Beggar's Bridge

A graceful 17th-century packhorse bridge built, so the story goes, by a sailor for the sweetheart the river kept him from.

Photo: Jo Turner, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

Beggar's Bridge is the emblem of the Esk Valley. Its single, high arch spans the river beside Glaisdale station, built in 1619 and inscribed with the initials of Thomas Ferris.

Ferris, the son of a poor moorland farmer, courted the daughter of a wealthy landowner at Glaisdale. The night before he left to seek his fortune at sea, the Esk was in flood and he could not cross to say goodbye. He sailed with Drake against the Armada, returned rich, married his sweetheart, and built the bridge so no other lovers would be separated by the river. It is a good story, and the bridge is beautiful whether or not you believe it.

The bridge is now for foot traffic only. From it, the riverside path through Arncliffe Wood to Egton Bridge is one of the finest short walks in the dale, following ancient stone trods beneath oak and beech.

History & heritage

Wade's Causeway

Over a mile of mysterious stone causeway across Wheeldale Moor, long called a Roman road, and still argued over.

Goathland

Railways

The Esk Valley Railway

The little railway that makes the valley work: a 35-mile line from Middlesbrough to Whitby with a stop at nearly every village.

Glaisdale

Nature & views

Glaisdale Rigg

A high moorland ridge above Glaisdale with wide views over the valley and some of the darkest night skies in England.