Colonel Lacy, of Salkeld Hall, famous for once trying to blow up the stones of Long Meg Stone Circle, carved five chambers out of the sandstone cliffs by the River Eden in Little Salkeld. Possibly he was emulating the caves at Wetherall, further up the River Eden. It was fashionable to have romantic ruins at that time, or they may have been built as a wine store. Colonel Lacy used to entertain guests here, and the area was planted with gardens. The rhododendrons and laburnams still flower every spring.

They now form part of a delightful riverside walk which can be reached from Little Salkeld or Lazonby. You can pick up a leaflet from one of the many Tourist Information Centres in the area.

High Cup Gill is a classic U-shaped valley high on the western flanks of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

A deep chasm on the Pennine fellside, this famous nick, a dramatic geological formation at the top of High Cup Gill is part of the well-known Whin Sill, and overlooks the best glaciated valley in Northern England. Here you can see the grey-blue dolerite crags which also form High Force and Cauldron Snout.

High Cup Nick is on the Pennine Way and can be reached from Cow Green on the border of Cumbria and County Durham, or Dufton in the Eden Valley.

One of the finest stone circles in the north of England, the circle has a diameter of about 350 feet, the second biggest in the country. Long Meg is the tallest of the 69 stones, about 12 feet high, with three mysterious symbols, its four corners facing the points of the compass and standing some 60 feet outside the circle.  The stones probably date from about 1500 BC, and it was likely to have been used as a meeting place or for some form of religious ritual. Long Meg is made of local red sandstone, whereas the daughters are boulders of rhyolite, a form of granite.  William Wordsworth wrote 'Next to Stonehenge it is beyond dispute the most notable relic that this or probably any other country contains.'  Local legend claims that Long Meg was a witch who with her daughters, was turned to stone for profaning the Sabbath, as they danced wildly on the moor. The circle is supposedly endowed with magic, so that it is impossible to count the same number of stones twice, but if you do then the magic is broken.

Pendragon Castle is reputed to have been founded by Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. According to legend, Uther Pendragon and a hundred of his men were killed here when the Saxon invaders poisoned the well. There are also claims that the Romans built at least a temporary fort here, along the road between their forts at Brough and Bainbridge. But (apart from legend and supposition), there is no real evidence that there was any building here before the Normans built their castle in the 12th Century.  The castle was built next to the River Eden in the Vale of Mallerstang in the late 12th century, probably by Hugh de Morville. Like the nearby castles of Appleby and Brough, Pendragon came into the possession of the Clifford family. It was abandoned after a raiding Scottish army set fire to the castle in 1341, but was rebuilt in 1360. It was left in ruins by another fire in 1541, but was restored in the mid 17th century by Lady Anne Clifford. The castle gradually fell back into ruin after her death - and now remains a romantic ruin, set in glorious scenery.

NOTE: Pendragon castle is on private land. Access is permitted, but care must be taken - it is in a potentially dangerous condition despite some recent restoration.