I left Reeth following the road to Richmond, but
only for a short while, after crossing Arkle Beck I veered off the road and
followed the beck along riverside pastures towards Fremington, until I was again
alongside the Swaledale River.
The same river that started, days back, in those
peat bogs on the Nine Standards.
Leaving the Swale briefly I headed northwest, past
the Marrick Priory, and up through Steps Wood, so named because of the Nuns
Steps ascending here.
Nuns constructed the 375 stone steps through the
woods as a walkway to the Priory.
I had been here before; this was becoming a habit I
thought.
The woods smelt of wild garlic and I am sure the
nuns would have used it in their cooking. Hard to image a life back then.
It was cold and for the first time on the walk it
was threatening rain.
Traversing through the fields and sheepfolds was
easy enough; the meadows however with knee high wet grass soon made my boots
soggy and for the first time on this walk I had wet socks, my feet feeling like
marshmallows as I squelched along.
As I approached a beware of bull sign and me in my
red t-shirt the rain came, timely I thought as I coved my shirt with my calming
blue jacket.
Once out of the woods, so to say, I was on the
bitumen following the road to the village of Marrick, with its lovely English
country gardens.
These days are easy walking and if you want to
stretch your day out a little further, the smaller villages along the way, like
Marrick, offer some B&B accommodation. There is no pub or shops here
though. In fact very little save for the 25 houses and one red telephone box, one
reason, like most walkers, I do not stay here, so on I go.
Out of Marrick I headed northeast making my way to
the next village of Marske another village most walkers march through.
The walk today was over mostly private farms
punctuated with many styles, keeping a wary eye on the bulls in the fields
ensured I kept a brisk pace.
The rain had set in and it was getting cold but I
was still only in my shorts, the rain pants come out when there is a downpour,
not today though.
Just
before Marske I reached the bitumen again, this I followed until just out of
the village, there some kilometres ahead on the ridge was the prominent “white
cairn”, at waypoint 129, I headed up the road to find a stile that was my
turning point across the fields.
Sheltering in the lea of an oak tree I had some lunch, before heading off over the meadows, munching on a Snickers bar and then over Paddy's Bridge and up to the cairn.
Then onto a cart track across Applegarth Scar.
Following the Scar through farmland onto east
Applegarth and into Whitecliffe Wood. This wood looked like one from a movie
about Robin Hood with its horse and cart track in the shadow of tall trees
dappled with sunlight. Half expecting Friar Tuck to come riding by with his
cart of mead.
The rain had gone so time to take off the
waterproof jacket and dry off a little in the cool breeze.
From here it is downhill, thankfully, as my feet
were beginning to ache. I spotted a pheasant on the bridleway leading out of
the wood, managing to take a picture. And I was pleased with my days effort.
Finally off the track and onto a footpath across
the fields, that led to the very large market town of Richmond.
The Norman built Richmond Castle dominates the
skyline of the town, with its 30 metre high stone keep.
I walked into the town turning left onto
cobblestoned Newbiggan and my B&B The Buck Hotel.
A very easy days walk.
Daily Stats.
Distance 16.8km
Assent 463m
Descent 525m
Time out 3h
54m
Stopped 0h
48m
Moving average 4.8km
per hour
Weather 7 to 10,
rain.
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