Fell Foot Direction Marker, Newby Bridge, Cumbria
N 54° 16.412 W 002° 57.071
30U E 503179 N 6013956
The old pack horse route went over Gummers How. On converting to a turnpike this milestone would have been a requirement.
Waymark Code: WM3KM9
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/16/2008
Views: 3
Only modern north bound traffic would notice this large direction indicator embedded in to the wall, at foot of the steep hill. On east side of A592 opposite Fell Foot gardens.
To get from Lancaster to Ulverston, travellers would either have to cross the sands of Morecambe Bay or struggle up to Kendal to cross the river Kent. The track from Kendal to Ulverston was not ideal there were two steep gradients, one at Cunswick Scar, one at Bowland Bridge. Eventually the turnpike was extended from Heron Syke (Burton in Kendal) through Kendal north to Eamont Bridge. This allowed this track to be adopted as a turnpike. But all the trustees did was improve the surface and widen the pack horse route. Coaches still preferred the sands route.
This situation was alleviated when the Lyth Valley was drained and a turnpike created from Milnthorpe to Newby Bridge, across Levens Bridge (
visit link) and Sampool Bridge in 1817. The railway appeared in 1847 and took much of the traffic.