Travels with Kate and Blu

Monday 17 August -Leaving Chop Gate, we headed across more lovely heather clad moorland, rising slowly up a gentle incline to the isolated Lion Inn pub, looks nothing from the outside, but pure 16 th century pub inside, with low beams and narrow staircases. It is a real rabbit warren, little bars and nooks everywhere, and our little bedroom was up a wee stone staircase that led straight from the main dining room! We arrived in time for lunch, another short days walk, and it was really nice to rest up in the afternoon. Great pub meals, we were surprised that the place was so busy, seems to draw in people from all over Yorkshire, as well as walkers like us. Rosemary and Don from Vancouver joined us for dinner, we have really enjoyed walking with ... read more

Sunday 9 August - from Orton we had a fairly uneventful 21 km walk to Kirkby Stephen, through some nice farmland and past streams and a viaduct. Got into KS in time to get the washing done, a bonus. Decided to opt for a curry for dinner for a change from pub grub. Our accommodation was a hostel in a former Methodist Church, very atmospheric. Monday 10 August - headed off from Kirkby Stephen, a route that took us through the small hamlet of Hartley (not sure of the connection to Keith and Jac!), then a slow climb skywards to the Nine Standards on the top of the hill, which are a collection of 9 cairns, no one seems to know exactly how they got there. Got a couple of nasty showers of rain that felt ... read more

Well this blog is well overdue, but walking is taking up most of our time at the moment! walking, eating, sleeping and a few drinks to help us along. Can't believe we have completed 10 days of the Coast to Coast already, and over 1/2 of the distance! Here's a quick summary of the walk so far, and will catch up on earlier travel stuff later. Sunday 2nd August - Set off from our lovely hostel in the Scottish Borders, dropped the rental in Edinburgh, met up with the others at Carlisle and took the 2nd train together to Whitehaven for St Bees. Train was crammed with walkers and assorted others. Our first night was spent catching up on goss and checking out St Bees, got caught up with evensong at the lovely old church by ... read more

Sunday 26 July - our next stop was Durham, where we arrived on a wet Sunday afternoon, although unlike home, there was no wind, so it wasn't a problem really. We had booked 2 nights at St Chads, which is a university hall of residence but becomes a Youth Hostel over the summer. It was right opposite Durham Cathedral, and just a stones throw from old Durham town. We had a huge room at the hostel and there was car parking 10 minutes away, so we could just leave the car there till it was time to move on. Durham was SO quiet and not at all touristy, which was a nice surprise, and in fact the whole of our time in the North it was like that, one of Britains best kept secrets? Durham is ... read more

Monday 20 July - Oxford was a bit of a surprise for us, we had been there in the late 70s but only for a quick visit, it is a really beautiful town with stunning university buildings and colleges. We were quite excited to be staying in Keble College, which opens up its university student accommodation to visitors in the summer. A lovely old college with a beautiful dining hall like in Harry Potter! It was quite a treat. in the evening we had tea at a 16th Century local pub Eagle and Child, known by the locals as the Bird and Baby, which turned out to be where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien met to discuss their writings! Place is so full of history! Did a walking tour of the university town in the morning ... read more