Not Crook O'Lune Bridge – that's much bigger, 33 km away at Caton in the River Lune's lower valley, and itself not to be confused with Caton's Crook O'Lune Viaduct(s).
I've made numerous attempts to photograph this bridge close-up, from a number of angles and in a range of conditions... and I'm still trying. Maybe it needs a really powerful sky, or perhaps I need to get into the water for a better angle – that glacial terrace on the far side isn't the most compelling background. Flow was fairly high today, almost bankfull and approaching the top of the pier's upstream cutwater, so I suppose that adds a little drama. ;)
The bridge is about half a millennium old, having been built in the 16th Century or even earlier, though it's known to have been repaired, and perhaps altered, in (at least) 1702, 1758 and 1817. It's frequently said to have been a packhorse bridge, but that's merely repetition of a rumour, and I'm sceptical – the high parapets aren't characteristic and there's another mediæval bridge a mere 4 km downstream at a more likely crossing point for traders. Additionally, there is an acknowledged packhorse bridge nearby, over Lowgill Beck, but that's on a north-south route following the western bank of the River Lune, not crossing it east-west. This bridge is, however, on an ancient droving route particularly important in the 17th and 18th Centuries, so I favour that explanation for its construction and frequent maintenance.
The humped bridge, of roughly-coursed rubble, spans 29 m via an asymmetrical pair of ~10 m arches supported by a buttressed pier in the channel; counting the curving approaches, it's 51 m long. It's also exceptionally narrow, at only ~2 m wide, which is just enough for a small modern car (I fold one wing mirror in, just in case!). As such, it receives limited motorised traffic, also because the approach roads are curiously offset from the bridge, forcing vehicles through a pair of tight bends. It is, however, on National Cycle Network Route 70 ('Walney-to-Wear').
As a stone by the crossing indicates, this reach of Lune was once the border between the pre-1974 county of Westmorland and Yorkshire's West Riding (it's all Cumbria now), and hence became the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 1954 (the same year as the bridge was Grade II* Listed, probably coincidentally). That in turn means that this is the point where westward walkers on the Dales Way long-distance footpath technically cross out of the Dales on their way to Windermere.
[Image reached no.335 in Flickr Explore on 16/01/14! Thanks!]
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