| Name of walk | Lacey's Caves & Long Meg & Her Daughters |
| Date of walk | 2026-01-15 |
This is a walk that I had been wanting to do for some time, and as we would be spending a couple of nights in Glenridding, it seemed the ideal time to do it. Luckily the weather was excellent so we drove to Little Selkeld. As it was a week day in January we parked in roadside spaces at The Green. There is also a car park near the stone circle for busier times.
From The Green we turned left past the houses and farm.
The path then follows beside the Settle to Carlisle Railway tracks, and the River Eden sweeps into view.
We pass old derelict buildings, the entrance to the old gypsum works and an electricity substation. Soon we can see the viaduct through the trees of the woodland.
The viaduct is 137 yards long and 60ft high.
We follow the track beside the river, there are many cascades. We are on the path of an old tramway.
Old sidings
Our first glimpse of Lacey's Caves through the trees.
The red sandstone of Lacey's Caves.
View back along the path.
View back to the viaduct.
The warning. Lacey's Caves were named after Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Lacey who owned the Salkeld Hall Estate in the 18th century. It is said that after he had the caves excavated he put in place a man pretending to be a hermit to attract tourism and create an air of antiquity.
The route in.
The red sandstone really shines in the sunshine.
Brendan adds some scale to the first of the rooms. Hard quartz veins criss crossing the exposed layers of softer sandstone stand out, showing that there has been considerable erosion since the caves were first excavated.
There was once a bench here.
The caves were impressive, but a bit drafty if you were a hermit!
We continue on the riverside track and witness a rainbow.
Great for the muddy bits.
Some of the wooden walkways had succumbed to the wet conditions, so care is needed. Further on was very muddy too and we had to make a few minor diversions.
Back in the sunshine beside the River Eden.
Gorgeous.
We walk to Daleraven Bridge turning right out on to the road. After an uphill roadwalk we take a track just after the subsidence sign. Then to a narrow hedged track.
We then take the track that goes to St. Michael's Church, but this can be missed out by taking the track continuing south,
Great views out towards the Lake District.
St. Michael's Church. The nave is 13th century and the chancel is from 1512. The church had major alterations in 1898.
St. George and the Dragon.
10th century Anglican stone cross.
The route to Long Meg and her Daughters goes through the churchyard and the field beyond. View back. We follow the tracks across field and beside hedges and a couple of gates and end up in the field of the stone circle.
Long Meg. Long Meg and her Daughters is the third largest stone circle in the British Isles. It has been here since the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Long Meg is 3.4m tall and made of sandstone. The stone circle consists of 65 granite boulders, 109m , by 92m, so more of a stone oval than circle.
It was so big I could really only photograph bits of it.
The stones disappear if you try to get lots in!
Stone circle selfie.
Brendan with the stones.
Backdrop of hills.
The notices at the entrance. (We came in from the back)
The walk was 7 miles and took about 4hrs, but we didn’t rush and spent plenty of time with the stones. We downloaded a walk guide from the Eden Rivers Trust website, which was excellent, as well as an OS map. The only advice I would add is not to do the walk after a period of rain, and if you do, be prepared for mud, and lots of it.
Jo.
