River Bela
- Not to be confused with River Belah
The River Bela is a short river, of some four miles long, in Westmorland.
The river is formed by the confluence of Peasey Beck and Stainton Beck at Overthwaite. It runs through Beetham where it still powers the Heron Corn Mill, and formerly powered the Billerud paper mill. It then flows through the deer park of Dallam Tower before skirting around the south of the town of Milnthorpe and joining the River Kent estuary between Sandside and Milnthorpe (54°13’37"N, 2°47’14"W).
At its mouth, the Bela was formerly crossed by the Sandside Viaduct on the Hincaster Branch Line railway from Arnside to Hincaster, but this was demolished after the line was closed to passengers in 1942 and the track lifted in 1966.
Miscellany
During Second World War a prisoner of war camp was built beside the river at SD513802. After the war the camp became an open prison, and there is now a residential school on the site.[1]
Outside links
- Location map: 54°12’55"N, 2°44’54"W
- Streetmap: SD513802
- People's War: The PoW camp by the Bela - BBC
