Keld to Reeth

DAY 8    SATURDAY 16 JUNE

MILEAGE: 11 MILES

The sun wasn't streaming through the curtains when we woke up, it was cloudy but at least it was not raining.  At breakfast, Doreen presented me with the remaining scones and a loaf of gluten free bread, amazingly she had managed to bake me some bread during the night just in case we ran out!  Excellent, I could always use it when I go back to work. 

We said a sad goodbye to Doreen and Ernest and set off. From a note they sent us later in the year the sale of Butt House has been confirmed and they are definitely retiring.

Out of curiosity we decided to walk up to Keld Lodge, curious to see  what had been done to the old hostel and how it had changed.  There was a man standing outside who said he had had a very pleasant stay and it would be good once the brewery was set up at the side – it certainly did look nice.

We walked back along the road, waving to Doreen through the window as we went past Butt House. 

It was so pleasant not to have our waterproofs on for once. 

The route to Reeth provides 2 options: A high level walk which takes you through landscape scarred by lead mining activities.  Kev had walked around here in the past and on one occasion fallen in a beck, his view was that it was very grey and a bit dull, and likely to be extremely wet and very boggy, so we were going to do the route we did last year and walk along Swaledale Valley.  A very scenic route.  We stopped just outside Keld to admire the waterfalls, taking a diversion from the path so that Kev could take his photos.  Several walkers walked past on the C2C/Pennine route and we were very surprised to see that they didn’t bother shutting the gate behind them!!!

The path along the valley is very easy and relaxed so you can take your time enjoy the scenery.  We decided to take the diversion into Muker, a pleasant small village on the opposite side of the river.  We came across Barbara and Ian coming the other way, they had stayed the night in Muker and were walking back to join the path to Reeth. Seeing us heading towards them made them question their map reading ability.  We reassured them that we were just taking a diversion.

Muker was a lovely place to look around.  Even better it had some very well placed public toilets, just what I needed!  We retraced our way back to the river and joined the path to Reeth, catching up with Barbara and Ian just outside Gunnerside.  Barbara and Ian decided to continue whilst we stopped at the teashop for tea and hot chocolate. We had decided that there was no rush and we would just take our time each day.

The normally easy straightforward path along the valley was getting more challenging now.  Lots of little streams criss-crossed the path,  but because of the rain, they were no longer so little and in places we had to wade through shallow pools.  Fortunately by using two trekking poles I was able to get across.  Parts of the paths were very flooded and our feet were getting very damp. I was puzzled though that there were no signs of any footprints in the mud.  Given the number of people 'doing the C2C' there must be a few at least?  Barbara and Ian told us later that on seeing the state of the paths they had decided to take to the roads, perhaps we were the only people struggling our way along flooded tracks?

The sky was getting very black, and I was expecting a massive downpour.  The ground was already looking very wet and any more was likely to turn it into a lake. We felt the first raindrops and hastily put on our rain gear.  Turning a corner, Kev said “careful” and I looked up to see a massive bull, staring in interest at me. I hastily stepped close to Kev and we very warily walked past.  In the valley below a farmer was desperately trying to get some cows out of the flooded river.

The rain did not last long at all and we were soon removing our waterproofs. But we later found out there had been a massive rain storm,  we had missed most of it only walking in to the dying remnants  – hurrah for our tea stop.

Last time we had entered Reeth there had been an intriguing sign saying “swing bridge”.  I was determined to check it out this time so we took the path leading to a charming  bridge which had been rebuilt early in 2000s.  Despite the early cloud and rain, the sun was now really hot, so we stopped there for a while, before heading into Reeth.

Walking past the Black Bull Kev popped in to book a table for dinner.  As I waited outside, a woman came out wearing a C2C t-shirt, saying hello and “thank gawd the weather has improved”. Kev came out to say the pub had got the fire going, and there were people huddled around it. Just to remind you it was mid-summer!

We made our way up to Cambridge House to meet with Sandra and Les.  Along the route, I had said to Kev, I wonder if Sandra has got me coconut macaroons again this year.  What a star – she had!!!!

Whilst sitting there having our tea, the woman we met outside the pub came in, with a bloke – we now recognised them, it was the couple we had seen as the rain started on the day between Patterdale and Shap! The bloke thanked Kev for his restaurant suggestion and with a shock we realised that we had also met the couple going into Kirkby Stephen! They had looked completely different in rain gear with just their faces peeking out of their hoods.

It was certainly a time for catching up with old faces, Mr Duncan, Barbara and Ian soon arrived and we spent a pleasant time chatting about our individual experiences. The Patterdale couple said that like us, they had had walked non stop each day without any breaks since we saw them just after Kidsty Pike as it had been raining so much.

Kevanliz@aol.com