Armboth: Cumbria’s Most Haunted

Driving past Thirlmere these days, you wouldn’t suspect that it was anything other than an attractive valley in the central Lake District. But this area is associated with a long list of peculiar and spooky stories going back hundreds of years.

Thirlmere from Steel Fell c. Mick Knapton

Before the valley was flooded at the end of the 19^th century to create Thirlmere reservoir, it looked very different. Instead of a large lake with a steeply-sloping shore, there was a ribbon of water, comprising two skinny lakes connected at a narrow neck by an ancient wooden structure commonly referred to as the ‘Celtic bridge’. On the eastern side of the bridge stood Dalehead Hall – now a hotel – and on the western side, Armboth House.

The Cappel: Cumbria’s spooky black dog

The Black Dog

There are stories of black dogs all over Britain. There’s usually something spooky or downright sinister about them, inspiring stories in both folklore and fiction – Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles being the classic example. They are known by different names across the country – a barghest¹, padfoot², a schuck³, a gytrash⁴, the cù sìth (although he’s green)⁵ and, in Cumbria, the cappel⁶.