Pennine Way 10. We are we again.

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Never heard of Bernard Castle as in the location guide but it’s not heard of Bowes either. I know we crossed county lines and are now in Durham so you will have to use your imagination a bit.

Several people have remarked (and that’s surprising as I thought only 2 read my blog) that I may have been a little merry, two sheets to the wind, somewhat molly the munk, a little worse for wear...but the truth is it’s takes time to drink 3 pints then a few glasses of prosecco and I simply run of time because I had to get up early the next day.

So back to yesterday. That’s the Hawes to Keld day. Another day without Julie who is still recovering from a pretty bad ankle twist. The colour is fading a bit and with some anti inflammatory medication and bandages and ice treatment it is looking better. From the pretty town of Hawes it a 3 hour steady climb to Great Shunner Fell, the highest point so far on the Pennine Way. Almost mystically the fog appeared as I climbed steadily and it blocked out the previous highest point (that we did not get up) Pen-y-Ghent. It was Pen-y-Ghent having the last laugh I think as I could look back and look down on her. Great Shunner Fell, and Little Shunner Fell are impressive. I’m not as big a fan of the dales as I am of the moors but here they are expansive and simply dominate. Frequently I rotate 360 degrees and see nothing but dales. No roads, no buildings and no people. From the Fell it is literally down hill all the way to Keld except for one monster hill just outs of Thwaite. Not sure if it was the bowl of soup I had for lunch that made this tough but this was one steep hill. I stopped at Keld to rekindle a few memories of when I was there doing the Coast to Coast a few years back. Just a pint of cider and a chat with a few walkers but I wondered then ’if it gets any better than this’. Well it didn’t but then it did. Again the hill out of Keld is pretty serious and when mentally you regard Keld as your destination but your BnB is just over a mile up the hill it’s a bit tough to take. But the BnB is delightful. Easily the best we have encountered. A refurbished barn custom built for guests and especially walkers, it’s very comfy and has excellent drinks and meals. We had preordered foods (as requested) and lucky, lucky I arrived just at beer o’clock. They cooked 3 course for the 8 guests and it was excellent. All the guests were walkers, 6 doing the Coast to Coast and Julie and I on the Pennine Way. We had a great time around the table we some Hoskin humour and a few drinks. The owners even gave me a bacon ciabatta for lunch because I didn’t have any cooked brekkie!

Julie walked today so she is visible in some of the landscape shots. Her ankle is not perfect but it is getting better. We chose the slightly easier of the 2 routes today to assist her. It meant some boring walking on roads but...

The Pennine Way took us up and over Tan Hill, home to the highest pub in England. I’ve been saying the UK but I do not think that’s true. Then it’s over the dales and moors for 8 miles which doesn’t sound much but don’t try holding your breath for a mile as it’s longer than yo think. Tomorrow we walk 33 km (our longest day) but I’m yet to research the terrain, the ascent/descent and that sort of stuff. Whatever I discover it will be a big day. I know we are coming into old ’Roman’ territory so I sort of hope it’s on a ‘Roman road’ as they are inevitably flat and straight.

The weather has been great and maybe even too good as it has lead to a few sightings of the dreaded and feared ‘male English half naked torso’. They lurk around waterfalls and streams and present themselves with absolute abandon when walkers least expect them. I however treat them reverence and try and sneak past pretending to be blissfully unaware of their presence. But that is difficult. I’ve even met some on the trail, their shoulders and back having that reddish glow the species tend to get at the first sign of any decent solar appearance.

I have though also seen heaps of grouse and pheasant lately. Our BnB last night had them in the field behind the house as well as so many rabbits. They get people in to shoot the rabbits and it’s common for them to bag 100 pairs in a night shoot. But grouse and pheasants jumps out near me all the time and take flight often giving me a fright. You can hear them calling and carrying on but they still surprise me.

We are at the ‘Ancient Unicorn’ (is there any other type) tonight. Very old place, but done up in an old town. It does not have the charm of many of the villages around here but we will see what the food and beverage options are very soon.

In fact now.

The photos have some comments attached as the internet seems to work well here.

Ciao for now.

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Photos

The window shot from Frith Lodge. As far as you can see is where I walked from yesterday.
Best BnB we have experienced. Karen and Neil are delightful hosts (they laugh at my jokes) and the facilities and meals are excellent.

Today’s landscape.
Just out of Frith Lodge Keld.

Tan Hill. The UK’s highest pub.
I now think not. Just England’s highest.