Traffic and TravelHeavy goods vehicles are now banned from using Kirkby Stephen as a rat run from the nearby A66. Lorries aren't the only things that don't travel into Kirkby Stephen any more. The old corpse road from Hartley and Winton is no longer used for carrying coffins to Kirkby Stephen for burial at the parish church. Carry me over Eden.... | | Frank's Bridge |
In the Market Square look for the sign for Frank's Bridge which takes you over the River Eden via the pedestrian bridge onto the corpse road. The stones at the end of the bridge have been placed so that the coffin could be rested there before the short climb into the town. Apart from being a reminder of a rather ghoulish last trip the bridge takes you to a quiet and pretty back water. Visitors to the BBC BUS couldn't throw any light on to the mystery of who Frank was but one story has him down as Frank Birkbeck a local brewer. Norse Gods and the "cathedral of the dales"  | | "Cathedral of the dales" |
The parish church is known locally as the "cathedral of the dales". Visitors to the church who dig deep and shell out twenty pence will get a leaflet full of historical detail about the church. The leaflet has wonderfully graphic pictures of the Tenth century Loki stone and the Eighteenth century bread shelves used for distributing bread to the poor. How many furlongs? | | Signpost in miles and furlongs |
The road sign to the Yorkshire towns of Hawes and Reeth is very possibly the only sign in the County left to record distance in miles and furlongs. Other antiquated signs include the Temperance Hotel now closed, nobody ever used the mini bars there, and a redundant mailbox . The current Post Office can be found at the rear of a gift shop on the main street. The shop itself was a church. Coast to Coast.Keen walkers will know Kirkby Stephen as the half way point on Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk. Wainwright describes the 190 mile walk as challenging so if walking doesn't appeal, try cycling. Kirkby Stephen lies on the Walney to Wear cycle route. Even the pub names refer back to travel, although Drovers of the seventeenth century would have also had a number of large black cows with them, not always the most congenial travelling companions. They left behind a legacy of pub names. Which may or may not explain the reason behind the naming of the Black Bull pub in the town. Russia or bust.Kirkby Stephen is a very very long way from Russia, 2,636 miles more or less, never mind the furlongs. Students from Kirkby Stephen Grammar School have been planning a trip to St Petersburg and paying for it by fund raising with Chocco Lotto not Rubles. Natasha, Jenny and Carl gave us a flavour of the their best and worst expectations of the visit and practiced their Russian. | 
