Day 54 - Sedbergh to Burneside

Rain didn't stop play! Heavy downfalls last night woke us both up a few times. We were up a little later and completed the blog ready to send, should we have internet at any time during the day.

I spent a short while in Sedbergh, visited the Fairfield factory shop which produces individual fleeces and gilets - very nice  - and then drove on to Kendal. Once again the ride is through beautiful countryside and it's a bit of a shock when you arrive in the town.

I don't remember Kendal at all, though The Walker tells me I have been a few times; it was far bigger than I expected it to be and it was extremely busy for a Tuesday afternoon, or maybe I'm just not used to lots of people. The shopping centre seemed pretty good - well it had an ok M & S where I could return the over-sized shorts, but they had run out of the £10 meal deal!

For Pam, who thinks I may not be feeding The Walker, we had lamb shanks, potatoes and green beans for tea and the highlight of my day was a fellow camper who was amazed at the queue to wash the pots and did his lot in 7 minutes - army training, he said!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  17.0 miles     :     Cumulative  689.8 miles

One of those early mornings when the drumming of rain on the van roof makes you wonder whether a cup of coffee will really be suitable reward for getting out of bed; then the knees begin to hurt so much you fear that if you don't get up you might never move again! Once out of bed & moving about you wonder what all the fuss was about....! Sounds like many a working day I vaguely remember!

The heavy rain was forecast to continue well into the afternoon but with a short stretch scheduled for tomorrow & still with a day in hand it didn't matter too much. In the end I'm really glad I walked today. I tinkered with the route: chopped a couple of corners & added some loops along country lanes to keep my feet dry. There were 4 or 5 heavy but short-lived showers & the brisk breeze had dried out most of the farmland by mid-afternoon.

 

Crossing the M6 again! OK, so it's quicker & drier by car!

I was passed twice by one particular gent in his car. On the first occasion I was descending to Beck Foot & had to squeeze into the dripping hedge to let him pass; he stopped to chat & he, too, was wearing shorts & walking gear though he admitted that on his walk above Yorkshire Bridge he'd been wearing wellies! On the second occasion he was showered, changed & much smarter but still stopped to ask me about my route & where I was picking up the Dales Way. A trivial incident ... but the only person I saw or spoke to all day!

 

Lune viaduct at Beck Foot on the old Ingleton - Tebay line

 

 

Highlight of the Day: Peter Thompson's Tuck Shop! Just off the farm track at Grayrigg are 2 cool boxes & a plastic hamper filled with goodies for the Dales Way walker.... along with an Honesty Box. Peter's raising funds for a World Challenge Trip to Kenya in 2012 & I thought this was a superb idea!

Beer of the Day: what kind of a walk is the Dales Way? Not a single pub on today's 17 mile leg & the pub in Burnside was closed! Resorted to my accumulated bottled collection for Thwaites' 'Double Century' - brewed to mark 200 years of family brewing. Golden, smooth, quite strong-flavoured & good... but this felt like a bit of a cheat as I've had this lots of times before.

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): when I finally stumbled out of bed this morning (7.10am), pressed play on the kettle & plugged in the iPod, the first tune to appear on random play was Morphine's 'You Look Like Rain'! I almost got back into bed!

 

Would you like to share our tree...?

Janice: really pleased that you finally managed to get through! The weather has been a bit challenging over the last week or so but often the forecast has been a bit more daunting than the reality - we have to remember that, like a tent, it sounds worse from the inside!
Pub performance has been quite interesting - as we've progressed northwards into areas that I think of as 'walking country', opening times have been more erratic (or non-existent) & often seem to be at the whim of the publican. It's a good job I always have my can of cider & chocolate for sustenance!
Hope to hear from you again - the comments give us something else to think about other than the rain!

Peter Thompson: if you picked up the blog address I left in your Honesty Box, along with a small donation, I wish you all the very best. I didn't sample your wares, preferring my can of cider, but was grateful for the place to sit & shelter from a shower. My eldest daughter went to Pakistan with World Challenge some 11 or 12 years ago & had a great time.

 

A similar idea a bit further on at Burton Hill - maybe it's to compensate for the shortage of pubs!

Julia: we're members of the Caravan Club & the Camping & Caravanning Club - Les is using their books + Cade's guide & the internet when we have it..... & still my manager struggles to find me accommodation! The difficulty we're finding is where the symbols in the books don't correspond to the facilities offered or where sites are listed in the books but are full of statics & don't really want tourers. But, hey, it's a manager's job to sort that!

Jamie's wall is coming along nicely!