I walked up to the George last night and had a meal
with the two Taswegians, a bit disappointing, the food that is.
Pulled pork, too much sweet marinade for my liking,
reminded me of Hawaii. I washed it down with just one pint of Jennings Bitter and
headed back to the relaxing lounge at the Barn House where I treated myself to
2 small cans of Ben Shaws’ Bitter Shandy from the beer fridge. Where’s the Baby
Cham I thought.
Today was again to be a comfortable walk firstly across
two moorlands. The weather however had turned; forecast 2C-12C, with an 85%
change of rain.
After a breakfast of salmon and poached eggs (yes I
know I am doing it tough) I powdered my socks, put Dubbin on my boots, kitted myself
up in my wet weather gear and stepped out into the mist.
I turned right out of the driveway up Knott Lane
and headed for Tarn Moor.
It was quite a nice change to be wet, after so much
warm weather the drizzle adds another dimension to the walk, like keeping my
camera and phone dry and having to look through wet glasses.
It also changes the scenery and adds a little
excitement for a strange reason.
The first stage across meadows was as always my
favourite; the shin deep buttercups dripping with rain caressed my legs as I skipped
merrily across the fields. Stop it will you! Sorry a little carried away. OK it
was a nice walk through damp fields. The Dubbin doing what it does best
repelling the droplets off my boots.
The meadows gave way to farm laneways then back to meadows again, then rising to the moor tops where cows grazed on the meagre grass.
 |
| Cow |
Before reaching Ravenstonedale Moor I passed Sunbiggin
Tarn, and I do mean passed, situated between the moors and designated a Site of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Sunbiggin Tarn is recognised for its
variety of wildlife and plant life and is a popular place for bird watchers.
 |
| Sunbiggin Tarn |
There are waterfowl on the tarn most of the time and at various times throughout the year it is possible to observe a wide variety of resident and migrating birds.
Nearby I spotted a shotgun casing on the ground
seems someone has been doing a spot of poaching, the Queen on this her ceremonial
birthday would not be happy.
It was cold and misty with rain; I had taken off my
glasses because between the rain and the fog of my breath blowing up from my
neck buff I could see very little ahead of me.
Head down with my jacket hood up and leaning into
the breeze I pressed on up the moor.
I was hitting a cracking pace, this was going well,
too well I thought, so I checked my guidebook and while distracted my foot went
down a rabbit warren and I crashed to the ground. Lucky not to break or strain
anything.
Where am I? My GPS was saying 2km back over my right
shoulder to the next waypoint.
I headed northeast for the road running through the
moor, all downhill and very wet underfoot.
I calculated that I was at the aptly named point of
Lousy Brow.
I considered heading east across Little Asby Scar
then into Potts Valley, then over Crosby Garret Fell before heading down to
Smardale Bridge and back on track.
These are moors I thought and if nothing else
remember stay on the road.
So I did and I backtracked to the south side of
Sunbiggin Tarn, annoyed at myself for trudging at least 4 more K’s than
necessary. I need to be more careful, or should that be moor careful?
 |
| Smardale Bridge |
Once over and off the moors I passed the
archaeological site of Severals Village before heading for the Smardale Fell
rising on the horizon.
Crossing Smardale Bridge at Sandal Beck, where I sat
and took a break in the lea of the bridge, before making the long climb up and
out of the valley, and across the stonewalled paddocks.
 |
| Smardale Viaduct |
Across the valley to the north
was the
Smardale Gill Viaduct, a disused railway
bridge, which was built of local stone with its 14 arches, at 27m high and 170m
long, it is a testament to man’s engineering ability and a reminder of the
railway line that once serviced the lime quarries in this area.
Walking
along the Fell is easy enough with wide-open views across rolling grass fields
to the much higher mountains on the horizon north. However it was cold and the
expected temperature of 12C was not reached it topped out at about 9C but with
the lashing breeze it felt more like 5C.
Summer?
What summer.
The
fields gradually give way to roads and my first glimpse of Kirkby Stephen the
largest town on the Coast to Coast, but not before passing yet another ancient
settlement nestled under hawthorn trees.
In
2011 we rested up here in Kirkby Stephen, but not this time, the going has been
fairly easy over the last couple of days so I will crack on tomorrow over the
dreaded Nine Standards.
I
made Fletcher house just before 2pm, it didn’t open till 3:30. So what to do? Just past the church next door and the chippy next to that was the Black Bull, I nipped in for a pint.
For
my late lunch I had a haddock and prawn red Thai curry.
The
haddock was a decent size, the prawns were the tiny weeny ones out of a tin and
the dish was served with roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, peas and broccoli.
Apart
from possibly the coconut milk it was cooked in and the coriander on top it had
as much Thai zing as a gluten free orange and almond cake.
It
was however delicious.
Time
to do some laundry, just down the lane between church and chippy.
Another
easy day ticked off.
Daily
Stats.
Distance
22.3km
Assent
564m
Descent
622m
Time
out 5h 11m
Stopped
0h 36m
Moving
average 4.9km per hour
Weather
2 to 9, overcast no sun, drizzle, stiff cold breeze.
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