Shap to Kirkby Stephen

DAY 6 – THURSDAY 14 JUNE 

MILEAGE: 19 MILES

Breakfast was a delight.  We are not quite sure what Mr Duncan made of all the attention and and care Margaret  gives though, we have the impression that he likes everything to be quite simple and weren't surprised  when he quietly slipped out the back door without saying goodbye to her!

We found it a bit sad to be leaving and saying goodbye to Margaret, she had now dried us out two years running and was sad that we had encountered such bad weather on both of our stays, we promised we would be back if we ever passed by this way or back  to the Lakes to say hello, confirm that you can actually see Kidsty Pike from the front garden and just  to see if it was still raining!  

Today would be a long trek – but we had already shaved half a mile off by staying at Margaret’s, the guest house is at the end of town

By now a different kind of feeling and emotion had started to creep in about the walk, we had passed the lakes and at the back of our minds from last years crossing we knew that we were leaving the best behind, the walk was slowly turning into a voyage to say hello and thank you to the guest house owners we had met last year, knowing that the only difficulty we might face from now on would be the weather.

At least  it was dry when we left but not for long.  We crossed over the M6 and stopped to put on our waterproofs, the rain got heavier and heavier, we consoled ourselves with thought that last year we had been hit by three hailstorms on this section.

Passing the walled village of Oddendale we could see 2 walkers in the distance who we were quickly gaining on until they missed a turn and went the wrong way, slightly too far behind them to shout out, we slowed a little to see whether they might notice us, they did and backtracked to the correct path.  It was Todd and the American Girl!  She looked frozen, just wearing a very thin, very short pair of shorts and a raincoat.  Her legs were bright red with cold, she was also only wearing sandals with her feet wrapped in plastic carrier bags to keep dry.  At least she had a hat on under her rain coat.  She assured us that she was not cold – as long as she kept moving. 

They had enjoyed their night in Shap having decided to stay at a guest house and dry out, rather than camp out again for another wet night – the village rumour had been right! Two damp and wet souls phoning around for a room, luckily for them because of the bad weather a few of the guest houses had cancellations.

It was sad seeing her struggling with the English weather but encouraging to see that  she was making the best of it!

We carried on, leaving them behind, only for them to catch us up again as we walked back after inadvertently starting to follow the alternative route to Orton, Kev's excuse that in the rain all the paths look the same not really going down well. Todd and American Girl decided to take the alternative route and go to Orton  to dry out and sample the delights of Kennedy’s Coffee House (where they have a chocolate factory).

However, we were focussed on getting to Kirkby Stephen for a reasonable time, being aware  that dinner at the B&B was served at 7pm and we also wanted to get  back to the site where the car was parked so we could swap some clothes around.  Many of the views were wasted upon us. At least last year we had some sunshine the breaks between hailstorms, the rain was bucketing down, big buckets not just the little ones kids take to the beach to collect stuff and make sandcastles with, oh to be on a nice warm sandy beach now! Instead we carried on with rain hoods pulled down.  I couldn’t see much further than my feet.  My hands were getting cold.  I wasn’t wearing any gloves, the summer gloves I had with me would have been soaked through within minutes if I had worn them, best to go without.  Maybe I should have brought my winter gloves with me after all? 

On the Coast to Coast walk there is a stretch near Sunridge Tarn described in Stedman’s book as “3 miles of tedious road walking………..  perhaps the dullest section of the Coast to Coast”. Last year we avoided a short section of the road by heading away from the Tarn but this still brought you back onto the road, we were hoping this time to avoid any of the road.

Having examined the map we noticed paths that might offer an alternate route crossing Ravenswood Moor and cutting out most of the road walking. 

The path was a pleasure to follow.  It was recently established as open access land.  We did get lost once, when we headed down into a valley rather than skirting around higher up a hill but we were soon back on track. This route was definitely better than the road. 

We then rejoined the Coast to Coast route, as it headed towards Bent Farm. True to form the rain turned into hailstones, stinging against our faces.

'Lizzie, the car is at Kirkby Stephen!' 'Yes, we can pick up some dry socks' 'We could just get in it and go home!' 'No, that's not an option, we will lose all the deposit money for the guest houses!' ' Ok'

We were getting closer to Kirkby Stephen.  The path heading past a disused railway towards Smardale Bridge.  I continued on towards the bridge whilst Kev stopped to take pictures. Water was now gushing down the path and Kev was on the other side of a small stream having appeared to have taken a short cut.  Unfortunately the stream turned out to be slightly bigger than he thought and he was faced with some raging water to get across to my path.  Maybe the short cut was not such a good idea!

'We could get into the car and drive to the next place each day' 'No!'

We went past the ancient pillow mounds.  In front of us were 2 walkers, behind us were 4 walkers.  We caught the 2 walkers up when the path comes out onto a road.  By the gate was a waiting car, just like last year – this must be a collection point for one of the organised trips, they probably collect clients and drive them the final few miles into Kirkby Stephen! Knowing how tedious the walk into Kirkby Stephen was, I felt tempted to hitch a lift!

The 2 walkers we met were well wrapped up and we didn't recognise them in all their waterproofs.  The bloke said his waterproofs hadn’t kept the rain out, even though they had been very expensive.  His wife’s had only cost £45 but had kept her lovely and dry.  We headed down towards Kirkby Stephen, Kev suggesting that if they wanted to treat themselves and take their minds off the weather, they should try the Old Forge, a lovely restaurant to eat.

With the rain pouring down, we raced along the Main Street to Old Croft House.  We were looking forward to this B&B as it had such a good write up in Stedman’s book – and promised a foot spa in each room which I was looking forward to.

Chrys certainly gave us a warm welcome, ushering us in, out of the rain.  It was 4.45pm and we had left Shap at 9.30am.  Not bad at all!  All done without a break, the rain hadn't eased all day and we just kept on walking but we were not quite as quick as Mr. Duncan who, obviously had also planned to pick up clean clothes from his car, we met him heading off from the guest house towards the car park. We sensed a tension between Mr Duncan and Chrys. It turned out that Mr Duncan had all of his arrangements made by Packhorse and had been booked in for an evening meal which as it cost an extra £15 he wasn't too happy and decided to eat elsewhere.  

Chrys had remembered I was gluten-free, but had forgotten we were both vegetarian even though we had told her in many e-mail exchanges before we arrived.  Suddenly the evening meal seemed problematic.  Fortunately, Chrys assured us that chef Colin would be able to rustle something up.

We relaxed with a cup of tea, Kev helped himself to scones, luckily I had some cheese and onion pies that Margaret had packed up for me that morning. They were delicious.

Chrys ordered us a taxi to take us to the caravan park, so we could do a changeover of clothes.  The taxi driver was very friendly, saying she was sure the weather would change soon.  She was very happy to wait as we did the changeover and didn't charge that much for the return trip.

Back at the B+B, the bathroom was fantastic.  There was a little pillow at the end of the bath, so you could lie and relax in comfort. There was also a huge range of toiletries – fantastic.  And it had the promised foot spas.  The only odd thing was the old fashioned night dress hanging up by the door.  We couldn't work out if it was decoration or left there for guests to wear. 

Dinner was served prompt at 7pm.  The mushroom soup was gorgeous, but the gluten free, veggie, stuffed aubergine was a bit bland.  Still at least there was mashed potato! A group of 4  were also dining. They were doing the Coast to Coast from East to West.  Two of them driving all of the gear around while the other two were walking.  At breakfast, next morning, we would exchange suggestions on routes and got a great tip from them about a path along a disused section of railway that wasn't shown on maps . 

Kevanliz@aol.com