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Tuesday 6 May - The sun was out in force again (we seem to be getting luckier and luckier with the weather)! We started the day with a very pleasant walk to the village of Hardrow...it was somewhat of a travesty that we arrived here so early, as the ancient Green Dragon Inn would have been the perfect place to sit outside and sup an afternoon pint. Instead, we made do with paying a small fee to go through the Inn and up the track at the back through a charming limestone gorge (how many pubs have their own gorge?!) to see the highest waterfall in England. In fact, this was surprisingly impressive at over 30 metres (100 ft) high.
It would have been nice to linger longer, but there was nothing for it other than to commence the long climb up Great Shunner Fell. We encountered many grouse along the way (so many that Steve now seems to have developed the useless and irritating skill of being able to replicate their call, almost to a tee). Steve was all smiles at reaching Great Shunner Fell, but this turned to pain and agony as he managed to hit his knee
on a rock - ouch! It did look extremely painful as he clung to his knee and hobbled about, before finding a resting place to rest his leg. With eleven days of the Pennine Way to go this was slightly concerning, but after a while he was back on his feet again - phew! Up at Great Shunner Fell, we met a friendly woman at the summit (who was also a keen walker) with whom we shared our ectopic pregnancy story, the fantastic work of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and our reasons for taking on this challenge.
We then gradually descended into the upper reaches of Swaledale, where we came upon the tiny village of Thwaite - if any a place was picture postcard perfect then this is it. We sat outside in the sun at the only teashop in the village, enjoying freshly baked cheese scones with Wensleydale cheese and chutney, followed by fruit cake with, guess what, more Wensleydale cheese, all washed down with copious quantities of tea. A simple meal but at that point in time, we couldn't have thought of anything more delicious! We meet a lovely couple at the teashop, who very kindly took
great interest in our fundraising hike and the cause of the charity. It was just so peaceful and quiet here - you almost felt like you could here a pin drop on the other side of the valley - we can't understand why so many of the places in England we are familiar with are so crowded, and yet here, where it is so beautiful, there's hardly anybody here. This is a question we find ourselves asking with increasing frequency as we make our way up the Pennine Way.
The next section of the walk was simply stunning...we climbed up the far side of the valley from Thwaite, from where the path then curves round into an adjoining valley, all the while clinging to the side of a narrow limestone terrace high above the deep wooded gulley containing the Swale below. Pheasants could be heard in the woods beneath, whilst up here, we encountered literally thousands of rabbit holes. The whole hillside at Kisdon was clearly an intricate network of warrens and tunnels for these small furry creatures - Kisdon is to rabbits what London must be to us...but Kisdon is somehow more attractive. Every step we made resulted
in bobbing white tails scurrying off into burrows and undergrowth! Eventually the path came out to the small village of Keld, an incredibly remote and incredibly idyllic Yorkshire farming community that time and place seems to have forgotten. It is buried in a delightful wooded junction of valleys, its pleasant green pastures spilling upwards into the rising hills and moors above it. As if it wasn't already beautiful enough, there were also the delights of the waterfalls and cascades at Kisdon Force and East Gill Force to take in. To be honest you could happily spend a whole day here, and in the gloriously warm afternoon sunshine it was difficult to keep moving...but we still had a long climb to reach our lodgings at Tan Hill Inn for the night, so reluctantly we pressed on.
As we progressed, the change in the surroundings could not have been more dramatic...gone were the lush green meadows and hillsides, surplanted by endlessly ascending expanses of moorland. It became so desolate and remote up here, and we couldn't help but feel we were on a trudge to the ends of the Earth. These are the parts of England that you never get to
see, and never knew existed (unless of course you're mad enough to walk the Pennine Way!). As the heat of the day receded and the hour drew later, the need to locate the Inn somewhere amidst this barren moorland became more pressing, and it put an extra spring in our step. It wasn't until the sun was falling fast into the vast moorland 'desert' to the west that at last we spotted our destination...the famous Tan Hill Inn which at 1,732 feet is the highest pub in Great Britain.
We were so relieved to arrive at long last, yearning for a hot bath, a hearty dinner and a warm bed...as we were about to discover however, being high is not the only unusual thing about this pub. We were mildly concerned that all the lights at the Inn were out (and by the way, the single lonely road to the pub was a picture of absolute desolation, disappearing into the moor a bit like the path that had carried us here) - on entering the Inn and meeting the landlady, the measured relief experienced from encountering another human being was quickly replaced by the utter horror and shock of
being informed that due to a lack of water, the Inn was closed, that we would have to wait outside for an hour for a taxi that was due to take us to a B&B 20 miles away that was £170 per night. Lavinia stared in disbelief, whilst Steve's first thought was how he was going to be fed tonight. Steve's second thought was whether he was going to be fed tonight. Luckily, before Steve could get to his third thought, the landlady, Tracy, owned up that it was all a practical joke. The lights than came on and her various patrons, who were all in on the joke (they'd spotted us from far away across the moor), came forth from various hiding places. This was obviously hilarious to everyone else...we were just mightily relieved.
Other than playing practical jokes on its patrons, the Tan Hill Inn is 'different' to other pubs in other ways too... Firstly, you help yourself to drinks behind the bar by pulling your own pint (and as a new arrival, Steve also had a pull a pint for one of the other customers). Secondly, there are farmyard animals at the bar. We'd already heard
stories of chickens passing through the Inn...on our visit Tommy the lamb (4 weeks old) was either curled up by the fireplace, jumping up onto the landlady's lap, or inserting his head into the boxes of crisps behind the bar. We also had the pleasure of meeting some other pets belonging to the Tan Hill, one of whom is called Izzie, a 'very' fluffy and friendly one-year old sheep - sharing the same name as the 'wonderful' Izzie at the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust!
As eccentric as this pub is, the quality of the hospitality, the food and the beer cannot be faulted. In fact, the Lamb Henry (which Steve felt mildly guilty eating in present company) was probably the best lamb he'd ever had. This is simply a fantastic place of enormous character...if you stayed here longer than one night, you'd probably have to completely reassess your perception of reality...but everyone should come here at least once. If you don't believe us, try a visit for yourself... Oh and also watch out for the latest Everest advert currently on TV - it was filmed here in February at the Tan Hill Inn! (Photos to follow!)
Only 147 miles
to go!
If you'd like to support our fundraising effort, please go to www.ectopic.org.uk/fundraising/?p=46. Thank you very much for your support. Lavinia and Steve.
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