Nateby Common [Tailbridge Hill]

About Nateby Common [Tailbridge Hill]

Rising above the Eden Valley, this limestone-edged moorland provides a breezy, accessible vantage point on the border of the Dales and the North Pennines. Its plateau is defined by deep shake holes and provides a grandstand view across the valley toward the dark, stepped cliffs of Mallerstang Edge and Wild Boar Fell.

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Did You Know?

• •The name Nateby is derived from the Old Norse 'Nate-by', signifying a settlement associated with nettles or a person named Nate, typical of the Norse-Gaelic heritage of the Upper Eden.
• •The summit plateau is famous for its 'shake holes'—conical depressions in the turf formed where the underlying carboniferous limestone has dissolved or collapsed over millennia.
• •From the summit, walkers can look directly south to trace the 'High Way', an ancient green lane and former drovers' road that runs along the eastern flank of the Mallerstang valley.
• •Because the B6270 road crests the ridge just a few hundred metres from the top, Tailbridge Hill is a rare summit where the effort-to-view ratio is heavily skewed in the walker's favour; you can reach the cairn in minutes.
• •The hill marks a distinct geological transition, sitting where the limestone of the Eden Valley meets the gritstone caps of the higher Pennine moors toward Nine Standards Rigg.