Rathmell Beck

A lovely little footbridge over a lovely little stream, a tributary of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire district of Craven. The name Rathmell probably drives from the Old Norse rauðr meaning red and melr meaning a sandbank. No doubt referring to a sandbank which once existed on the floodplain of the Ribble between the villages of Rathmell and Long Preston, a floodplain which has over the years been drained to improve the agricultural potential of the land. Modern thinking is that the plain should in fact flood during times of high rainfall in order to hold back the water so reducing more damaging flooding downstream.