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

Day 51 - Malham to Horton-in-Ribblesdale

Amazing! After all the gloomy forecasts of heavy rain we got away with it again! Wonderful walking weather.

We really must mention the lovely couple at the Gargrave campsite. They were so friendly and jovial. The owner hates to turn campers\tourers away and so the site was heaving by late Friday evening. It was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle fitting everyone on!

I was worried that we would be unable to park at Malham as it’s a very popular tourist spot. I have memories of it being manic with people and cars, which was in fact true of my return walk to the van. Ramblers’ groups, picnicking families, strolling couples, lone sightseers – you name them, they were all there! So it was good that we were up fairly early and walking by 9.45 – and, luckily, the Cove was deserted which pleased The Walker for his photos. The path over to Malham Tarn was superb – and I must look like a knowledgeable walker as, when on my own, 2 groups stopped to ask me for directions and to check they were on the right route.

Malham, a limestone pavement and half-way!

After worrying about parking at Malham , Horton-in-Ribblesdale should have been even more difficult. Luckily it was easy! This was only because it is Three Peaks challenge Saturday ; a couple of fields were opened for extra parking, otherwise it would have been a nightmare.

From Bernie:

Today's walk:  14.4 miles     :     Cumulative  650.8 miles

My guidebook declares this stretch to be 'the most stunningly beautiful part' of the whole Pennine Way but it also says of Fountains Fell that 'it carries the curses of many a lonely walker'! Looked like I was in for an interesting day!

Malham Cove

After yesterday's low-level stroll along the River Aire there certainly couldn't have been a greater contrast. From Malham, the picture postcard Dales village, on to the majestic cliff of Malham Cove & then the intriguing limestone pavements of the open moor - at this stage we were less than an hour into the walk but had already notched up our own milestone: halfway on LeJog! I'd been looking forward to this - if anything goes wrong now it's nearer to carry on than it is to turn back!

Next came the surprise of Malham Tarn: a couple of boats bobbing on waves conjured up by the strong wind blasting over the moor & the woods busy with young students from the Field Centre engaged in 'team-building activities' which seemed to involve a lot of mud & a lot of shouting! A surprise because of its size - for days the only large stretches of water I've passed have been man-made; ironically, the Tarn seemed to be full &, because of the way it nestles in a dip, its overflow stream appears to flow uphill! A strange optical illusion from whichever angle you look.

Malham Tarn

The track up Fountains Fell climbs over several false summits across the most remote terrain of the whole walk so far and the top is riddled with abandoned mine-shafts originally dug by the monks of Fountains Abbey, hence its name. A knee-jarring descent to the valley floor & what stands in the way? The 2,300 feet of Pen-y-Ghent!

Summit of Fountains Fell

Now, it's true that I could have gone round but I'm really glad I was daft enough to go over the top! More scrambling than on my last ascent &, with the wind up here even stronger, I found myself clinging to the rock on a couple of occasions. Erosion, old age or both?!

Pen-y-Ghent

Highlight of the Day: as I came down from Pen-y-Ghent I was mulling over which of all of these had been the 'Best' of the day - it turned out to be none of them! I didn't know it was 'Three Peaks Saturday' but it did explain the huge number of walkers I'd seen & it was brilliant to see the village of Horton packed with genuine walkers, many on their way to sign in at the end, many happily clutching certificates, many laid out in front of  cafes & pubs & quite a few of them that I'd passed or who had passed me during the day. Every one a smiling face!

View from Pen-y-Ghent

Beer of the Day: really enjoyed my pint of 'Hen Harrier' at 'The Crown' in Horton. From the Bowland Brewery it has a strong, slightly unusual flavour... almost lemony - very refreshing.

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): 'Wild is the Wind' - lots of versions of this as well but for me you can choose between Nina Simone & David Bowie!

Wooden plaques from the National Trust Information Hut at Malham Field Centre

Long Blog this morning 'cos it's raining & I'm waiting for the cloud to lift!

Day 50 - Thornton-in-Craven to Malham

Today was supposed to be very wet from lunchtime onwards so The Walker wanted to try to be finished before the deluge! We planned to meet on the Pennine Way but, being a fair weather walker, I thought I might just wait in the warm and dry should the forecast be correct! Actually the weather was perfect for walking and I really enjoyed wandering along the path - farmland and meadows most of the way, a bit different from the last few walks. Once again a heifer was a bit frisky but backed off when I waved my stick threateningly at him!

There were quite a few visitors at Malham for early on a Friday morning; the cafe owner said  the TV programme starring the lady blacksmith ( it's about the Dales and features local people and their work) has made it even busier than usual. I remember bringing the kids here years ago and it being absolutely manic! That, of course, was in the summer hols!

An apology to Sarah-Jayne: just been fiddling with Facebook on my Blackberry and discovered a  message from you dated the end of May! I thought my message hadn't reached you - not sure how I found this reply. Facebook baffles me! I will use ordinary email  from now on!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  10.6 miles     :     Cumulative  636.4 miles

Tantalisingly close to half-way! When I first planned this walk half-way was to be on top of Pen-y-Ghent, which seemed quite appropriate to a Yorkshireman! With the added miles half-way has moved about a bit but we'll get there tomorrow even before we reach Malham Cove... & it's still on the Pen-y-Ghent day.

Looking ahead! Tomorrow's high-level  walking

Easiest day yet on the Pennine Way, mostly low-level farmland & then a gentle stretch along the River Aire into Malham; the same mighty Aire that runs through Leeds & its neighbouring mill towns - it was never this colour when I was a kid!

Crossed into the Yorkshire Dales National Park on Eshton Moor when I passed through a gate from one field to the next - seemed a bit inglorious - there was no sign to mark the occasion! I may be 'waisting away' to use Les' words but I still need XL in tee-shirts & was disappointed to find my attempts to upgrade my wardrobe thwarted in Malham - fancied bright purple but all they could do was dull grey & I felt neither dull nor grey. Oh, well - there's always the internet!

Very impressive life-size horse sculptures at Hanlith Hall

Highlight of the Day: my last flirtation with canals until Edinburgh! Briefly joined the Leeds-Liverpool canal at East Marston & walked beneath the unusual double-arched bridge built to carry the A59 over the old canal. It seems a little ironic that a major 19th century transport network should have got in the way of the 20th - the second arch is stronger, higher, wider, straighter, faster.... & much noisier. I'm glad it wasn't just obliterated... but I'll write about that when I get to Edinburgh!

Beer of the Day: visited 'The Buck Inn' at Malham, another one of those establishments with a reputation inflated by tourism. The barman continued his conversation with a local whilst inexpertly serving me a pint of 'Wensleydale Gold' - pale, sharply bitter & not as smooth as I would expect from a brewery's Premium Ale. Not sure whether to blame the beer, the brewery, the pub or the barman but I'll not be having another pint... !

A good day! So easy that it almost felt like a rest day. Looked at the weather on the internet this morning & a big blue blob of rain covered this area from lunchtime onwards - just checked & it's still there but we've stayed dry all day & have just barbecued. Fingers crossed for Pen-y-Ghent!

... even had time for cider & chocolate en route!

John: good to hear from you again - don't know what's happened to the postcard, I've sent one every Thursday morning since I started..... I'd be inclined to blame Royal Mail!!!
I have the weather set for Braintree on the laptop & it looks to me as if your allotment has been doing fine recently! Playing havoc with the cricket, though!

I know!

Day 49 - Haworth to Thornton-in-Craven

A day of jumping in and out of the van, or it seemed that way after I had dropped The Walker off at his starting point, drove up to Penistone Hill, then on to the meeting place at Lothersdale (at the pub), then on again to Thornton-in-Craven, to the pub at Elslack and, finally, to the camping place at Gargrave. The threatened rain only happened at the start of the day  & we are now basking in sunshine as the food cooks gently on the barbecue.

We met an interesting man at the first pub who said that his camper van was nearly 15 years old and on its last legs; he thought they were a great thing. He had, however, just spent 3 weeks in Corfu and goes abroad a lot, presumably without the van.

The second pub was called "The Tempest Inn "  and had lots of signs saying that it was Pub of  the Year 2011! Apparently Annie Tempest, who illustrates books and draws cartoons with very funny captions, used to own the pub. There are framed drawings covering the walls and we spent an amusing half hour reading "The Toddingtons" postcards. Definitely a good pub which served Crabbies Ginger Beer with lemon slices -  thanks to Jamie for introducing me to this fine drink!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  14.0 miles     :     Cumulative  625.8 miles

High-level, open moorland walking was again a feature of the day but with a fair bit of enclosed farmland thrown in for good measure. The views from Elslack Moor, towards the end of the day, were as good as anything on the walk so far & it's a pity it was all a bit hazy by then.

Looking out over the Head of Ponden Reservoir from Crag Top

I'd been looking forward to a leisurely walk with a couple of nicely-spaced pub-stops: imagine my horror when, arriving in Ickornshaw, I discovered that 'The Black Bull' now sold kitchens instead of beer! I could go on for hours about the decline of the English pub.....

Wolf Stones - quite a wild location; my guidebook suggests they were named to deter young children from straying too far out on to the moor

Whilst on the subject of decline, I was amazed by the number of crumbling & abandoned farmhouses below Eller Hill - I think the only places I've seen anything on this scale has been in the Scottish Highlands where communities were the victims of forced Clearances. Here, farm-workers gave up their struggle with the land to move to mill-work & the industrial towns below them in the valleys. It is ironic that opposite 'The Hare & Hounds' in Lothersdale, where I met Les at lunchtime, is a huge, empty mill with chimney & a water-wheel which was once one of the largest in the country. Cue.... Song of the Day!

Village of Lothersdale & its old mill

Highlight of the Day: quite simply, the weather! Forecast to be wet virtually all day with heavy rain in the early afternoon - I walked in tee-shirt & shorts for most of the day & couldn't believe my luck as banks of black cloud rumbled past me to the west. Could have been a tough day's walking... turned out to be quite comfortable!

This one wouldn't tell me its name; I didn't have a biscuit & couldn't find its chin. I'm afraid I wasn't the highlight of this pig's day!

Beer of the Day: not sure whether 'Moorland' is the name of the beer, the brewery or both! It comes from Oxenhope, 2 miles from our overnight stop, & appears to be stocked by 'The Hare & Hounds' because 'a lad in the village works there'! Strong & smooth,  a very good beer

Song of the Day: 'A Dalesman's Litany' - lots of versions of this old song around - I like Tim Hart's, he adds one or two bits not in the original &, I think, makes it more of a human story

Di: I was only there yesterday & I'm struggling to remember the names of all the pubs I passed! I don't know about you but I found Haworth much calmer, gentler & quieter than I remember from when we were younger; as kids I recall heat, crowds, ice-cream & shouting!!!! In a perverse way I'm glad that everybody's Sunday was a bit of a wash-out!


Terry & Pauline: good to hear from you again - I don't know why the comments link works sometimes & not others but please persevere, otherwise I'd feel as if I'm just writing for myself! Glad to hear you're settling in.... & that your weather is very similar to ours! Hope to see you soon.


Ann: pleased you enjoyed Dorset & hope that Cornwall is just as good - I've found that if you ignore the weather, it'll leave you alone! Sorry to hear about Barry's knees &, other than stronger beer, I don't know what to recommend.

Day 48 - Hebden Bridge to Haworth

Last night's campsite was very basic so it was lovely to get to a more upmarket one today, especially as washing clothes needed to happen! We also had absolutely no communication with the outside world - no phone service, no internet - and so we dashed down to Hebden Bridge early this morning to find internet and blog!

Leaving Hebden Bridge along the Rochdale Canal

Last time we walked this was mid-December when we picked up the van & the canal was frozen!

Lovely drive to Haworth along a ridge with excellent views, but once again lots of road works. The van is getting used to very steep hills and copes well! I remember Haworth from earlier visits - the main cobbled street is very attractive, but  I need to explore it more.We came back to barbecue but a heavy shower started and changed our minds - thank goodness for ready meals!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  13.2 miles     :     Cumulative  611.8 miles

Bit of a Literary pilgrimage today into Bronte country & the village of Haworth. Not exactly on the Pennine Way, but I'm not really walking the Pennine Way & I can go where I like! If Betjeman's St. Enodoc's was worth all that fiddling about in Cornwall, the Brontes must be worth a couple of miles across Yorkshire moorland!

Mid Walshaw Dean Reservoir - beautiful in the sunshine

A cloudy, drizzly start but very warm, making even the lightest of unzipped waterproofs uncomfortable. The rain had faded away by 10.00am & after that it was a superb walk across high moorland passing, yet again, a chain of unbelievably empty reservoirs. Chatted to a farmer & his wife who stopped their complicated manoeuvering of machinery to let me pass - today's Song of the Day picks up the theme of our conversation!

Lower Walshaw Dean Reservoir & the bottom pole is only a metre high!

I saw no-one else until reaching Top Withins - after this there was a constant procession of wanderers on the 'Wuthering Heights' trail but it was good to see so many unlikely-looking people tackling what isn't an easy circular walk.

Top Withins is a ruined house beneath the tree on top of the hill - the home of the Earnshaws in 'Wuthering Heights'

Highlight of the Day: Haworth itself! Of course it preys on its heritage but the narrow, hilly, cobbled streets of its centre are quite special & if you're fortunate enough to visit when the place isn't teeming with tourists, like today.... !


Last time we were here was August 1991: the wind was howling down alleys & rain was sheeting across the moor; the village was deserted & we dived into one of the pubs for shelter, a drink & hot food. 3 or 4 locals were grouped around the TV which was reporting news of Gorbachev's overthrow in the Soviet Union - the locals were anticipating imminent world disaster &, as we picked up snippets of the story, it all seemed a bit surreal.

Haworth's cobbled Main Street

Beer of the Day: nothing surreal about this! I sat on the slightly elevated terrace of 'The Black Bull', where Branwell Bronte used to consume vast quantities of opium while his sisters wrote best-sellers, & waited for Les. I made do with a pint of Timothy Taylor's 'Landlord'! The brewery is based about 5 miles away, in Keighley, & the beer has won loads of awards. Golden, strong-flavoured & quite dry, I've had this many times before - it's a good beer but totally useless for the walker... it just makes you thirsty!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): 'I'm Only Happy When it Rains' - Garbage.... see the above conversation!

Appearing at the 'Haworth Old Hall Inn'! Almost delayed LeJog until the weekend!

Day 47 - Standedge to Hebden Bridge

A beautiful morning after the poor weather of the last couple of days meant we were off fairly early and looking forward to a sunny day.

Yesterday Black Hill, today White Hill! Bit of a difference!

Today, nearly everyone we met spoke to us. At the start, a Scotsman appeared from nowhere and began telling us his theories about the earth tipping over because we have taken so much out of it; we couldn’t stay to hear all his stories – but we did learn that he was a retired professional footballer and had a brother who fought in the war!

At our first meeting place (a pub on the Pennine Way and the A58 - in the middle of nowhere) there were hordes of ramblers going on an organised outing plus lots of people just arriving for a walk before lunching here. A couple of elderly men were very interested in the van; one of them had a boat, which was just like the van, he said, but had no wheels! His daughter wants a motor home, so I did my sales pitch again! The other chap wanted to help us find a campsite near Hebden Bridge as he came from Todmorden and felt he should help. We kept bumping into them and they were keen to hear about the walk.

As I prepared to retrace my steps to fetch the van we caught up with a couple who had just retired and were enjoying their travels – it was interesting to listen to their tales, especially as we had been to many of the same places.


From Bernie:
Today’s walk 14.8 miles : Cumulative 598.6 miles

OK – so, another ‘best walk of the expedition so far’! Unbelievable change in the weather: it was tee-shirt walking, even on the top of the moor, from 10.00 am. Starting out from Standedge, I was already quite high so there were few ascents – most of the walk was along high-level ridges, across open moorland or beside remote reservoirs.... there was virtually no wind & visibility was, at least in the morning, crystal clear! In yesterday’s conditions, or Sunday’s, this would have been very tough!

Tiny footbridge over the Main Drain from the chain of reservoirs

Much of the morning’s walk was over Saddleworth Moor; not a stretch, with its nightmare connotations, that I was really looking forward to – but it was bright & sunny, birds were singing & it was a joy to be there. Even crossing the M62 failed to put a dampener on this.

Almost felt in a position of power above all this mayhem!

One poignant moment of the morning came just below Little Moss. I met a bronzed man, probably 10 years or so older than myself, dressed in shorts, tee-shirt & walking boots heading up the track towards me; we exchanged greetings & he commented, ‘It’s a grand day for it.’ It was only as I walked on & recalled that he had no backpack, no map-case, no coat but was carefully carrying beneath his arm something wrapped in a blue towel that I realised he was on his way to scatter someone’s ashes – I felt quite guilty for intruding on his morning until I remembered his words & he was probably right......

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Green Withens Reservoir... looking a bit like a beach! Just one of dozens of desperately low reservoirs I’ve passed in the last 3 or 4 days

Highlight of the Day: reaching Stoodley Pike, high above Calderdale, & being able to see the hills & valleys stretching out in all directions! I’ve walked here in ice & snow, rain & thick fog – today was magic!

Stoodley Pike - This really was built to mark Napoleon’s defeat.... though it fell down & had to be rebuilt in 1854!

At the northern end of Warland Reservoir, while Les was walking with me, we met a retired couple & the gent asked, “Going to John O’ Groats?” – it gave me great pleasure to be able to say ‘Yes!’ Still waiting to meet my first fellow LeJogger, though!


Beer of the Day: the curiously named ‘Saxon Cider – Brown Sugar’. The landlady at ‘The White House’ couldn’t tell me anything about the brewery; she said she bought it from ‘a foreign gentleman’ but that she couldn’t understand a word he said! Les thought it tasted of plums: I couldn’t decide between pears & cherries! Good enough for me to have a second pint – very rare for a lunchtime.

Blackstone Edge

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): ‘What a Difference a Day Makes’ – recorded by lots of people but my favourite is Esther Phillips’ version.

Day 46 – Crowden to Standedge

Left The Walker in the pouring rain and thought I had the best of the deal today – that was until I spent 2 ¼ hours driving to the next stopping place. I had decided to go on main roads rather than take the van on the more direct route down skinny roads through Holmfirth. However, every few miles there were road works, diversions and there also seemed to be a complete lack of signs to say which road I was on! Eventually, unable to figure out where I was exactly, I gave in, stopped and consulted the sat nav, which came with the van, but I had as not yet used.

Disappointing to find the Standedge Visitors Centre was closed on Mondays, as we had been looking forward to going there.

From Bernie:

Today’s walk  11.0 miles       :     Cumulative  583.8 miles

A quick 11 miles: knock those out by lunchtime & spend the afternoon with a bit more industrial heritage at the Standedge Centre – at least that was the idea at the planning stage!

Looking back towards Crowden

Turned out to be quite a tough 11 miles, especially as most of it was across moorland into the teeth of a strong breeze. Spent most of the morning looking at the inside of a cloud as I climbed steadily to the summit of Black Hill; dropping from the plateau the views across the  moors to Manchester, with the sun highlighting patches of farmland & high-rise blocks, were superb.

It might seem like cheating, building a trig pillar on a pedestal like this, but it’ll give them a week or two before it sinks into the bog!

I must have been crazy yesterday afternoon when I’d thought I might pop out & just add the few miles to Wassenden Head to my tally. In yesterday’s conditions this walk would have been horrendous – today it was just tough &, actually, great fun!

Wessendon Reservoir – rhododendrons around the reservoir & along the streams were brilliant!

After the heavy rain there were streams where none appear on the map & a couple were quite tricky to cross (no bridges!) yet the reservoirs, & I passed several today, remain alarmingly low – the only full lakes were the small canal top-up reservoirs. For the sake of my walk I don’t want it to happen but this part of the country desperately needs a lot of rain.

Highlight of the Day: Standedge Tunnel is the longest, highest & deepest in Britain, carrying the Huddersfield Canal beneath the moors of West Yorkshire. I was hugely disappointed to discover that the Visitors’ Centre is closed on Monday but that disappointment evaporated the moment that I heard a narrow-boat was about to emerge from the tunnel. 2 today, no more until Wednesday & a passage has to be booked at least 3 days in advance.... & we saw one arrive after 5 minutes at Tunnel Head! You can keep your Visitors’ Centres!

Standedge Tunnel, Tunnel End

Beer of the Day: Marston’s is a well-known brewery but I’d never come across their ‘Father Time’ – pale, smooth &, at 5%, quite strong, this is a good beer. If I’d stayed for another I’d have missed the narrow-boat coming out of the tunnel!

 More than made up for the Visitors’ Centre being closed!

Crossed the border into my native county – expecting great things from the weather despite the forecast - & celebrated with a meal  at ‘The Carriage House’, also our campsite for the night!

Julia: just as vital as a periscope! The stake is marked on OS maps as indicating Bleaklow Head &, whereas yesterday it was all quite obvious, if I’d been walking there today I’d have been glad of the confirmation & consolation..... unless, of course, I was armed with GPS! It has a glove on the top; I think somebody may have put it there to keep it warm in inclement weather!

Stuart: great to hear from you! Sorry I’m walking too fast! Came across a group of lads working on one of the canal drainage outlets in Bollington & thought about telling them about your exploits but realised they’d think I was just some doddering old fool so I went off to look for a pub instead!

If the ‘Comment’ thing doesn’t work just use the email. It gets to us just as quickly, it just goes via middle-daughter!