Long ago a group of French monks had a puzzle to solve to find a place to build a beautiful church. Hundreds of years later, two visiting children each had to eat a lollipop to get two sticks to prove the story true.
Perhaps you could do the same, and follow in their footsteps if you are near the village of Cartmel.
One lovely Lakeland day, twins – a boy and a girl – were taken to Cartmel for the day to hear the man dressed in yellow with the straw hat – the storyteller – tell a story in the square. The children were excited, for apart from the joy of a new story, this outing would involve nice things to eat. They knew the sticky toffee pudding shop stands in the square along with a number of places where ice cream could be bought; and it was a hot summer’s day.
Parking their car next to the great church that is Cartmel Priory, the family wandered into the square and joined the crowd gathered around the man in yellow. Raising his straw hat in welcome, the white-bearded storyteller leaned on his walking stick with the ‘badger head’ handle and began his tale.
Six hundred years ago an abbot called Bernard brought a group of monks with him from France to Lakeland to build a great church. Camping on the top of a hill, they started to dig the foundations for a large stone building. Every evening after their work they prayed together.
One night, praying for help with their mission, they were amazed to hear a voice from the heavens. The voice told them that they were building in the wrong place. Continuing, the voice told them they needed to find a piece of land between two rivers that flowed in opposite directions. The monks realised this would be impossible as all rivers flow to the sea. Bernard told his men they had to prove themselves worthy of this seemingly impossible task, as the voice they had heard was the voice of God.
They set out and searched the whole of Westmorland, the whole of Cumberland and the whole of Lancashire North of the Sands. Each day proved more impossible than the previous one. Pushed on by Abbot Bernard, the monks didn’t give up, even when they found themselves back on the hill where their journey had started.
Thinking of giving up and returning to France, they again kneeled together in prayer. To their astonishment, they heard the sound of rushing water from the valley beneath them. Recognising this as a sign, they rushed down the hill to the village square, each grabbing a stick and tossing it into the river, expecting to see the sticks flow south towards the bay. To their amazement the sticks floated north, towards the mountains. Looking upwards the monks saw a great star, the North Star. This proved what they had seen. Rushing across the village to the site of what we now know as Pepper Bridge, the monks once again threw sticks into the river. This time they did flow south towards the sea.
Bernard and the monks cheered excitedly; their prayers had been answered. They set to work immediately to build the beautiful Cartmel Priory in that valley where they believed two rivers flowed in opposite directions. And there it stands to this day.
The storyteller raised his straw hat towards the Priory as the audience clapped. He told the listeners they could take little sticks to the bridges and see if the story could be true. The twins said that they would really like to try this, suggesting the best way might be to use lollipop sticks! Smiling, the grown-ups agreed. Before long, with lollipops eaten, one stick was dropped at the bridge in the square and the other on the far side of the Priory at Pepper Bridge. And, guess what? They both floated in opposite directions – as you will discover if you visit.
If you like this magical story, you might like to find out more about oxbow lakes with the help of your parents, carers or teachers, especially if they like geography.