Long Meg walk (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Long Meg walk

11:10am Saturday 14th November 2009

• Print
• Email
• Comments(3)

I recently described a walk around the Stone Circle at Castlerigg, near Keswick.

This week I’m off in search of an equally fascinating pile of ancient stones. We now know much more about these circles and we know that they were not built by the Celtic Druids as sacrificial altars dripping in blood.

There is no doubt that they did not build the stone circles because they are much older than that. The Druids did, however, believe in human sacrifice and did burn enemies alive. This was typical of all religions at that time and there was nobody as cruel as the Romans, who threw victims to the lions and watched while they were torn to pieces.

This stroll is, therefore, not a bloodthirsty ramble but a healthy walk from a still-working water mill to an ancient place of peace and tranquillity.

From the M6 leave at junction 40. Follow the A686 for about four miles. Turn on to the B6412 at Langwathby and pass through the village. Little Salkeld is about one-and-a-half miles away. Cross the bridge to the watermill and car park. The mill is open all the year (telephone 01786-881523).

Route: 1 From the car park, explore the mill and, perhaps, enjoy a guided tour of the machinery and a meal. Be sure to ask if you want to walk from the mill, but there is also street parking in the village.

The work ‘Salkeld’ means ‘the spring by the willow trees,’ which is still an accurate description. The mill began to thrive when the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 brought peace to the Border Country and businesses could function without disruption. From the mill, turn right and ascend the steep and narrow village street.

2 At a ‘T’-junction, turn right at a sign indicating Long Meg. Climb the steep minor road until a narrow track leads off to the left.

3 Although this minor track is not signed, it is the first turn off to be reached and is less than half-a-mile from the village. Continue on for about the same distance to pass a very narrow road.

Pass Marian Lodge to the right and then over a cattle grid.

4 The stone circle is approached with the main group, including Long Meg herself, on the left with a minor group of smaller stones on the opposite side of the road. The circle is privately owned, but visitors are free to visit.

Remember, however, that the area is grazed by cattle, but this only adds to the beauty of the site. Long Meg is a tall sandstone structure but it has been suggested that ‘Meg’ means a magus or magician. This puts a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘a magic circle.’ It could also mean a megalith, which is a huge stone.

It is considered bad luck to physically count all the stones (there are about 70). They are thought to be about 3,500 years old and are arranged in such a way as to work as an astronomical calendar.

From the farm track splitting the circle, a footpath bears right and then veers left, passing a farm on the left. Continue along the obvious path for around half a mile.

5 Approach an old cross and a minor road which marks the site of St Michael’s, also called Addingham Church. In medieval times, churches were sometimes placed away from the village so that victims of the plague could be given a Christian burial. Turn right, and then right again, along a minor road.

6 At a road junction, turn right towards Little Salkeld. Descend to the village and then take another left, back to the corn mill.

Distance: 3 miles. There is a climb, but it is easy and should present no problems Time: allow 2 hours Map reference: OS Explorer OL5. Grid reference 568360 NB: Restrictions on space mean that this article provides a general summary of the route.

It is advisable for anyone who plans to follow the walk to take a copy of the relevant Ordnance Survey map.