Monks Bridge, Cold Fell

Cumbria's oldest pack horse bridge built for the monks of Calder Abbey.Its about a 1.5 mile walk down from the road. Starting out from the road over Cold Fell, walk down the track along side Friar Gill till it reaches the river Calder.  Here there is a footbridge and a ford crossing the river.  Be nice to the sheep on the other side and they often congregate around the gate.  Once you've crossed the river, follow a faint track to the left, which fords a stream and the climbs back up towards the river, which at this point is exiting a gorge.  There the track meets the fence, rather than crossing the fence, follow it carefully down towards the river, and infront of you is the pack horse bridge.  The fences blocking access over the bridge are there for a reason, so please do not attempt to cross the bridge.While this may be thought of as an odd spot for a bridge being so close to a ford in the river, with the Cumbrian weather the river is often in flood and so a high bridge crossing the gorge means the pack horses are kept out of the river and flood waters.