Stages of A River / Source of Eden / Appleby Horse Fair June 20, 2007

Travelling along one of the World’s most scenic railways, through Cumbria, one has the chance to view the course of the River Eden almost from birth to where it meets the sea. There is said to be 3 ages of a river. Young, middle and plain or old age. The Eden’s source is hidden away high up in the moorlands above the Mallerstang Valley, between Wild Boar Fell and Black Fell Moss where two streams – Red Gill and Little Grain – filter from Hugh Seat (2257 ft), and join forces to form Hell Gill Beck including Hangingstone Scar. Here in its youth it enjoys a spectacular date with Hell Gill Force waterfall.

Then its settles down to middle age for most of its passage through a wider valley, liable to exceptional twists and gorges, picking up passengers – tributary streams.

At Appleby its course is about half done. In June, humans with their horses have taken to creating a fair. A horse fair. This year a horse drowned as its rider, bare-topped took her too deeply into the river where she stumbled. The crowd looked on in horror. The rider disappeared into the crowd as the horse was dragged out.

It was here, being a gypsy fair, I had my fortune read. She read that I was in need of love and concentrated on the love thing. I would meet a woman from across the water. Whose people were once my invader. Yet who had a Christian name. And shared my occupation. And who had a son of seven.

Miles further north and heading north – unusual for an English River – and now in its middle age, the Eden passes Long Meg And Her Many daughters, a stone circle of much merit. At water’s edge faces are carved in the sandstone cliff walls by people with time, probably fishermen.

My house meanwhile is west of Eden – on the other bank – but in this middle age are some great stretches for river swimming almost into the night. The waters in which the horse had drowned had no doubt washed through here already and were well on their way to the Sea by this time that I came swimming about there the Monday evening after the weekend of the horse.

All the rivers flow into the sea but the sea is never filled it is said and has been said for some time and in bliblical times people wanted answers to such mysterious truths… they believed that the waters of the ocean must be “water which swallows water.”

These seas do not truly swallow, but accommodate. They surely possess the oldest waters on all the planet.