Goldrill Beck Set Free

Mist and drizzle soften the view over upper Patterdale, where Brotherswater draws the eye and Goldrill Beck winds its way across the valley floor. Not long ago this river was forced into a rigid eighteenth-century channel, cut straight alongside the A592 at the edge of the wood beneath Hartsop above How. The result was a lifeless drain: too deep, too uniform, stripped of the pools, riffles and gravel beds that fish and other wildlife depend on, and quick to drive floodwater downstream.

Today the story has changed. The Ullswater Riverlands Project has given the beck back its freedom. Curves, gravel bars and side channels have returned. The water now divides and rejoins, creating wet woodland on its way to Angletarn Beck, while the old cut remains as a backwater to store floodwater. The floodplain slows the flow, shields the road, and makes room for fish, birds and woodland to flourish¹Goldrill Beck and the  Ullswater Riverlands Project by Hannah Haydock. Accessed 15 Sept 2025. https://www.ullswaterheritage.org/heritage-knowledge-bank/landscape-contents/water/goldrill-beck-riverlands-project.

What you see is not a drain but a living river—restored, restless, and reshaping the valley as nature intended.

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  Goldrill Beck and the  Ullswater Riverlands Project by Hannah Haydock. Accessed 15 Sept 2025. https://www.ullswaterheritage.org/heritage-knowledge-bank/landscape-contents/water/goldrill-beck-riverlands-project