Day 52 – Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Cowgill

After a very wet night the rain continued until just before midday. This didn’t really bother us as we still had to complete yesterday’s blog – we had bought wi-fi connection at the site but it wouldn’t work last night, so we couldn’t blog. This morning it was superb; it even allowed us to upload photos on the site instead of having to email. However, we are back to no connection tonight!

I declined the offer of a soaking and instead I enjoyed a leisurely drive along Ribblesdale and Dentdale, explored the quaint village of Dent and booked a couple of campsites.

Stunning views from Dent campsite on Monday morning

From Bernie:

Today’s walk  12.3 miles     :     Cumulative  663.1 miles

Another landmark! After a week & just under 100 miles on ‘The Pennine Way’ we parted company; the Trail wending its way northwards towards Hawes while I headed across the moors to Ribblehead to join ‘The Dales Way’ & my next perverse change of direction. For the next 3 days I’ll be walking due west to reach the Lake District.

That’s not the end of our flirtation with ‘The Pennine Way’; another 10 days & we’ll be back together on Hadrian’s Wall!

Pen-y-Ghent in the distance – this is the soggy moorland I crossed today

‘Heading across the moors’ sounds easy, particularly as I was supposed to be following ‘The Ribble Way’ but after 2 nights of persistent heavy rain much of the higher moorland is splashy at best, muddy & boggy at worst; way-marking is erratic or non-existent & it’s often difficult to see if anyone has walked there before. Actually, it was great fun!

Clearest sign I found for ‘The Ribble Way’ – brilliant, once I’d worked out what the symbol represented!

Passed quite close to the great Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle railway line – should have been able to get better photos but it was difficult in the gloom & tricky to hold the camera steady!  At least it was a useful navigational point of reference! Dent Head viaduct isn’t as big but is still impressive.

Ribblehead Viaduct

Dent Head Viaduct

Highlight of the Day: rescued a lamb on the moor at Birkwith; quite a large lamb & it had horns! It had stuck its head through one of the holes in a square-mesh wire fence; the hole was barely bigger than its head & its horns were stopping it from getting out. I could see it thrashing about from a distance & when I approached it tried going forwards to get its whole body through the hole!

We wrestled for a while but I eventually bent the wire & its head enough to free it. It would be nice to think it had learnt a lesson but I suspect that, by tomorrow, it will have forgotten it has horns!

 Ribblehead – beautiful spot, even in the rain!

Beer of the Day: ‘Summer Lightning’ from, I think, the Hoptrack Brewery – I need to research this! Looks like a cross between Boddington’s & a cheap lager, & is even served chilled – a more unlikely-looking ale it would be difficult to imagine! Light, pale & wonderfully thirst-quenching – surprisingly good!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): ‘Part Company’ – The Go-Betweens