Rigg Beck is a minor river of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
.
Rigg Beck is also the name of a famous dwelling – the Purple House – placed where the Beck crosses the Keskadale road, and which formed an excellent starting point for exploring the fells.
Source and course
Rigg Beck arises at the top of the high pass between
Ard Crags
Ard Crags is a fell in the Lake District in Cumbria, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celt ...
and
Causey Pike
Causey Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated in the Newlands Valley, 5 km south-west of the town of Keswick. Even though it has a modest height of 637 metres (2,090 ft) it is one of the most distinctive ...
, of the latter of which it forms one boundary. The beck flows eventually into
Newlands Beck.
The path alongside Rigg Beck forms an attractive pedestrian route between
Newlands Valley
The Newlands Valley is in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is regarded as one of the most picturesque and quiet valleys in the national park, even though it is situated very close to the popular tourist town of Keswick an ...
and Buttermere.
Literary associations
*The Scottish poet
Margot Adamson wrote of the beck “Young as the grass that fringes where it sprays,/Old as the clefts from whence it takes its flight”.
[G Lindop, ''A Literary Guide to the Lake District'' (London 1993) p. 199]
*The Purple House (Rigg Beck) was associated with poets like
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...
and
Ted Hughes
Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
.
See also
*
Keskadale Beck
References
Rivers of Cumbria
1Newlands
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