Lady Anne Way …..Day 5: Hawes to Kirkby Stephen

September 8, 2017

We woke up to somewhat clear skies and temperatures of 8 Celsius with the “promise” of this weather holding through the day…..a hearty breakfast, final ministrations to Annie’s feet and we are good to go!!

This is our last day of walking and it is pegged to be a very long day. Having decided it would be a bridge too far >>> 19.4 miles (31 km), Plan B went into effect. We grabbed a bus from Hawes at 9:37, and 20 minutes later, were deposited at the Moorcock Inn.

This allowed us to shave about 5 miles (8 kms) from the walk making it a more manageable endeavour. The wind is fresh as we climb up the Pennine Bridleway to reach one of the nicer parts of the Lady Anne Way… …..

As we gain altitude, the path contours along the ledge above the valley, with excellent views across to the Dandrymire viaduct on the famously scenic Settle to Carlisle railway line (at certain times it runs steam engines but not today)….

We are now on “Lady Anne Clifford’s Highway”…..

….this route has been used since prehistoric times. It was later adopted by the Romans and then used by packhorses and drovers on their way to the markets in the Dales. The Lady whose footsteps we are following used this track for the highest part of her journey north. Her diary reveals that Lady Anne traveled in a litter, a box suspended between two horses, one in front of the other. A retinue of as many as 300 made their way from castle to castle, bringing furniture, bedding, drapery, and all the kitchen utensils. The castle was “dressed” for occupancy when the party arrived……alas our party is just the two of us !!

A friendly local who overtook us on the track (pic below) explained some of this to us and gave us a few tips about the track ahead.

It is a beautiful walk and the sun is shining intermittently. Along the way we encounter numerous becks/streams with no bridges and with stepping-stones submerged, due to the recent rains, some sleuthing is needed to find a dry passage…after several of these we start resembling the local sheep as we “jump” across …sorry no pics of these performances…..

 

We come across the ruins of an old inn which served the travellers along this route (1st pic below) as well other ruins of abandoned homesteads along this route……

The highway path follows the headwaters of the River Ure until at Hellgill we leave Yorkshire behind and enter Cumbria, or Westmorland as it once was called….the boundary being demarcated by the Water Cut sculpture originally erected in 1664 > somewhat incongruous in this setting…

The path now descends….

….and reaches the Eden River which is crossed via the Thrang Bridge where it is high time for some lunch (sandwiches + date/walnut bread) sitting on the steps of a stile in a sheep pasture…and observed by a friend…

At Milepost 54 the ruins of Pendragon Castle come into view, once restored by Lady Anne following its destruction by the Scots. Over time it has fallen into ruin and is now privately owned….hopefully to be again restored …an aerial view provides a better perspective (not my pic)…

Now on the home stretch we have 5 miles to go. The next section proves somewhat unpleasant with a muddy path, lots of route finding …..and boggy pastures….

….then we intersect a lane which follows the course of the Eden River and easier walking……saw some funny looking horses, actually the first such sighting:

….the fleeting sun deserts us, replaced by misty rain (almost sounds romantic), and at Milepost 57 we reach Nateby. A small village with a pub called the Black Bull Inn…….hmm, that sure looks inviting. 

…..dragging our butts, we decide to suck it up and head for Milepost 59 > Kirkby Stephen and the end of our walk….arriving there around 17:00 > a full day , 7 hours and 14 miles (23 kms)…….

We head for the Fletcher House B&B to collect our key …

….as we are staying in a self catering unit for 2 nights >>> everything else was booked …weekend !!!. All goes well and the owner takes us to the Black Bull Barn which is fine. Next stop after a few welcome drinks is supper I go out to score a reservation but all the good pubs are booked solid…even groveling does not work. In the end I manage to persuade the Mango Tree manager to give us a table for 19:00 >>> great choice, a really nice Indian meal > the place was full of walkers, so kind of a cool atmosphere with which to end the trip !!

OUR WALK IS DONE >>TOMORROW WE WILL ENJOY A RESTDAY !!!!!

BTW if there are any knee sufferers out there, try Allopurinol….for years I have suffered severe pain in one or both of my knees intermittently, offsetting any attempts at training…..since having this med was prescribed, I have been virtually pain-free > not 40-year-old knees but not bad considering torn meniscus etc. !!! No, I do not get any commish for this endorsement, which may, or may not, work for you…..