Category: Walking

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

Walking through the Dales is a most lovely experience, really feel away from it here (although not so far away that I have no Internet signal).

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

DAY FIVE – Hawes to Ingleton

As mentioned in the day four summary, we’ve been unable to complete a technical coast to coast due to flooding. So that meant we’ve changed our route for the final two days, this time to take in more of the Yorkshire Dales and several more pubs.

The day started in Hawes and we actually got chance to do a walk around the town itself, visiting the church, the former railway station, the Quakers’ graveyard and some other sites. It’s been nice to actually do some walking distance around tourist sites like these, we’ve missed them due to wanting to get on with our pre-defined route.

We then decided to visit every pub and cafe on the route between Hawes and Ingleton, a lovely treat for us both. Nothing like real ale to rewards us with our bravery, and we saw some lovely parts of the Yorkshire Dales.

The evening is in a camping pod, which is some posh camping for a change as carrying tents around is no fun (we’ve tried that before). I shall update the blog with more photos and the evening’s entertainment later on   🙂

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

DAY FOUR – Leyburn to Hawes

The bravery on day four started in the pub climbing down the two flights to breakfast of stairs on our sore feet. We’ve stayed at the pub before and the owner was there again serving breakfast, a real character who added positively to the whole experience.

We set off on our route and within minutes Liam had one of his ‘great’ ideas to take a short-cut. Being the mature and calm voice of reason, I politely queried his decision. He was sure that it was right though, so I was reassured. Liam’s short-cut was a walk down a flowing river and I felt that it was important to let him know what I felt about this entire arrangement.

After 25 minutes of arguing we proceeded to the next part of the walk which was a really a nice stretch along the river bank. This part of the walk is around nine miles and it takes in part of a stretch used by the LDWA for challenge walks. It’s one of my favourite stretches along the entire coast to coast route and it dropped us into a cafe at a tourist site.

The cafe is another place that we’ve visited before and I felt that I needed some health snacks, more of which in another post. We treated ourselves to forty minutes in there before moving on to the next 11 miles of the walk. The first part of this is more walking by the river and our route across the river was blocked due to the flooding of the stepping stones.

This is really where our technical coast to coast started to fail, as the ideal routes are blocked by flooding. We have decided to carry on walking, but we’re going to do some different routes that take in a few more pubs. We’ve both done coast to coast walks, and we’re pleased that we’ve done nearly 120 miles in four days. There are two more days left and there is no now pressure on doing the coast to coast route itself.

The day ended up in Hawes, although the pub we thought we’d dine in was closed. However the meal at our accommodation was excellent, so we were pleased with the choice that we made. I had actually wanted fish and chips from the chip shop, but I always just do what Liam wants as I’m nice like that.

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

Located by Aysgarth Falls is a rather nice little cafe and tea shop called Mill Race which we visited during our last coast to coast. Not much has changed and I felt that it was time for a sausage roll, but I also felt the need for sugar so made sure that I had a hot chocolate. With marshmallows. And a flake. We were there for nearly an hour, trying to get energy for the rest of the day’s walk which was over half the distance for the day.

I was tempted by an ice cream, but it was quite cold outside and felt that warming up rather colding up was the best plan.

Delicious   🙂

He was happier than he looks here   🙂

Excellent quality hot sausage roll, with some green stuff to the side.

The menu and the remains of the sausage roll  🙂

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

Some scenery photos from day four, the beautiful walk into the cafe along the river is one of the highlights of the entire trip for me. Liam also couldn’t help but play on the rope swing. Note also the river stream that Liam made us walk down, which I mentioned in the daily summary.

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

DAY THREE – Thirsk to Leyburn

26.9 miles

We left the Wetherspoons early after a delicious pastrami bagel (the best item on their menu) for me and a large breakfast for Liam. The walk out of Thirsk isn’t the most exciting as there is a walk of nearly an hour just to reach the outskirts.

We had a long section on road for a couple of hours before reaching the village where we having an early lunch. Unfortunately it wasn’t the village that we thought it was, so we didn’t have an early lunch. We did though instead sit on a bench in the village where there should have been a pub.

A landlord of the pub in the next village called out “you two look like you need a pint” and we were very much tempted, although by now we had realised where the pub we had visited before was so we resisted.

We then left the road and went onto a public footpath and I couldn’t work out the gate, as it was very complex. Liam, who is the official gatekeeper this week, also struggled and a man appeared to help. He no doubt thought that we were two idiots but he was beyond friendly, offering me socks and even offering to just drive us to Leyburn.

The offers of help are really appreciated, but we can’t of course accept a lift that means we can’t complete our coast to coast walk. However, it was sorely tempting as it would mean that we would have been at our pub accommodation by 3pm. We decided though to keep going onto the next village which was Snape.

The walk to Snape was a disaster as the path was entirely flooded and so couldn’t be walked. We were forced onto another path which was much longer and was also partly flooded. This path disgorged us into a series of sheep pens and so Liam spent ten minutes untying gates (he’s good though, he puts them back). The whole event added around an hour to our day, meaning it was always going to be difficult to get back at a reasonable hour.

We then had to walk into a farm along a road which wasn’t an official footpath, so we shouldn’t have really been there. It wasn’t a choice we had much option in though as the public footpath was flooded. We were rather concerned to see some very loud dogs, but they were in a cage, although it did look that they could get out. I managed to break into a run to get out of the farm, concerned that the farmers wouldn’t be impressed to see us.

We then saw a farmer driving towards us in a tractor and thought he might query what we were doing there. He didn’t though, he just drove by us and let us merrily rejoin the road. The whole thing though cost us well over an hour, and we didn’t have that time to lose.

We went into a lovely pub for a real ale and three packets of mini Cheddars (or a tea in Liam’s case) and the landlady was really kind. She found us some maps, let us sit by the fire and offered a real Yorkshire welcome. We stayed there for thirty minutes and were warmed up by the time we left.

We couldn’t take the route that we wanted as it would put our arrival time at the pub accommodation at later than 9pm. This wasn’t sensible, as we needed food, so we instead switched to a road route. The route was awful, hard on the feet and entirely boring. However, it got us there by 8pm, although we were sorely tempted to get a taxi at one point.

Reaching the pub was a delight, although we were told we had ten minutes to order food. Which didn’t give us any opportunity to “freshen up” as Andrew would say, so I hobbled back down into the pub in my socks. The service was friendly and the food was hot, meaning that the day ended up positively.

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

We arrived into the Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass (not witless as in the other Thornton) behind schedule because of heavy flooding on the route. That had meant that we were an hour late and sodden through, but it hadn’t diminished our spirits (I was already grumpy).

The welcome was wonderful from the landlady, she let us slightly moist walkers in, and she offered to bump up the fire. However, the fire was roaring and I treated myself to some real ale and three packs of mini cheddars. Liam had a tea, which seemed a little lacking, but I didn’t say anything.

The helpful landlady found us some maps and another local started to suggest some routes that would get us into Leyburn. We wanted to walk by Jervaulx Abbey, but we had done that before and it would add maybe 90 minutes onto our journey. We’d met the owners of the abbey last time and wanted to return, but we were forced onto a road route to make time up.

I don’t think that either of us wanted to leave the pub, but we had 35 minutes in there and felt reinvigorated when leaving it. There’s accommodation at the pub and if we ever come this way again, I’m sure that it’s a great place to stay.

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

Some photos of the scenery from day three, which was also when we realised just how flooded some of the route was. It was infuriating to add an hour onto the walk just to get around one flooded field before Snape.

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

I hadn’t done the stepping stones section of the walk on the last coast to coast, as it was shortly after I had stopped at Bagby. However, Liam had enjoyed visiting them and a few months later in 2016 he took Dylan and Leon to enjoy them too.

They were unfortunately rather more flooded than they had been in 2016, but it was a lovely little area and rather peaceful. Well, other than the torrent of water flooding by my feet.

Liam has put some photos on Facebook of how Dylan and Leon looked at the stepping stones, and above is the photo that Liam recreated of Leon   🙂

[originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed]

Some scenery photos from the day   🙂