Tebay from Roundthwaite Common

I stayed in Tebay once, lodged in a humble hostel. Otherwise, Tebay’s always been a mere waypoint on my route to the southern Lakes.

Dominated by a long terrace of Victorian houses, squashed at the side of the Lune Gorge. It might once have been a remote spot, when, in the early 19th-century, Tebay was home to Mary Baynes, dubbed the ‘Witch of Tebay’.

But the advent of the railway disrupted that tranquillity, following the route the Romans chose for their road. Nowadays, the M6 also uses the valley, its vehicular hum echoing high up on Roundthwaite Common.