Lady Anne Way …..Day 3: Kettlewell to Bainbridge

Our bags packed and ready for the Sherpavan luggage transfer service, the now normal colossal breakfast consumed and with cloudy skies and a cool 8 C, by 9:15, we are onto our first climb of the day, which will put us on a ridge overlooking Kettlewell…

The track is good and we followed the ridge for several miles…Starbotton comes into view…

… we rapidly descend through the fields reaching the hamlet at Milepost 23…

… no time to waste, as today will be a longish day, after crossing the Wharfe River we stroll onwards along its banks with some pretty vignettes, towards Buckden, whose meaning is, “the valley frequented by bucks”…

In the background (pic below), the next hill we need to climb, and then our final crossing of the Wharfe River…

Although by now we have seen thousands of sheep …we come across our first “shepherds” or “drovers” at work Then at milepost 25, we reach Buckden Village which is blessed with nice toilets and benches, but the tea room and shop are closed, so no chance to buy lunch fixings …nuts and biscuits will have to do…

The 15 minute break over, we start the grind up the rocky cart track and soon are enjoying some good views …

Watching the sheep dogs is a gas …they are smart !!! (when done herding they are quick to assume their positions on top of the ATV’s) and super fast:
……as this drover told us he has a hell of a time keeping up with these guys…

…once again we are descending passing a pretty waterfall along the way…

…….and then reach the highway and the Cray Gill Bridge >>>> Reading the maps we are learning a whole new English vocabulary: gil = ravine, dale = valley, fell = hill, beck = stream > the Norsemen aka Vikings certainly had a huge influence here. …. and we do NOT find it intuitive.

Continuing on the road the climbing starts anew, and, after about 3/4 of a mile, we reach a turnoff to Gilbert Lane a dirt track which will be the last significant uphill of the day, to the top of Stake Moss. More cookies/nuts and Gatorade and we are off, following in the steps of the Roman legionaries, who used this route when moving between their forts at Ilkley and Bainbridge >>> btw they marched at a pace of around 3 mph for 7-9 hours >>> unfortunately, we are not yet on par with them and do not carry our equipment, haha.

In the pic below a look back over the ground we have covered since reaching the Cray Gill Bridge…

While a trudge, the views are great and at the top we are greeted by this imperious ram …

……here there is no issue with route finding or stiles just good tracks and extensive views over the moors however in a fog this would be another matter…

…but this is pretty damn bleak terrain a vast expanse of rocks, heather and grass (now and then there are open sided boxes like duck blinds used for shooting grouse and pheasant)…

…we saw lots of rabbits but no hunters nor grouse nor any humans for almost 3 hours….oh and did I mention wind > it was howling, luckily no real rain just misty wind but you would not want to be wandering around here in a storm. This is really a case of put your head down, keep one foot in front of the other and just grind out the mileage…

...finally the farm buildings of Carpley Green come into view, and we know we are within striking distance of concluding this day…

… and, at 15:45 we reach the farm…

…welcome news as we have been on the go for some 6.5 hours …..the farmer informs us that there are only 2.5 miles left to Banbridge or Virosedium as it was known in Roman times, where we are spending the night. It is all downhill according to him, so choking down a few more gummi bears with the last of the Gatorade we head for home…

It is a nice walk down a country lane and feels so civilized after our walk on the moon……in the distance we can see Semer Water, one of only two natural lakes in the Yorkshire Dales…

Soon Bainbridge (of recent repute for being the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2014) lies before us but with the skies looking angrier by the second we hurry as fast as our sore feet, legs, arms in fact our entire corpus can get us to Hazel’s Roost B & B…interestingly we were overflown (last pic) by a single engine fighter planes (looked like Spitfires) seemingly every 1/2 hour or so…never did find out where they came from:

A short recuperation at the B&B…..not bad > nice bathroom but felt like you were staying in your grannies house:

…and dinner at the only resto in town…the Rose & Crown…

…not surprisingly a mediocre meal, but we are fed and watered and all seems fine with the world. After Doctor Doctor examines Annie’s feet …the blister condition is determined to be surprisingly good > a few piercings, polysporin and 2 Ibuprofens and we are asleep!!

A big day: almost 8 hours in the saddle and over 24 kms of Yorkshire real estate covered >>> Annie was SUPERB today !!!