W9 Muker to Reeth - easy day

Muker is lovely - small (20 houses), lovely B&B (Bridge House) and a good pub that served Old Peculiar on draft (plus 3 other beers). Do not expect any mobile reception however. Our day was slow and easy. We were only ambling to Reeth which is a mere 7 miles down the valley. Some people skip Reeth and walk to Richmond but this is a holiday, not a march. It was a fantastic peaceful walk down the valley of the Swale. The rain the previous night has swelled the river and it veritably raced along. By the time we finished today we had climbed the equivalent of 30 floors, ambled 11 miles and had consumed a lot of food (well I had).

Longer version
The Farmers Arm at Muker is a traditional warm homely village pub that was perfect for a night out. We had a superb evening and woke up refreshed. The Swale at Muker is a narrow V shaped valley but as you walk down to Gunnerside so it starts to widen out. The walking is easy and even Andrea's left leg seem to like it. The Swale today was running a lot faster than the day before due to the overnight rain - in winter it must be a torrent (powerful enough to damage a bridge looking closely at the photo below).

Sand Martins nest in the banks of the Swale and then buzz around your head whilst catching flies etc. I tried to take a photo of them but failed dismally. I have to say some of the walk is on a B road that is a bit disappointing but other bits are very idyllic through buttercup meadows. After Gunnerside (where we stopped for tea and cake) there is a bit of the walk on a wall: although you can not really make it out there is a 3 foot drop on either side:

Eventually the valley broadens out with barns and cottages nestling on either side. It's a very peaceful place that is well worth a visit: less popular than Wensleydale (which is a bonus) - possibly has less things to see but when you walking that isn't really a concern:

As the day went on, so the weather improved. I think we ended up getting faster because of it :

Due to this we entered Reeth at 2pm having covered the 11 miles in under 6 hours. Luckily Reeth has 3 coffee shops, 3 pubs, an ice cream parlour and 2 other shops., so there was plenty to do.  Here is the huge grass square:

It reminded us of "All Creatures Great and Small" or maybe "Last of the Summer Wine". It also has a surprising number of benches .... yes benches in the centre must number over 10. No, we are not sure why either.

Quirky thing of the day
Walking along the B Road we spotted in the middle of nowhere a tea party - bizarre maybe:

It was their to raise money for the Air Ambulance. I am not too sure what the monkey was doing however: Yorkshire is challenging Cumbria for the weird

W8 Kirby Stephen to Muker - nice walk and dry 95% of the time

Historic day in terms of the C2C because we walked into Yorkshire and passed the half way point i.e. over 96 miles covered, with only sore feet, 2 blisters and Andrea having a rather painful left leg. Today was what the book terms a strenuous day, partly because we walked 17 miles but also because we climbed the equivalent of 108 floors. This was mainly because we went to see the stones called Nine Standards Rigg at 662m. We would have had to clime at least 200m anyway so what is a few more. The guide book scares you to death about getting stuck in the bogs at the top but its been dry recently (well in Cumbria) so it was fine. Talking of fine, we had a bit of rain today but nothing to worry about. Highlight of the day was cream teas at an entrepreneurial hilltop farm.

Longer Version
We had to set out early today because our baggage people (Packhorse) were collecting our suitcases at 8.15am. So by 8.05 we were on the C2C climbing up to Hartley - it has a huge quarry (not that it was worth a photo). Andrea's leg was playing up again so we took it slowly whilst it warmed up (it takes about 3 miles). The climb up to Hartley Fell was typical Wainwright moorland with the intriguing Nine Standards Rigg occasionally being glimpsed. It's a series of 9 cairns that were built some time ago and no one knows why. But they make for a good landmark:

On a good day you can see these from 20 miles away. They may look small but all of them are over 3m high. Interestingly the C2C has 3 routes around here - Dec to Apr (the low land route, well away from the Nine Standards), Aug to Nov (to Nine Standards and then avoiding a lot of the bogs) and then May to Jul (to Nine Standards and then out through the bogs). Well its June so you know what route we took :-) The cairns are made up of lots of individual stones:

It is an interesting point that Wainwright gets you up here without there being an official footpath. Its all a case of following the beaten down grass or footprints. It does make for an interesting visual quiz on the way down through the bogs, trying to work out what is solid and what isn't. Given its relatively dry at the moment, it was fun trying to work out the route: in mist and rain it would be to quote Andrea "hideous". John at the B&B tonight, said it was quite rare that a guest makes it up there!

After getting back on the C2C you wander through the Birkdale grouse moor which is full of birds (many not grouse). It was at the end of this track that we arrived at Ravenseat Farm in Whitsun Dale. I would imagine its a superb place to live in the summer although I am not convinced by the winter

To top it all the farm (well the eldest of what we thought was 5 children) was offering cream teas. Given how many people were doing the C2C I thought this was brilliant and a thing to support:

After this it was a walk down into Swaledale and in particular Keld. Keld is not big by any stretch of the imagination (30 houses perhaps) but it is the half way point of the C2C and also where we cross the Pennine Way, so really should be more famous. Most people stay in Keld (B&B's are the biggest business) but we battled on a further 2 miles along the Swale to Muker where we are staying at the Bridge House B&B (which is delightful - originally a shooting lodge): alas with a mile to go it started to rain persistent small drops - enough to create drips.

Quirky things today:
A vintage car reliability run where various old cars were attempting to get up some pretty steep hills on a 140 mile course. I think it was all part of the 46th Beamish Reliability Run:

I was interested but Andrea wasn't in the slightest :-)

On our walk today we met 3 guys doing the C2C in there 50's who were generally camping but tonight were having luxury in the form of a take away lasagne and sleepng in a Yurt .... not something I expected to see in Yorkshire:

W7 Orton to Kirby Stephen

Often people walk from Patterdale to Shap and then Shap to Kirby Stephen. We, however, took 3 days to get to Kirby Stephen and it was worth it. We loved Orton - The Barn House B&B was the best nights sleep Andrea has had, the chocolate factory was worth it and the walk today was easy. We did the 13 miles in under 6 hours and that included getting lost and stopping to talk to farmers, Americans etc. Maybe it is because we only climbed the equivalent of 18 floors. Sadly, we said goodbye to a lovely couple (Gareth and Carolyn) from Kent but as people leave, others arrive. There is a good sense of camaradie on the C2C.

Longer version
We had a good traditional meal at the George Hotel in Orton and a good pint of Wainswright (yes he has a beer named after him !). The C2C is revolutionising the local economies and the locals love walkers. As usual in the pub we were surrounded by fellow walker: Roy from the Netherlands, 2 ladies celebrating their 50th's and Gareth and Carolyn. In the morning we had salmon and scrabbled eggs on toast for breakfast (excellent) at the Barn House B&B. Andrea's left leg was playing up at the start of the day but after a few miles we got into our stride. As you can see lots of open skies and stone walls abound:

Soon afterwards we met Harriet and Rob Fraser (artists connecting to the natural world and in particular 7 lonely trees in Cumbria: www.thelongview.today) with their dog whilst walking through the fields. It is a real mixture of people you get on this walk, all with reasons for doing it, but everyone gets on. The land we were walking through is moor land with cultivated farmland close by. Everything is dominated by sheep: few trees can survive their nibbling:

Soon after this, at Bents farm I took a wrong turn and just kept going. It almost felt liberating to both of us, cutting out on to virgin path, up to a beautiful small village called Crosby Garrett. A bonus of this was the Settle to Carlisle line - a full double track express line built in C19th across some of the most inhospitable land in England: mad but brilliant. In the 1980's British Rail were trying to close it by stealth, but Michael Portillo overruled them after a huge public outcry. The following photo is pathetic in terms of showing you the magnificent line but we were walking under it

One of the gems in Cumbria is just bumping into the unexpected. I will give you two examples. In the middle of the moor was this:

Cotton like flowers in the middle of the moor

And at a farm called Stripes between Crosby Garrett and Kirby Stephen there was poetry on a rusty old tank:

So I will leave you with this:
Farmers Prayer

A man knocked at the heavenly gate

His face sad, tired and old

He stood before the man of fate

For entry to the fold

“What have you done,” St Peter said

“to gain admission here”?

“I’ve been a farmer, Pete,” he said,

“for many a long year.”

The pearly gates swung open wide

An angel rung a bell

“Come in at once,” St Peter sighed

“You’ve had your share of hell.”

W6 Brampton Grange to Orton - Wonderful

We have said good bye to the Lake District (Andrea was less polite btw) after a really good meal at the Crown and Mitre. We ambled along the river bank and apart from a few fields with cows we had an utterly uneventful relaxing walk to Shap. The cakes (you know I like cakes) were superb at the Abbey Tea Rooms - if you go through Shap stop there. We then walked out of Shap across the main west coast railway line and the M6 into the moorland. Weirdly on the OS map, the C2C route doesn't exist but there are really good signposts and the walk through the limestone moor land reminded us both of Derbyshire. We arrived in Orton to find another very nice cafe (Orton Scar) and a chocolate factory !! Bliss and the place is pretty. Another 13 miles ticked off, only 44,000 steps and a mere 40 floors climbed.


Longer version
The Crown and Mitre did superb local food - I would recommend the lamb shank - yes the church bell ringing every 15 minutes throughout the night was a bit annoying but we were so shattered that Andrea didn't notice and I only heard it twice. We set off across meadows and pastures along the banks of the River Lowther to the ruins of Shap Abbey with a back drop of the Lake District:

Sheep definitely out number people here and most of them have cute lambs with them. We were off the coast to coast route but regained it around Shap Abbey and unlike in the Lake District where there is very little signage, here they have made an effort (which does make you feel a bit more welcome). The number of people doing the coast to coast seems lots so its surprising to us the Lake District doesn't make more of an effort.

The Abbey Tea Rooms in Shap seem to be the hub of the community. Not only where the cakes all home made, they also had sausage rolls and quiche etc. I looked it up afterwards in Trip Advisor and it got 5 stars i.e. everyone thinks its excellent. After a refill we walked out of Shap (which is in a gap in the hills across the A6, west coast main line (railway) and the M6. To see a main road after 5 days was a bit of a shock (I know that sounds strange). Motorways make so much noise !!

I am not kidding, you could still hear the M6 when we were over 2 miles away. We were then walking in true limestone country. For those of you who do not know what I mean, limestone is a whitish stone that sticks out of the moor. In extreme cases it looks a bit like pavements with squares of the rock - btw that is Andrea walking amongst them

We think Wainwright made his own route because at this point the OS map did not say there was a path but we kept seeing some old signs such as this one that meant we were on the right path.: you can just make out C2C

The moorland is great at this time of year with lots of sheep and lambs, small flowers abound and just a sense of space and not a house or building in sight. You are literally on your own (well apart from Andrea of course) as you can see:

The moor gives way to a valley full of stone walls and sheep (with a few cows thrown in for good measure). The parish of Orton snuggles in the valley

Orion is a small village that boasts Kennedy's - a surprising family business selling chocolates - who can deliver via the internet. There is also a pub plus numerous B&B's primarily due to the Coast to Coast. Before I finish I have to mention the home made cakes of Orton Scar Cafe - the lemon poppy seed cake was delicious. A great place to stop particularly as there is a farmers market tomorrow ! After the hard work of the Lake District, the holiday has really begun from a food perspective :-)

W5 Patterdale to Brampton Grange - Tough

Wainwright (bless him) put a kicker in the tail as you leave the Lake District: the highest peak on the C2C and a long trudge afterwards. Also anyone who says midges only exist in Scotland is wrong: they are thriving on Kidsty Pike primarily by biting me ! We knew it was going to be the toughest day and you do see some memorable sights so we set out at 8 and after various stops got to the Crown and Mitre just after 4.30. Because some people go to Shap and others are scattered at various other places, we have split up from Speedy and the Americans but found others. For those interested in facts, we walked over 13 miles, did over 43,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of 134 floors.

Longer version
After our first ever night in an Indonesian bed which was somehow in our B&B in Patterdale we headed off for Kidsty Pike. Oh back to the bed - not sure why they are so high or why there is only one way in.... well Babu did ask for photos. Yes we needed a stool to get in !

As you climb out of Patterdale the whole valley is revealed: a quintessential Lake District scene that is superb. We set off at 8 so there were very very few people about.

The climb up is a bit of a slog: rather like watching the England football team (I only added that for our Welsh readers who must be gutted after an injury time winner) but eventually after a rather long walk you are rewarded with Angle Tarn. Not sure how many people have ever seen it but its worth the long walk

It was then a case of the long slog up to Kidsty Pike (708m with a huge drop on one side). The mist closed in and there was literally nothing to see apart from the shimmering shadow of a sheep or two. The exertion of the last few days has caused my feet to ache but generally we are both in good shape - just finding muscles we didn't know existed before. Today I was in red - obviously in honour of both England and Wales:

We then had a sharp drop into Haweswater which is a reservoir serving 25% of the needs of NW England: not something to mention to ISIS me thinks. It actually looked quite low but given the amount of rain we have had I thought that weird. So as I was trudging along I came up with a utterly unproven theory that if there is a storm then Haweswater will fill up and save the valleys below. We'll see, certainly Patterdale was badly effected by Storm Desmond in December and is still recovering. So I should leave you with Haweswater:

After we rolled off the hills we thought that was that, only to be confronted with an up and down walk along the reservoir for 7 miles. That is the toughest walk I have done in a long time - also Andrea did not appreciate my singing: which I thought was a great way to keep our spirits up.

I have to say the food up here is great. We are staying in the Crown and Mitre in Brampton Grange and the pub food was superb. I am a bit worried that we are opposite a church (and they have provided ear plugs) but its a great location. Simple walk tomorrow with very few hills... Andrea is currently adamant that we will never return to the Lake District.... time hopefully will mellow her :-)

W4 Grasmere to Patterdale - lovely

We have driven through Grasmere before but never stayed. I would highly recommend it as a base: it has a good choice of restaurants, a small co-op plus camping shops abound. We are now the proud owners of 2 Vanda rucksack covers. Not that we have used them yet because today was lovely - no rain. The walk from Grasmere to Patterdale has been the best yet. The walk up to Grisedale Tarn is steep but manageable and for the adventurous you can branch off to with Helvellyn or St Sunday Crag. We did neither and instead, like most, headed down Grisedale Beck into Patterdale. So today was a further 11 miles with 36000 steps and the biggest climb yet (equivalent of 100 floors). Great day.

Longer version
Grasmere is a thriving little place. A bit spread out but the centre has quite a few eating places and at least 4 outward bound shops. We ate at Tweedies - very good and great selection of beer.: been in the Good Beer Guide for 10 years.  I would recommend the Lakeland Golden. Their food was good too.

After a sleep in the nicest room of the stay so far we headed off for Patterdale. Within 30 minutes Speedy had caught us up. We are, however, getting faster because the Americans (with the baby) did not get to Patterdale before us !Andrea is a huge fan of her walking poles btw: feels quite bereft without them:

Tongue Gill is full of ferns and sheep. Its a deep v shaped valley that some of you may have done in geography. At the top there is a fine view of Borrowdale and the mountains we have left behind.

Just when you think you have reached the tarn, it just isn't there. There is a further climb of about 100 feet to it but its well worth it: tranquil and calm - almost brooding.

It was here that we met a cheerful couple from Kansas. At this point we could see Speedy (who is Matthew if you were wondering) doing the zig zag up to Helvellyn (which is the 3rd highest peak in England) and also is the gateway to Striding Edge. The other route to the south, St Sundays Crag, supposedly has better views.

The walk down to Patterdale is far better than the one yesterday. We met the group of American's  (with their 1 year old) again plus a few others. It even had someone flying a drone recording the walkers - you never know we maybe on television somewhere. On the way down we also met a student from Warwick who was  doing the Coast to Coast the cheap way: sleeping rough with a hand drawn map from google earth and no walking shoes ! It takes all sorts and he was very happy - he even hitch hiked to St Bees - excellent. So I will almost leave you with this view;

Tomorrow we leave the Lake District. We are going to have a hearty meal at the White Lion first because tomorrow is the biggest climbing day of the whole trip.

Tips for walkers
Buy walking poles - Andrea is very keen on hers

W3 Rosthwaite to Grasmere - sunny !

Firstly Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite did a great meal for us last night, especially as we were the only people in the restaurant ! Then we woke up to blue sky and we could not believe it - no rain all day !! Not that stopped Andrea getting wet - one crawl through a bog and quick dip in mountain stream. Again it was a "strenuous" ranked day - 11 miles of either up or down. -up involved a bit of rock scrambling. As a Dutch couple said "we get older, more things ache but we just have to carry on". At least with the sun blazing down, my Panama type Barbour hat came out to keep the sun off. So another 11 miles cracked off, the equivalent of 67 floors climbed and a mere 44,000+ steps.

Longer story
Scafell Hotel was great - sociable, good food and wine (Tanners wine range is good) plus a bath, and best of all, a heated towel rail. We woke up to dried socks etc. After a lovely breakfast we set off at 9.10 with a comment from the head waitress that its only 5 hours to Grasmere: as we were to find out, she must be some sort of mountain goat. We certainly found it tough but it lulls you into a lovely steady climb with great scenery such as these cows - note BLUE SKY !!!

After a 500m climb and a bit of scrambling we made it to the top of the scrag, just beating the Americans - Speedy from Cheltenham had already overtaken us. It is a bit of an A road in walking terms however because there are a lot of other people - in the Lake District everyone seems to do Ennerdale, Grasmere and Patterdale. Any way here is Paul on the mountain near the top - the other two people in the shot had whizzed up but were resting:

At the top is a bog. Its an interesting one because you think you are going to be on solid ground and then suddenly you are wading on all 4's. Andrea perfected this skill with great wading. Paul was more boring, staying dry. The walk down to Grasmere never seems to end: it is a relentless slog down a rock strewn path where for the first time we both ended up silently focusing on the task in hand

We ended up at the Silver Lea's B&B in Grasmere at 3.30 - over 6 hours later. And we overtook people ! We even managed to meet some new people, such as the Dutchman who is camping his way on the Coast to Coast Personally I would stick to the B&B's: Silver Lea's very welcoming for 2 exhausted walkers. Tweedies was similarly welcoming with some good beer and food. I think we deserved both given both legs and feet are complaining. Another strenuous day tomorrow, so off to bed early.