BOOTboys

BB2326 : John and the Taggy Man

Thursday 24th August 2023

Have you heard about the Taggy Man? I hadn't, but more about him later.

You've probably never heard of John Herbert Strutt. Until the other day, nor had I. It was Mick who told me about him. First though, let me tell you about his ancestor, Jedediah Strutt.

Born into a Derbyshire farming family in 1726, Jed (to his pals) developed a coal-carrying business before inventing the Derby Rib machine. This was an attachment to a frame that enabled ribbed stockings to be produced.

Manufacturing hosiery was the start of his fortune. Subsequent profitable collaborations with Arkwright and others led him to becoming a "man of enlarged benevolence and active philanthropy.”

John Herbert was the last of the line. After Harrow and the army, he worked at his family's estate in Belper before moving to Cumbria in 1968. Similarly a philanthropist, his main interest was wildlife; particularly butterflies and parrots.

His estate, just outside Kirkby Stephen, has recently been opened to the public by the creation of, our target, the John Strutt Conservation Foundation Circuit.

Mick had heard about the circuit from his pals and suggested it was something we might like to try today, especially as it would keep us well away from the Lakes school holiday honeypots.

We gathered at the main Kirkby Stephen car park and set off into the old town. I thought Tony might like to be photographed next to the statue of his amorata, Lady Anne Clifford. However he refused point blank as he thought it looked nothing like her. Well, if anyone should know, it's Tony. Someone suggested that it represented "the spirit of Lady Anne". Tony just harrumphed.

Mick decided that we should follow the Circuit in reverse rotation to the prescribed route so that we could have an optional extension at the end. Leaving the town in an easterly direction, we dropped to Frank (whoever he was)'s bridge and up to the Hartley quarry on our right.

So intent were we at looking into the quarry.....

..... that we totally missed the remains of the ancient settlement on our left!

We then threaded our way through fields to the Long Rigg scar. Unfortunately visibility wasn't as good as we might have hoped but we did get a reasonable view of the Pennine hills .....

.....and also the Nine Standards.

At noon, Bryan silently showed me his watch and nodded towards Tony. I knew what he meant. For once, Tony's body clock had let him down and it was a full ten minutes before he demanded we stop for lunch. By now, the hills were clearer. With a bit of imagination we could even see the Great Dun golf ball radar station in the far distance and, much closer, Lady Anne's Brough Castle.

Our return was along the dismantled railway track which has, for a stretch, been adopted into the Circuit. It passes through a cutting with steep rocks on either side. Some thought that it ran through a divide between limestone and sandstone. Others weren't convinced.

On entering more open land John's Circuit departs for Kirkby Stephen. However we continued along the track, hoping to get a sight of Hartley Castle. We couldn't. Then we passed over the Podgill and Merrygill viaducts.

With certain exceptions, to my mind viaducts seem more interesting when looking up at them than when crossing them. Much depends on the view of the terrain below. Podgill disappoints as, although the drop is considerable, the land below is substantially over grown. Merrygill is a little better in this respect.

Soon we encountered the Poetry Path- several rocks with verses carved on them. No doubt the were clear when positioned in 2004 but now some are hardly legible due to moss and other vegetation obscuring the text. What could be read wasn't exactly inspiring but perhaps we're just Philistines. It was novel.

Of greater impact than either stones or viaducts was the water cascading under the Stenkrith bridge. What followed was a pleasant walk along the river bank back to Kirkby Stephen.

Once more the Spirit of Lady Anne was eschewed but much time was spent exploring the Parish Church.

There seems to be some confusion as to which Saint it is dedicated or, indeed, if any.

Strangely, its prize exhibit is not Christian at all. It's a stone depicting the Norse god Loki.

At the rear are several fine and extremely old tombs.

Now for the Taggy man.

At eight o'clock each evening the church's Taggy Bell is rung. Any child not home by that time will have to beware capture by the Taggy Man. I suspect John Strutt was never that naughty.

It was at a much earlier hour than eight when we were captured by the Taggy Man- the pub of that name where it would be a delight to be confined for the night.

It's a gem.

Don, Thursday 24th August 2023

Bonus Pictures from Tony.....

..... and from Mick

..... and from TV Mike

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Comitibus:

Tony, TV Mike , Stan, Martin, Mick, Bryan, Don................................Taggy

Map: OS 1:50k

STATISTICS	BB2326 : John and the Taggy Man
Date:	Thursday 24th August 2023
Features:	John Scales Circuit, Kirkby Stephen
Distance in miles:	8.4
Height climbed in feet:	1,189
GPX track:	BB2325.GPX
Comitibus:	Bryan, Don, Martin, Mick, TV Mike, Stan, Tony

For the index pages of our various earlier outings click on the relevant link below:

Home	BB04	BB05	BB06	BB07	BB08	BB09	BB10	BB11	BB12	BB13	BB14
BB15	BB16	BB17	BB18	BB19	BB20	BB21	BB22	BB23			Archive

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BOOTboys2023

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