at St. Cathrines
The River Esk is easily crossed at Saint Catherine’s and the old stepping stones (seen in a previous image some time ago) are still used by those coming to Church and those walking from The King George up to Doctor Bridge – one of the best riverside walks in the area.
The position of this Church is determined by both the presence of the Holy Well and the Stepping Stones – it is very ancient. Fortunately the Victorians did not spoil its simplicity when they rebuilt it – a barn, beside a river, under the mountains where the Christian God has been worshipped by generations of valley people and their visitors.
