Alston Shingle Banks

The A686 is a road in Northern England. It runs from Penrith in Cumbria to Haydon Bridge in Northumberland. AA Magazine named the A686 as one of their "Ten Great Drives" owing to the dramatic scenery of the North Pennines hills encountered along its route. Travel journalist Phil Llewellin said: England’s great wilderness sprawls across the northern Pennines, where the mountains have fascinating names such as Fiend’s Fell and Wildboar Fell. Penrith merits a visit after leaving the M6, and memories of the motorway fade as the A686 crosses the River Eden valley. The mood changes dramatically in Melmerby, where the road starts its long climb to the cafe at Hartside, 1,900 feet (580 m) above sea level, with stunning views across the Solway Firth and Scotland. The road leads to Alston, which claims to be England’s highest market town, a charming little place with cobbled streets and quaint buildings. The A686 beyond Alston crosses another breathtaking expanse of windswept upland before running down to the River Allen's beautiful wooded gorge.

Bayles is a hamlet near Alston in Cumbria, England.

Alston is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor. It is located at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level in the North Pennines, the River South Tyne, and shares the title of 'highest market town in England', with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite its relative isolation, the town has road connections to the Tyne Gap to the north, Weardale and Teesdale to the south-east, and Penrith to the south-west. Much of the town centre is a designated conservation area which includes several listed buildings. It was historically within the county of Cumberland. Alston was historically a centre for mining, with lead, zinc, iron, copper, and coal found in the vicinity.

Samuel King's School is a mixed secondary school located in Alston in the English county of Cumbria. As of 2017 it had 73 students on roll. It is a comprehensive foundation school administered by Westmorland and Furness Council. The schools serves the population of Alston, as well as the wider area of Alston Moor. The current headteacher is Ian Johnson, who was appointed in 2012. Samuel King's School offers GCSEs and OCR Nationals as programmes of study for pupils. The school also offers some of its courses via distance learning.

Leadgate is a small hamlet located at the foot of Hartside Fell between the town of Alston and the village of Garrigill in the parish of Alston Moor in Cumbria, England.

Alston Moor, formerly known as Alston with Garrigill, is a civil parish and electoral ward in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. It is set in the moorlands of the North Pennines, mostly at an altitude of over 1000 feet. The parish/ward had a population of 2,088 at the 2011 census. As well as the town of Alston, the parish includes the villages of Garrigill and Nenthead, along with the hamlets of Nenthall, Nentsberry, Galligill, Blagill, Ashgill, Leadgate, Bayles and Raise. Alston Moor is part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the second largest of the 40 AONBs in England and Wales. Under the Local Government Act 1894, the parish, then known as Alston with Garrigill, which had previously been a rural sanitary district on its own, became one of the few single-parish rural districts. This remained in existence until 1974 when it became part of the Eden district. On 18 June 1974 the parish was renamed from "Alston with Garrigill" to "Alston Moor". The parish is divided into the wards of Alston (which includes Leadgate), Garrigill and Nenthead. Eden District was abolished in 2023 and the parish is now administered as part of the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority area. The area is drained by the River South Tyne whose source is located in the fells above Garrigill and also by the Rivers Nent and Black Burn which, along with many other smaller streams, flow into the Tyne. The Rivers Tees and Wear also have their sources on the borders of the parish.

Alston Town Hall is a municipal building in Front Street, Alston, Cumbria, England. The town hall, which is currently used as a public library, is a Grade II listed building.

Alston is a heritage railway station on the South Tynedale Railway. The station, situated 13 miles (21 km) south of Haltwhistle, is in the market town of Alston, in Cumbria, England. It was originally on the Alston Branch Line, which ran between Haltwhistle and Alston. It was opened by the North Eastern Railway on 21 May 1852, closing on 3 May 1976. Following a seven-year closure, the station reopened in July 1983, as part of the South Tynedale Railway.

Gilderdale Halt railway station, also known as Gilderdale railway station, served the town of Alston, Cumbria, England, from 1986 to 1999 on the South Tynedale Railway.

Ayle is a village in Northumberland, England, situated to the north of Alston. There are six residences in the hamlet.

Whitley Castle (Epiacum) is a large, unusually shaped Roman fort (Latin: castra) north-west of the town of Alston, Cumbria, England. It is the highest stone-built Roman fort in Britain. The castrum, which was first built by the Roman Army early in the 2nd century AD, was partly demolished and rebuilt around 200 AD. It appears to have been sited to protect lead mining in the area as well as to support the border defences of Hadrian's Wall. Unlike most Roman forts that have a "playing-card shape" (rectangular with rounded corners), Whitley Castle is lozenge-shaped to fit the site. Numerous banks and ditches ring the stone ramparts, making it among the most complex defensive earthworks of any fort known in the Roman Empire. The site was surveyed by the geologist Thomas Sopwith in the 19th century and the historian R. G. Collingwood in the 20th century. In 2012, a geophysics survey was conducted by a team from Durham University but it has not been fully excavated. Among finds at the fort are altars with inscriptions to Hercules by Legio VI Victrix (normally stationed at Eboracum [York]) and to Apollo by the 2nd Cohort of Nervians, the garrison of auxiliaries. Other finds include a midden containing shoes; coins, fragments of Samian pottery, beads, nails, and a bronze handle shaped like a dolphin.

The South Tynedale Railway is a preserved, 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railway in Northern England and at 875 feet (267 m) is England's second highest narrow-gauge railway after the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in north Devon. The South Tynedale line runs from Alston in Cumbria, down the South Tyne Valley, via Gilderdale, Kirkhaugh and Lintley, then across the South Tyne, Gilderdale and Whitley Viaducts to Slaggyford in Northumberland.