Tuesday 27th July - 17.5kms (or part thereof) Reeth to Richmond - Pete's Knob Nobbled

JR here:- The hard roads of England have worn out the knob on the end of Pete's stick. I offered him the spare knob I was carrying but he declined - will wait until he wears it out. That was the discussion this morning while we were waiting for a lift to Maske. Walked about 10kms today which we managed reasonably well mostly across open farmland and some of the forest that runs along the valley of the Swale. Saw a red squirrel in the wood and the usual rabbits. We got into Richmond at lunch time and repaired to the local fish shop to try the national dish for lunch - lots of limp chips (which may have been the gravy) and cod bites (lots of batter, little cod) so we were all very full. The hotel we are staying in was built in the 1760s so it pre-dates white settlement of Australia. Spent some time looking at the castle which Peter discovered was built by an Alan Rufus of Brittany in the 1100s would you believe. Col here:- Have really enjoyed the short days as the knee has been playing up a bit. But only 5 days to go now so should be able to get through it. I agree with the assessment of the fish and chips if you could call it that. They were pretty woeful. Hopefully we can have some Thai tonight if Pete gets back from his walk in time. Apparently Miss Bradbury took 3 months to do the walk (the lady on the DVD) not a couple of weeks and don't let anyone tell you that this walk is a doddle cause it isn't and the fairly relentless pace of it makes it certainly more of a trek than a walk. The fact that there are no rest days is probably the biggest issue so older bodies don't get time to recharge before the next stage is upon you. Peter here:- My rant for tonight is about mattresses. Now you dont expect perfection for around 50 pound a night for a twin but the mattreses experienced so far fall into three main categories - firstly the ironing board (springs all gone flat as a tack), the hammock (collapsed along either the y axis or x axis of the bed or both) and lastly the floater (highly cushioned but requires a Intel 7 920 processor to assist the body to make the 1000's of decisions a second necessary to keep your body stable and from rolling off. In most rooms I am just arms reach away from Col and we call our choreographed movements around the room - the twin room tango. As for my knob I think it will last out to Robin's Hood Bay but comforting to know that John carrys a reserve knob. Al here:- Blister pads tried to become part of my socks today but successfully managed to separate them from my feet when we reached historic Richmond (built before 1066 and all that). Went to the castle of one of John's realtives and tried to lay claim but they weren't having any of it so we went and had Thai food, and it was almost real, not like that poop that we had at lunch that they call fish and chips, the filthiest greasiest muck I have ever consumed!!! But I am still alive and without having a coronary so another great story of survival in Ole Blighty !!!

Monday 26th July - 17.5kms (nearly too many) Keld to Reeth - Don't Cramp my Stile (sic)

Col here:-

I now understand about the sayings "up and down dale" and "make hay while the sun shines". The days journeying started with , as usual, a jaunt up a steep slope outside Keld but at least there was the River Swale and some waterfalls to keep us company. The boyz decided on the low route along the river for the first part of our walk and it was quite pleasant. The other option was the "industrial route" taking in old mining sites along the ridge top. We made good time into Gunnerside where we had lunch. At this point your more normal Wainwright modus operandi kicked into operation. We had to climb up a steep slope which just kept on going up and up then a walk along the ridge top past some very isolated farms and then down into Kearton and down again to the River Swale and along the river into Reeth where we are staying tonight.

A lack of internet facilities will mean that this blog won't be posted until tomorrow night when, hopefully we will be in Richmond which is a fairly large centre and it should have all the mod cons. Saw the farmers cutting the hay and bundling it up as we walked through the fields in the first part of the walk. You would not believe what constitutes an ensuite over here . As long as you can squeeze a toilet and a shower into the same space as the original room you have an ensuite. Tonights is ridiculously small again although to be fair last nights stay in Keld at Butt House was quite nice on all fronts including rooms. No shower but you could have a bath.

JR here:-

The title of tonight's blog was suggested by Peter as he clambered over yet another stile. The stiles have generally been quite good, if torture on the knees coming down the other side, but the ones around here are tighter than a fish's proverbial. They use slabs of stone to reduce the gap in the fence to about 6-8 inches which has lead to a general cramping of our style getting through them. At least we don't have too many of the high ones (so that you can climb over the fence) which, because of my general lack of flexibility, were not helping with my vertigo. However I seem to have mastered perambulation although at least one attempt to assist a fellow traveller with directions (which also required me to talk) lead me to (almost) trip over a small pebble which of course resulted in the usual comments about my capacity to do more than one thing at a time. The paths continue to to be pretty rough at times. There are lots of wild flowers and I took some photos of a what appear to be the most common for anyone who is interested. Discovered what stinging nettles look like thanks to Col - I thought it was some form of wild mint - fortunately this occurred before answering the call of nature then under contemplation otherwise I suspect the results may have been painful.

Peter here :-

The subtitle of tonights rant is peter flies undone. You will recall the joke about what rednecks do for entertainment - watching the bug zapper. In my case as a child I entertained myself for hours on the back screen door of our house in Bathurst swatting flies. Today they got their revenge on me ! Going down a laneway squadrons of flies jumped me from nowhere and continued to harass me for kilometres. At one stage I was so frustrated I waved my walking pole around and managed to belt myself on the back of the head - I guess the morale of the story is not to fly off the handle :-)

Al here :-

A very gentle stroll through the sheep shit and nettles of Swaledale was made more pleasent by my blisters calming down, not sure if that's a good thing or not. Was definitely the easiest walk so far and we took it easy. Highlight of the day was huge number of stiles and gate types we had to negotiate.

Sunday 25 July - 24kms (or part thereof) Kirkby Stephen to Keld - It Was Grouse Mate

It was grouse mate - no it wasn't - yes it was, mum and 3 little ones - don't be bloody stupid they're just giant sparrows ! Such was the conversation leaving Ravenshead, the Loafers having been conveyed there by private charabanc constructed by Senor SEAT. As we said yesterday the boys are pretty tired and decided to make it a short day. The nearest crossroad on the coast to coast is a place called Ravenseat and the farm there does cream teas. Ravenseat is about 5kms from Keld where we are staying and seemed a distance we could manage given our general decrepitude. The cream tea lived up to our expectations (see Al's review below). The farmer's wife who dishes up the cream tea appeared on Julia Bradbury's video of the walk so we have met someone famous (she was lovely by the way). On the subject of La Bradbury it seems clear that she must have done the walk in 7 league boots - we reckon no-one could look that good on the top of Kidsty Pike having walked up it in the usual manner - the walk is really hard not the stroll in the part as it appears in the video. The ride up to Ravenshead took us over the top of the Pennines in true Wainwright fashion and we were glad we had not attempted the walk. The walk down to Keld was muddy and boggy but manageable - we had a few drops of rain but nothing that held us back. The river valley was really pretty - all Herriot country. We were early and had to wait in the pub sampling the local Black Sheep beer - a nice drop and although warned about the strength of the weltreitter (means upside down sheep apparently) managed its effect without needing much of a nanna nap.

Col here :-

Good day and had a nice big hot bath today - very luxurious. Hopefully knee will feel much happier tomorrow - reasonably short day of 17.5km from Keld to Reeth. Certainly will have benefited from only 5-6kms today. Still eating too much food - lamb shank and rhubarb crumble with custard for dinner tonight. Room's at Butt house are very nice. Like spacious rooms as I am sure does Pete and the other boyz. Ground was quite boggy on the walk today so quite glad we didn't have to slog through 23kms of it.

Good news that the Wobblies got up over the Boks - haven't seen any footage yet but hopefully might catch some later on. Poms are loving it that the Aussies got smashed by the Pakis. Look forward to a good nights rest and then back on the road again tomorrow.

Peter here :-

just a quick rant today about poms and their pets. I always think that animals should live outside the house but the nation of Briton disagrees with me - not only can you buy train and bus tickets for your dog but chances are if you look down to the end of the hotel bar there is a pooch looking back at you (the buggers never shout either). Animals also stay in hotels - walked by a room in one of the hotels we were staying at and I was startled by the deepest bark and snarl you could imagine coming out from the otherside of the door - I replied with my usual 'bite me I need the money' and the dog was silenced !

Al here :-

the cream tea was very nice (firm round large scones with little black bits sticking out smothered in luscious butter, raspberry jam and thick cream, deeeelightful) and enhanced by being served by the buxom farm wench wearing a singlet (yes a singlet) in near freezing conditions - she suggested 'you Australians probably feel the cold a bit' yeah right, it was very nipply. Then it was on to the great bog marshes of North Yorkshire that even the sheep were avoiding. Safely negotiated them to wend our way down the valley to the very remote stone buildings of Keld.

Saturday 24 July - 19kms Orton to Kirby Stephen - Buggered and Blistered

Well you might guess from the headline that we're feeling it a bit. Been out for an indian at the Mango Tree in Kirby Stephen (if you're ever in Kirby Stephen you know where to eat) and a couple of bottles of South African Chenin Blanc later we are gaining a sense of perspective - I re-discovered my backhand pour. The day was really just slogging through the English countryside over the moors. We were fast on our feet early but slowed as the day rolled.

Peter here.

You may have noticed that we always state the distance walked in kilometres. To me there is only a thin veil of adherence to metrics in the UK (perhaps because it was invented across the Channel). The signposts are in miles. The speed signs are in miles per hour. The Pub glasses are in pints and half pints. Although I'm of a generation that learnt both (80 chains to a mile ...) I can say that a mile is much much longer than I remember especially the mile we refer to as the ''last mile'' - this mile is extraordinary long - I am also convinced that the longest distance between two points is not an ACTION bus route but a Wainwright route ! (with the additional pleasure that it must go over the highest point/hill/mountain :-))

Al here -

The sheer agony of the walk today was only matched by the enormity of the bulls testicles that we encountered on the path, they were simply ginormous!!! And then we were nearly the victims of a stampede of cows being herded towards us at great speed, deliberately I reckon, by the farm types on quad bikes. But we fooled them cos' the cows bolted off down the path and not through the gate intended so the farm boys had to go and herd them all the way back up the hill, suck eggs farm boys!! Other than that the blisters are getting bigger.

JR here (again) -

The views expressed above are not necessarily representative of the SwaBS/Loafers as a whole.

Al here (again) -

I don't care, some of the farmers have been very cold towards us.

Col Here:-

Not much to add other than to agree pretty much with the other lads assessment of the day. We may have made too good a time early on as we were fairly bowling along at about 5 klms an hour so we had covered half the distance in 2 hours. I think we might need to pace ourselves a bit better as the last couple of hours are always pretty tough. But that said we have now covered 90 miles (144 klms). Really enjoyed the Indian we had for dinner last night (surprise surprise).

Friday 23 July - 21kms Burnbanks to Orton - Of Shap, Sheep and Shit

Day dawned bright and sunny - shining right in our eyes at 04:30 - so we had to get up and draw the blinds so we could go back to sleep. After that it was a great day weather wise - sunny high cloud and clothes coming off all over - the cold wind of the morning dropped away and we were able to enjoy the rolling hills of England - we rolled up one side and down the other repeatedly. Stopped for a look at Shap Abbey which was established in the 1200's and tried to get a video of the RAF jets which were exercising overhead. Paths were better too -lots of grassy tracks and less of the rocky stream beds we've become used to crossing the Lake District. But it was a long long way - like walking around Googong with sheep for company rather than wombats. Mind you there must be some yeti-size sheep in the English hills judging by the size of some of the evidence.

Col here:
Not much to add to JR's words but although the walk was much easier today I must say that I should have allowed for a rest day. My knee is really struggling which is most unfortunate because the rest of me is feeling great (bring it on!!!!). I will be quite disappointed if the old war wound causes me to miss any of the walking but it doesn't always give me options. I will try the old "pain is only weakness leaving the body" but today did hurt a fair bit so I must be a lot stronger now. Ha ha. If today had been day 1 we would have eaten it up. I have been trying to moderate my intake of the English breakfasts cause they don't help with losing weight of that I am sure. For me tonights dinner is hot and spicy chicken wings and lasagne. Hope everyone at home is well and I miss you all but in its own perverse way this challenge is also enjoyable.

Peter here -

Some of you will recall I did teacher training prior to joining the public service. While doing a major in Science I did a series of units called Wildlife Biology with Dr Dave Goldberg. Besides trying to declare certain areas of the Rafters Bar as a Wildlife refuge we were taught to identify scat. The curved cube of the Wombat, the rough raisins of goats all very useful in determining what Animals lived in and travelled through particular areas. One of the final assignments for Wildlife Biology was to present an Organic and Non-Organic Collection to be used as a teaching aid in the Classroom, Well by now you will have guessed what I chose for an organic collection ! I gathered up the pooper scooper and produced a photographic catalog of all animal et al shit. Because of this training I was able to classify the large amount of goat and sheep poop encountered on the trail and identify their diet and their first names :-). In fact recognising bull shitters has proved very handy.

Al here - If sheep shit was gold I would be a millionaire just from the scrapings off my boots, but .... unfortunately it isn't so I will just have to keep on truckin' until we reach the pot of gold also known as Robin Hoods Bay. First blister today but only minor, hope nothing else.Just had Thai chilli prawns but the prawns were shrimps or the babies of shrimps, you could only just tell they were some type of crustacean, oh well, drink more Pinot Grigio (Italian).

Thursday 22 July - 17.5 klms Patterdale to Burnbanks 1300 metres climbed - Riff RAF Beneath Us

Well the lads spent yesterday afternoon glancing, with trepidation, out the window from our hotel and contemplating the rather steep climb out of Patterdale up Stony Rigg. So as you can imagine as we set off this morning we were straight into it. The 45 degree incline up this slope. We needn't have worried at all though as this was only the tip of the iceberg. We reached the summit (or more accurately the false summit) and then nearly took a wrong turn but fortunately saw some other walkers on another path so we backtracked and followed them which was a good call.

Up and up we went and then came round a corner to be faced with a 300 metre walk along the side of a steep hill which I found quite exhilirating but Al and JR were finding somewhat challenging (no Col it was bloody terrifying). It might have been the 500 metre drop off the side of the hill or just the width of the path. All I know is it took me about 5 minutes to cover the distance and it took the lads about 20 minutes. Around the corner awaited Angle Tarn which was very pretty even under dull and over cast skies (but NOT raining yeehah).

It would have been trully magnificent if it had been a sunny day. There was a low cloud ceiling (which we nearly in) but the main problem was it covered some of the taller peaks that we would have been able to see on a clear day. Around Angle Tarn and then up and over yet another false peak. Climbing up and up and up and then eventually a peak and it was bloody cold up there. Around another corner and the unbelievably a left hand turn up across the ridge to the highest point on our walk (Kidsty Pike). I was selected to take the photos as we were some distance off the valley floor (and Al and JR were huddled together as far away from the edge as the could reasonable get). The views on this walk are wonderful - see photos and video.

Then for me came the toughest part of the day - the walk down from Kidsty Pike to the Haweswater Reservoir. My knees have disowned me. Down is definitely harder than up and even the up was hard.

Had lunch at the most beautiful little waterfall at the base of the Pike and the came the fairly hard grind along Haweswater to the dam walls (which seemed to go on forever). We thought that the walk along the reservoir would be flat but it went up and down and up and down and up and down and, as usual, the path was designed for goats - lots of rocks and running water but little that deserves the name path, beck or creek would be a more apt description.

We were buzzed by the RAF three times the first time we were above the aircraft and watched it come over the dam wall, streak down Haweswater and climb sharply out and around between Arttecrag Pike and Harter Crag. There were two more after that but none so impressive.

Peter here: Many things come to mind in the shower but yesterday it was 4Wd vehicles. The connection for this may seem obsure for the unitiated who have not showered in an old english pub. The showers in these pubs are so small you can only face one direction (one would say there is not enough room to change your mind !). OK back to 4 wheel drives. Because the pubs are so old when they introduced ensuites to avoid running hot water to the rooms they put in individual electric water heaters. In this case the model was the Super Triton 60i. Probably the 4wd Triton could raise the water above room temperature and produce more then a dribble to wash my ample body :-).

Tonight we stayed at the Crown and Mitre in Bampton Grange in the middle of nowhere close to incognito. The food was outstanding. Collie was a true leg man as he devoured his lamb shank. Nixie wanted to find the goat that has given milk for his goat cheese and I wanted to pay my respectes to the chickens that had given their livers - perhaps even arrange for a transplant because they were so good.

Al here - Despite my protestations about confronting more big hills yesterday, we found another two or ten of them today, and all big, very big, very high, too high for me, and wet. Oh well, survived walking across the edge of 20,000 metre drops, maybe I am exaggerating but it felt like that! One mistake and you're dog meat!

Apparently its a flat go tomorrow, thank god for that. By the way, it didn't rain today, miracle after miracle!

Wednesday 21 July Where Eagles Dare Part 2 - 14.5 klms Grasmere to Patterdale

Well everybody slept very well as they should have considering the travails of the day before. The accommodation at Grasmere was Chestnut Cottage which is apparently a converted coaching inn although it seemed more like one of those standard dual occupancy houses you see a lot in England. The guys who run it seem to have a vision for a restaurant in the dining area since it is very large and seems oversize for a B&B. Twas a wet and misty morning, and cool - we had been sweating on the forecast because we were concerned that we would get more rain - which would make life as miserable as it had been on the walk up Dent Fell and Loft Beck. However this was not to be by the time we got over the ridge to Grisedale Tarn the sun was shining occasionally although the wind was cutting through us and we had to don the jackets. Grisedale Tarn and surrounds are truly spectacular as you can see from the video and the pictures. We looked longingly at Helvellyn and Striding Edge (which were covered in mist) but the climb up to Grisedale had left us pretty tired and we decided to go down the hill. The walk down the hill was spectacularly beautiful but very uneventful none the less we were pleased to reach the White Lion at Patterdale and the first beer (Foster's naturally) didn't touch the sides. Now we're sitting in the bar writing the blog although posting it may be problematic since the pub doesn't have Internet connection - the pub down the road does but not sure if we can simply rock up and ask to use it. Tomorrow we have to climb the very big pile of rock conveniently situated right behind the hotel on our way to Burnbanks. Said pile of rock adds a certain ambience to the village but hasn't improved our attitude to tomorrow. Col here: My knees hate me. The climb up out of Grasmere in cool conditions as John said above had the sweat pouring out of me. I think it might have been that we were in the clouds/mist and the humidity was probably at about 100%. I think I might have pushed a bit too hard up the the peaks in yesterdays section and so today I made sure I had plenty of rests and just stayed with Al and JR. But there is no doubt that it is the downhills that take it out of me much more than the climbs. Tomorrow is another fairly tough day as we leave the Lake District behind and whilst I will miss the views and splendour of the scenery I won't be sorry to not have to climb up large peaks each day even when the rewards are stunning views. Just heard on the news that it has been the wettest JUly in 20 years - just our luck eh!! Peter here: You will recall that I went to a rural catholic high school where you could study wool classing and animal husbandry (at least until you were caught). One thing that strikes you as you move around the country is the variety of sheep that are out in the pastures. In England different shires bred different types of sheep. Something like the Border Leicester is distinctive but the discerning sheep watcher could you tell the diference between perhaps a Dalesbred and a Derbyshire Gritstone ?! Al here - one big climb to go, you bloody beauty, if I don't see another wet dirty great big mountain with rocky paths that are simulating rivers it'll be too soon !!! But.... It is very pretty and something special to see. Just a quick jaunt of 18km tomorrow.