River Mite

The River Mite is a river in the county of Cumbria in northern England.

The valley through which the river Mite runs is called Miterdale. The name Mite is thought to be of British origin and related to a root such as 'meigh': to urinate or dribble, possibly a wry reflection of the relatively minor nature of the Mite.

The Mite rises on Tongue Moor, immediately below the peak of Illgill Head to the north west, at an altitude of around 550 metres. After coalescing into a stream, the upper Mite runs over the waterfalls of Miterdale Head and descends into the narrow but steep-sided upper Miterdale valley. It then flows to the south west, past the Bakerstead outdoor pursuit centre, the village Eskdale Green, to the north of Muncaster Fell, and Muncaster Mill. Finally, the River Mite meets the River Esk and River Irt at the estuarine confluence of the three, near the ancient village of Ravenglass on the Cumbrian coast.

The river runs parallel to the Ravenglass and Eskdale steam railway, and one of their locomotives is named after it. Upper Miterdale formed one of the archetypes upon which Arthur Ransome based the valley of Swallowdale in the eponymous volume of Swallows and Amazons series of stories.

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway locomotives

This article gives details of the locomotives used on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, a 15 inches (380 mm) narrow gauge preserved railway line running for 7 miles (11 km) from Ravenglass on the Cumbrian coast to Dalegarth near the village of Boot, in Eskdale.

Steam locomotives

No. 1 Sans Pareil

The first 15" gauge locomotive operated on the line, built by Bassett-Lowke of Northampton in 1912 as Prins Olaf for a railway in Cristiania (now Oslo), Norway. It arrived for the line's opening in 1915 to Muncaster Mill. It was a Bassett-Lowke Class 30 4-4-2 locomotive and was painted in the dark blue livery of Narrow Gauge Railways. It was withdrawn from traffic in the mid-1920s and parts of it were incorporated into River Mite of 1927. Its leading pony truck was reused under the Passenger Tractor of 1929 for many years. An identical locomotive, Synolda, now resides in Ravenglass railway museum.

No. 2 Colossus

A Bassett-Lowke Class 60 4-6-2, built in 1913 for Captain JE Howey, later of Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway fame, and named John Anthony. It arrived at the same time as Katie in 1916 and was nearly destroyed in a collision with Muriel in 1925. However, it ran after overhaul until 1927, when it was dismantled and utilised as part of the new River Mite 4-6-0-0-6-4 four-cylinder locomotive.