10 and 11 September 2022 - A Weekend of running and visiting

Saturday morning at Wythenshawe Park - 293 runners and walkers assembled under the guidance of run director for the day, Dan. Sue dashed round the 5km course in a respectable 25:12, whilst I jogged round in 28:47, still weary after the Dales High Way walk.

Then Sue went bellringing and I caught up with a week's house admin etc.

Sunday morning found me at Wythenshawe Community run, where we vied for position with a 100km cycle ride. The cyclists won - we runners were directed around the side of their impressive starting tent. My jog was even slower than the previous day, but this time I was ahead of fellow septuagenarians Michael and Colin, who had exhausted their reserves of energy on Saturday!

Meanwhile, Isabella was enjoying her new pram, without which (we are told) she refuses to leave the house.

It was the first week at 'Big School' for Jacob, who today took part in a running relay race in Ormskirk - well done Jacob - and Jessica started a new year in a new uniform. We visited them in Bacup later.

Others were enjoying a coffee break on a bike ride in Cheshire.

After the run, Sue and I dashed to Cornbrook to pick up Julia (88), who I met on my first trip to the Himalayas in 1997, and her granddaughter Megan. We paid a leisurely visit to the RHS Bridgewater gardens, and enjoyed an excellent picnic, compiled earlier by Sue whilst I was trying to run. 

Here are a few snaps from the garden.

The picture below shows where the Yan Bo Zhi Shuang Pavilion, delayed by Covid, is intended to be built.

Then we dropped Julia and Megan off at a convenient Metrolink station (Whitefield) and headed to Bacup to briefly visit Kate, J & J (all rushing maniacally around) before continuing to Halifax, where Susan and Roy, our friends from Connecticut, were spending the night whilst on a Lands End to John O'Groats bike ride. It's a shame that they are whizzing along the route so fast that they don't get much time to appreciate the passing attractions.

Anyway, a trip to the town centre did give them a brief break. Halifax has an impressive Town Hall.

It's good to see that a golden postbox celebrating local girl Hannah Cockroft's olympic success in 2012 is surviving the rigours of a town centre position.

The two cyclists nearly had a nasty accident on a street bike that they found!

On the way to an acceptable Thai restaurant, we passed this ornate gateway.

It was good to see everyone today. Hopefully it won't be so long until next time.

Thursday 8 September 2022 - The Dales High Way - Day 8 - Ravenstonedale to Appleby

Breakfast at the Black Swan, under a horned rabbit on the wall, was sedate and tasty. Cary had a huge waffle and I enjoyed scrambled egg on toast. 

We started, around 9am, past the King's Head, sympathising with those residents who may still be waiting for their breakfasts due to the chef shortage.

It stayed dry, under overcast clouds, for the first hour or so, during which we had good views from Ravenstonedale Moor back to the Howgills, and ahead to the Lakeland fells.

Then it rained, mostly drizzle, for the rest of the morning. On the road out of Newbiggin we had witnessed a brutal wasp attack on a much bigger moth.

The path should have offered stunning Lake District views, but those were somewhat muted in the moist conditions. 

We met a group of four Americans on a coast-to-coast walk, a lone mountain biker, and a few wet looking folk under umbrellas. Blue scabious flowers had sprouted in the grass beside the track.

Elevenses were taken on wet grass in the rain.

During the long descent to Great Asby, we passed a farm at Clockeld that seemed to hold generations of old tractors. Here's just one of them. I'd guess it must be around 55 years old.

Wheatears and a wren were noticed today, as well as a few herons, grey wagtails, and several large accumulations of mallards.

Lunch was taken in Great Asby's spacious bus shelter that doubles as a place to exchange secondhand books, tapes, etc, etc.

Sadly Cary had minimal lunch with him and the nearby pub was shut, so he had to make do with some of my old peanuts. Stomach ache followed. 

The drizzle continued all afternoon, but I removed waterproofs and Cary kept his on. We were probably equally damp by the end of the 24km walk, though sections of wet vegetation didn't help my cause.

Rutter Force is now only available to be admired from a distant footbridge, the mill by the Force having been converted into holiday cottages with their own private views. 

Our walk continued beside Hoff Beck, past hundreds of mallards, to Bandley Bridge.

From here I sauntered through Rachel Wood, expecting Cary to follow. He didn't. I returned to the bridge and met Nikki and James, who we'd seen in the pub last night. Between us, we found an obscure stile that put us on track for the rest of the walk into Appleby. Nikki and James, from Shropshire, had spent six days on the DHW starting in Ilkley. 

Cary arrived at the Crown and Cushion at the same time as me and we celebrated our most successful venture with hot chocolate after today's 7 hour walk and a total distance from Saltaire of nearly 100 miles.

Since then the Queen has died and we've enjoyed dinner in the pub after a foraged starter of puff balls and field mushrooms in Cushion Cottage, a two bedroomed house full of mod cons next to pub - our home for the night.

So that brings our eight day walk to a successful conclusion, subject to a scenic train ride home in the morning.

Wednesday 7 September 2022 - The Dales High Way - Day 7 - Sedbergh to Ravenstonedale

The Dalesman hotel provided a nice breakfast, with perfectly poached eggs.

We left the cottage around 9am and were soon following signs 'To the Fells'. It was overcast, but still t-shirt weather.

We were soon marching up onto the Howgill Fells, to the cooing of pigeons and the whirl of crows circling high above us.

Past late flowering foxgloves, and fine views back down to Sedbergh. By the time we reached Arant Haw (605 metres), we had donned windproofs for the first time this trip.

The summits of Calder and The Calf were cloaked in mist.

The air cleared, and we spent the rest of the day in sunshine. It was a lovely walk over the summits, with fine views in all directions. We saw just one other person all day outside the Sedbergh dog walking zone.

Long slugs and large hairy caterpillars vied for the honour of the longest body. The slugs scored a narrow victory.

We passed flocks of rain bleached sheep, and avoided trampling the white bottomed spiders that shared our path.

After another leisurely lunch - quite a contrast to yesterday - in front of a wonderful panoramic view, we slowly descended north, past a recently planted plantation.

Then we left the main DHW route, and Cary skilfully navigated us to the Black Swan at Ravenstonedale, where a glass of Blonde ale went down a treat.

We did about 22km today - a fine day's walk in perfect weather, taking a little over 7 hours.

Later, a trip to the King's Head, as the Black Swan isn't doing food tonight. Looks like we will be waiting up to an hour despite booking for 6:30. The chef must be out catching red squirrels, which seem to loom high on the menu!

Tuesday 6 September 2022 - The Dales High Way - Day 6 - Ribblehead to Sedbergh

A 9:30 start after more scrambled egg and smoked salmon than I could manage! There's a first for everything. Portion sizes at the Station Inn are not for the weak hearted. 

After leaving the convivial atmosphere of the inn, we headed alongside the impressive viaduct. Two fighter jets roared across the sky just above us.

A short climb led to Blea Moor Sidings, where Cary inspected the property he has in mind for his parents' next move. Swallows, unaware of their impending eviction, flew in and out via the cat flap. 

This is 'Three Peaks' country, and we followed the well made path up the flank of Whernside, passing the Force Gill waterfalls just as it started to rain.

Waterproofs were donned, as we left the Three Peaks path in favour of the walk past Wold End to Deepdale. Meadow pipits flitted in the tall grasses. We joined the Dales Way footpath, along which we paused to consume huge Station Inn sandwiches below drippy trees next to the stony river bed. The water must have been underground here.

We met three blokes who were heading over Whernside to the Hill Inn. 'Good luck with that' we commented, looking up to the rainy route to the cloud blanketed summit. 

Later, we would observe that they must be having a delightful romp in bright sunshine.

Meanwhile, Cary and I found a sociable spot outside Dent Village Heritage Centre and Museum, where hot chocolate and Bakewell Tart went down well as the rain relented and Cary changed into dry socks.

The weather was lovely for our walk over Longstone Fell to Sedbergh, with good views back to Dent, with Whernside and Crag Hill prominent in the background. 

Ahead of us, tomorrow's country, the Howgill Fells.

We entered Sedbergh and reached the Dalesman Inn by around 4:30, after a 20km walk, taking 7 hours or so. Our 'room' for the night turned out to be a two bedroom cottage just down the road.

So we had a kitchen in which to fry in olive oil the sliced up puffball that we'd collected earlier on the hillside. A tasty starter before a more substantial meal at the Al Forno restaurant. Calzone for Cary, Carbonara for me, followed by tasty desserts.