Artle Beck is a minor

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Rising at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of Udale Beck and Foxdale Beck below ''Fosdale Bridge'' and ''Udale Bridge'' near ''Crossgill'', Artle Beck flows northwest through steep-sided

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, passing beneath ''Raven Scar'' on its way to ''Gresgarth Hall''. From there, the

beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

continues north, skirting around the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Caton before meeting the River Lune opposite Halton Park. The beck is dammed at ''Gresgarth Hall'' and feeds a mill leat which runs separately through ''Caton''. Two of the (originally three) mills are still standing but have been converted for other uses. The leat empties separately into the ''Lune'' at ''Low Mill'' about half a mile downstream from the mouth of ''Artle Beck'' itself.

Tributaries

*Foxdale Beck commences at ''Foxdale Head'' at ''High Stephen's Head'' and flows northwest, being joined by Rushbed Gutter and Whitespout Gutter, draining the north side of ''Ward's Stone''. The beck continues through ''Littledale'', passing ''

Littledale Hall Littledale Hall is a former country house in the civil parish of Caton-with-Littledale in Lancashire, England, some 10 miles (16 km) east of Lancaster. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II li ...

'', where it is joined by Ragill Beck (flowing down from ''Haylot Fell'' and fed by Closegill Beck), before continuing through ''Crossgill'' (and fed by Crossgill Beck), beneath which it passes under ''Fosdale Bridge'' to meet Udale Beck. *Udale Beck rises on the ''Black Side of Ward's Stone'', flowing north-by-northwest towards ''Blanch Fell'', before moving northwest and picking up several

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

, including Oval Syke, which emerges from a tarn high on ''Clougha''. Continuing down ''Littledale'', the beck is joined by Bellhill Clough near a ford and Sweet Beck. From there, Udale Beck travels northwards through woodland and under ''Udale Bridge'', below which it joins Foxdale Beck. Rivers of Lancashire Rivers of Lancaster 1Artle {{England-river-stub