Gosforth, and the farms up the valley behind it.
An old sandstone village on the way to Wasdale, with working farm buildings in the country round it. A family firm of 20 years. Free quotes, 24 hour call-outs.
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No call-out charge, and no obligation.
Written prices
the quote is the price, agreed before we start
Free quotes
no call-out charge, and a written price before anyone starts
24 hours
someone answers the phone, storm or shine
Fully insured
every job covered, from a single slate to a full re-roof
01/
Roofing in Gosforth.
Gosforth is an old village rather than a new one — sandstone cottages, a church with a Viking cross in the yard that has been standing for a thousand years, and the road that runs up towards Wasdale and the highest ground in England. It has a settled, low-built feel, and the roofs reflect that: steep slate on thick stone walls, with the small irregularities of buildings that were put up by hand.
The village work is mostly older property. Slate that has been on a long time, stone chimneys that need repointing and re-flaunching, and the sort of extension-upon-extension arrangement where a lean-to roof runs into a main slope and somebody once sorted it out with mortar. There is also newer housing, which is straightforward by comparison.
What makes Gosforth different from the coastal villages is the country behind it. Head inland and you are into farms — barns, byres, implement sheds and outbuildings, some of them still under stone slate, many under sheeting. That is real roofing work and we do it, but it comes with real access problems: a barn three fields from a road is a different proposition from a house on a street, and we say so in the quote rather than discovering it on the day.
As you go up the valley you also start meeting stone roofs proper — heavy random-width stone laid in diminishing courses. It is a specialist covering, it is very heavy, and it needs someone who has done it before. We have.
02/
What the weather does here.
Gosforth is a few miles inland, so it escapes the salt that Seascale lives with, but it sits under some of the wettest ground in the country. The rain that comes off Wasdale and the western fells has to go somewhere, and a lot of it comes through this valley.
Sheer volume of water is the problem here rather than salt or wind. Gutters and valleys fill fast, moss takes hold on anything north-facing, and stone that stays wet all winter does not dry out between one downpour and the next. On an old cottage that is how damp gets into a wall — not through a hole, but because the water never stops arriving.
03/
What we do most of in Gosforth.
Every town on this coast wears its roofs out differently. These are the jobs that come up here — but we do the lot, so if yours is not on the list, ring and describe it.
Stone roofs
Stone slate on the older buildings up towards Wasdale.
Stone roofs in Gosforth
Roof maintenance
Very wet country. Clear valleys and gutters are what keeps a cottage dry.
Roof maintenance in Gosforth
Roof inspections
Farm buildings and old cottages you cannot judge from the ground.
Roof inspections in Gosforth
Chimneys and leadwork
Stone chimneys and the junctions where additions meet the main roof.
Chimneys and leadwork in Gosforth
04/
What people round here say.
“Bryan and his team fitted a new slate roof on my house and did a fantastic job. Brian explained fully what the work entailed and answered all of my questions. They are professionals and I would highly recommend them.”
Amanda Wright
New slate roof — , 30 November 2020
“I contacted Riverside roofing with an emergency issue at my holiday let. He ( Bryan) returned my call immediately, offered to go to the property in less than an hour to assess the problem, without any charges for looking at the problem. Absolutely fantastic service, with customer service to match, reliable with a positive attitude. I thoroughly recommend Riverside Roofing.”
lisa McAleavey
Emergency call-out to a holiday let — Google, 24 August 2024
“Excellent service. I phoned on Monday & they were able to start work on my badly leaking roof on the Friday. Job finished on the Saturday. Thank you to Brian & the lads. Highly recommend this company.”
Joanne Whitehead
Badly leaking roof — Google, 21 November 2022
“Fantastic service. Prompt, friendly and 100% professional. Explained everything clearly and got job started and finished with remarkable quality. ( a visiting friend is a roofer and ‘remarkable quality’ are his words) left yard clean and tidy. Team singing and happy on job- really cheered us up. CWould recommend to anyone. Thanks guys!!!”
Lucy Wills
Roof damage repair and installation — Google, 28 November 2022
“Great job done on guttering, quick and efficient, very friendly”
malcolm cavanagh
Guttering — Google, 22 November 2019
“Top service! Came out after some storm damage to my roof by storm Eowyn. They were there within the hour from me making contact and carried out a temp fix and make the roof watertight whilst i logged a claim with my insurers. Once my insurance claim was authorised they came straight back out to do the permanent repairs and even waited for the insurance payout to hit my bank before I paid them. All done in good faith and nothing was too much trouble. Would definitely recommend.”
Wayne McCarron
Storm damage and insurance repair — Google, 10 February 2025
“Bryan and his team did an excellent job replacing my roof, facias and guttering, leaving everything clean and tidy when they finished. I would have no hesitation in recommending Riverside Roofing.”
diane harrison
New roof, fascias and guttering — Google, 6 July 2024
“Great response, only a small job but done within 24 hours of the initial enquiry.”
Kevin Howland
Small repair — Google, 12 February 2025
“Would highly recommend, very professional and all work completed on the agreed time. Exceptional work!”
Mark Gillgrass
Roofing work — Google, 25 June 2025
100%
of the 15 reviews on our page recommend us, and Google has us at 4.7 out of 5. Every word of them is somebody else's, so go and read them there rather than here.
Get the Gosforth roof looked at.
Coming out to look costs nothing and there's no call-out charge. You get a written price before anyone lifts a slate.