The Trout Beck is a fast flowing
stream of the
Lake District in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
. It is one of the main sources of replenishment for
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...
, and is part of the
Leven catchment.
Its name comes from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
and appears in documents from 1292 as ''Trutebyk''. The river rises between the peaks of
Stony Cove Pike and
Thornthwaite Crag
Thornthwaite Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, standing to the west of Haweswater Reservoir. It is a focal point of the Far Eastern Fells, standing at the head of several valleys.
Topography
The summit area is broadly horseshoe-sha ...
in the
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym ...
range, at a height of about .
Several tributaries flowing from the crags to the west of the High Street Roman road combine to form the young Trout Beck. The river descends rapidly, more or less in a southerly direction, through
Troutbeck Park and to the west of
Troutbeck Tongue. At a height of about the
Woundale Beck, draining the eastern flanks of
Broad End and
Pike How, is subsumed. The engorged Trout Beck then skirts Hird Wood on its eastern side before subsuming
Hagg Gill at the contour. This latter tributary drains the fells around the course of the old Roman road.
The river passes under Ing Bridge as it continues in a southerly direction down the Troutbeck valley through the tranquil fields of the valley bottom. The hamlets of Town Head and High Green are just to the west of the river as it enters Limefitt Park. On emerging from Limefitt the river is bridged by the
A592 Kirkstone Pass road.
Troutbeck village lies on the west side of the valley. Continuing through a narrow area of mixed woodland the river eventually reaches the
A591 road
The A591 is a major road in Cumbria, in the north-west of England, which lies almost entirely within the Lake District national park. A 2009 poll by satellite navigation firm Garmin named the stretch of the road between Windermere and Keswic ...
at
Troutbeck Bridge
Troutbeck Bridge is a village in South Lakeland, Cumbria, England. It is situated north of Windermere on the A591 road running through the Lake District and was historically in the county of Westmorland. The main secondary school for Winde ...
near the town of
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...
. After less than a mile (2 km) the river enters Windermere on its eastern shore at a point close to Calgarth Hall.
From its source the Trout Beck descends some in a distance of about . The river is a
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...
fishery where
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
can be caught. Anglers should enquire locally about licences (an
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...
Rod Licence is required).
The Trout Beck is wholly within the
historic county of
Westmorland, and since 1974, has also been in the
administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although most ...
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. ...
.
See also
*
Cunsey Beck
*
River Leven
*
River Brathay
*
River Rothay
The Rothay is a spate river of the Lake District in north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and translates literally as ''the red one''. This has come to mean ''trout river''. It rises close to Rough Crag above Dunmail Raise at a p ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of Cumbria
1Trout