Headstones

Today's the day ...................... to go on the Settle - Carlisle Railway

It's our AGM this weekend - and we always make a bit of a do out of it. People come from quite a long way sometimes, so it's nice to turn it into a short holiday for them. To start things off, there was a trip out today from Kirkby Stephen West to Settle on the Settle - Carlisle Railway.

The scenery along this route is some of the finest in England giving uninterrupted views across to the distinctively shaped hills of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent. The track itself climbs up from 510 feet above sea level to Aisgill Summit at 1169 feet and then is carried across the Ribblehead Viaduct with its 24 arches, the highest 100 feet, with piers sunk on to rock through 25 feet of mud and clay. It is a railway line, the construction of which defied all the odds.

We stopped for lunch in the lovely little village of Settle - a picnic in the garden of the Friends Meeting House, built in 1678. We were obviously invading the territory of this scruffy little robin who made sure that we all knew his feelings on the matter ...........................!