#168: Mardale – Flooding of a valley

...in which we head east to one of Lakeland’s loneliest dales, and tell the story of a once-thriving valley lost beneath the dammed waters of Haweswater. In the company of local historian and dialect champion Jean Scott-Smith, we set the historic scene on Mardale, cradled in the Far Eastern Fells and overlooked by a British fort, a Roman Road and Scandinavian shielings. Proceeding into the 18th century, Jean paints a picture of a bustling farmed valley, with rich dairy pastures and a steady flow of traders and packmen making their way over the passes of Nan Bield and Gatesgarth and down past High and Low Water. Recounting tales of the Kendal Archers, boisterous nights at the Old Dun Bull (where buckets of ale were passed around) and the legendary week-long Mardale Shepherds Meet (originally held on High Street, latterly at the Dunnie), we introduce a range of local characters, from the Kings of Mardale to eccentric ‘Old Barham’ the vicar, who bled parishioners using a tortoise-shell lancet. With the waters of Thirlmere insufficient to meet the growing thirst of Manchester, we learn about Manchester Corporation’s acquisition of the valley – with barely a whisper of protest – and, following the Haweswater Act of 1919, the subsequent abandonment of the hamlets of Measand, Mardale Green and Whelter before the grammar school was relocated, the church taken down and Royal Engineers arrived with explosives to raze the remaining farms and homesteads. Heading up-dale to rain-drenched Mardale Head, Jean points out landmarks uncovered by the summer’s drought – including foundations of the Dun Bull, and the old valley road (its walls as they were 90 years after the terminal flood) – before noting nearabouts landmarks – the corpse road to Shap, the grandstand-view peatcutters’ huts, the former navvie settlement of Burnbanks. Closing the pod in Shap’s upper graveyard – where many of Mardale’s dead were reinterred – we reflect on the passing of a community; on the media circus that unfolds in dry years; and on the surprise discovery of Mardale’s long lost church organ. Shap Local History Society holds an extensive archive, including artefacts and images relating to Mardale, at their Heritage Centre, Market Cross, Shap. The archive is open by arrangement – please contact either 01931 716671 or 01931 716386.