Peasey Beck

Waterfall on the Peasey Beck near Old Hutton

Peasey Beck is a twelve-mile long beck flowing through Westmorland. It rises on Lambrigg Fell where it is known as the Killington Beck, flows through Killington Reservoir and converges with Stainton Beck to form the River Bela at Milnthorpe (54°13’28"N, 2°44’27"W).

Course

The source of the beck is on Lambrigg Fell at 980 feet (SD590910) between Kendal and Sedbergh where it is known as the Killington Beck.

Killington Reservoir

About half a mile from its source, the beck is dammed and forms the Killington Reservoir or Killington Lake. The Lancaster Canal were empowered by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1807 to deviate from their original route, and to extract water from Farleton Beck, Stainton Beck and Crooklands Beck (later called Peasey Beck), rather than the River Mint. They bought 86 acres of land in 1810, in order to build the reservoir, but over-stretched themselves, and construction had to wait until they had raised more money. It was eventually completed in 1819. It now covers an area of 140 acres, as its banks have been raised several times. The M6 motorway passes immediately to the west of the reservoir, and Killington Lake Services (opened in 1972) are on its bank.

The reservoir offers fishing for rainbow and brown trout and of coarse fish: pike, tench and bream. Day tickets are available and the lake is easily accessible from the M6 motorway.

Below the dam, the water is not carried to the canal in an aqueduct; the reservoir merely controls the flow in the beck. A small dam about six miles downstream near Crooklands diverts water into the canal. By this time, the beck has become the Peasey Beck which joins the River Bela near Milnthorpe and that in turn joins the River Kent.

Outside links

• Lancaster Canal