Greystoke

This traditional English village, 8km west of Penrith, has really come back to life since the Cycle Cafe opened and the pub came under new ownership. It is fast becoming one of the most popular hubs along the route and you can see why as you sit back, pint in hand, admiring the village green with its 17th century cottages clustered around the edges. Greystoke church is the size of a cathedral and, discretely hidden at the top of a long drive and behind a curtain of trees in a 3,000 acre wooded park, is Greystoke Castle, seat of the Howard family for the last five centuries.

Tarzan is modelled on one former Baron Greystoke of this parish, and there are certainly enough trees for any Lord of the Apes to practise on. Not much is made of the Tarzan connection on the estate, but that is because it is a family home and business rather than a tourist theme park. However, I thought Tarzan fans might be interested to know.

The origins of Greystoke are probably Roman - they built a road from Penrith to Troutbeck. The name itself means `place by the River Creik', a small stream nearby. Indeed, the village was known as Creistock in early Medieval times.

Though most of the village dates from the 17th century, the foundation of the Perpendicular-style church was laid in mid-1200s, but building did not start until 1382 and went on into the next century. The bells that still ring out in Greystoke date from the Middle Ages. Inside the church is some fine Medieval and Victorian stained glass. It is simply a magnificent church, a splendid monument to the wealth of the great Howard family.The Spillers Stone in the village was thought to be a plague stone, where plague victims lett coins in a pool of vinegar on its concave surface. The vinegar was added to protect the healthy, who lett food there for sufferers.

According to the Cumbria Directory, Greystoke Castle, the seat of the Howard family from the 1500's, was an integral part of village life. The first stone building to occupy the site was constructed in 1129 and served as protection against raids from Scottish Border raiders, or Reivers, as they were known in the days before the famous cycle route assumed the nomenclature.

Cromwell destroyed much of Greystoke and a devastating fire in 1868 ensured that only the medieval pele (fortified) tower and a few Georgian interiors survived. The present building, in the Elizabethan style, dates from the 19th century.The nearby countryside boasts a number of fine old fortified houses complete with pele towers, notably Blencow Hall, built in 1590, Greenthwaite Hall, and Johnby Hall. All are reminders of the bloody times of the Border Reivers.

The Boot and Shoe Pub was acquired its name because of the strange sartorial habit of a former Duke of Norfolk of wearing a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other, to ease the pain of crippling gout. Whether or not, thus clad, he shuffled down the long drive and across the green to the pub is not recorded.

He would have done better settling for tea and scones at Annie Swarbrick's Greystoke Cycle Cafe (see entry), a welcome addition to the village.

The route out of Greystoke goes past Blencow Hall, the aforementioned fortified farmhouse. It is an unusually handsome building just before you get to the village of Little Blencow. Just up the road follow signs to the right and you will enter Penrith via Newton Reigny and Newton Rigg.