Pennine Way 2000 : Day 15 : Byrness to Kirk Yetholm

The Home Straight

In a bothy.

Well, this is it, the last day and also the longest, some twenty-five miles by our reckoning, but time is running out and it's Kirk Yetholm or bust.  We set off before 7am and start off with a long, steep climb up a muddy woodland path, and it's no surprise at all to find bog waiting for us at the top, and indeed most of the day is through bog.

However for once it isn't so bad as a real effort has been made to lay artificial surfaces on this section, and we make good time along the flagstones, marvelling at the effort involved to lay them in this desolate place.  The weather makes a last effort against us, but with our waterproofs on it's only our boots that get wet - and they are wet enough from the bog anyway.  It is a little unpleasant to stop for lunch in the rain, on an exposed ridge, but we have no choice really - we must look very strange, sat with our boots off and plastic bags over our feet, eating cheese and pickle sandwiches in the rain.

Last crossing into Scotland.

There is little to tell of these twenty odd miles on the border ridge - the time wears on, and so do the miles, and we just keep going.  There is no way we could have done this two weeks before, but now, with the finishing line in sight there is no stopping us.  To be sure, there is little in the way of scenery, and the first photo I take is in a mountain rescue hut (P1) with around seven miles to go - it may not look like much, but sitting there smoking a cigarette some kind soul had left seems like one of the best half-hours of my life.

The last pub!

We then have to traverse the Cheviots, indeed the guide suggests we take a three mile detour to walk up the Cheviot itself... yeah, right.  For me the Schil is entirely adequate as a 'last big hill'.  From here it's downhill all the way, firstly passing over the border (P2), and then down a grassy track into Scotland.  The rain has cleared up, the late afternoon sun beats down and the going is genuinely pleasant.  As for the arrival in Kirk Yetholm (P3 & P4)?  Well, if you want to know what that feels like, you'll just have to do the Pennine Way yourself...

We paid for a room at the inn.  I think we earned it...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 14 : Bellingham to Byrness

The Bog Strikes Back

The tent that smelled of death.

We wake in Bellingham, which oddly has the same name as my part of London, although pronounced differently ('Bellinjum' rather than 'Bellingum').  After the trials of the previous day we are tired, but determined - while our feet are increasingly showing the strain, we are sure they can last the little time remaining.

It is with a strange mixture of sadness and great relief that I realise that there are now only two days to go.  Today at least is a short day, only fourteen miles or so, and after I've recorded the state of the tent for posterity (P1) we set off early, hoping to reach Byrness while the shops are still open so that we can get some lunch for the long last day.  But while the day is short, it isn't going to be easy, and very soon we are in bog again (P2).

Lovely bog.

Today it has some new surprises to throw at us - while midges seem fewer, countless flies descend on us whenever we halt - Alex reckons this is a fair indication of how we smell after thirteen days of walking.  On top of that, the stretches through the border forest are, if anything, worse.  The bog actually continues along each path through the trees, but here we also have to deal with waist high clumps of bracken and nettles.

Thankfully the last few miles are along a gravelled forest road, so although our boots don't fully dry out they at least don't get any wetter - even so it is only the Ibuprofen that keeps us going on our painful feet.  It turns out that Byrness doesn't have any shops, however the campsite owners make us some sandwiches, and we head for the Byrness Hotel (P3) for a pleasant evening meal, made more interesting by the arrival of the family that have been keeping pace with us.  They are amused by the fact that there are now only two of us, and we in our turn can't help but laugh as they drink one grapefruit and lemonade each then go to bed. We hang around for seven pints or so, then get back to the tent...

The Byrness Hotel.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 13 : Greenhead to Bellingham

 O Me Miserum

Sitting on the Wall.

Today we are walking in the footprints of the Romans - along Hadrian's Wall, then north to Bellingham.  We are also doing two days from our guide in one, and aren't really looking forward to it.  Indeed things quickly go wrong, as we reach Thirlwall castle to find that the picturesque ruin from the guide is now a mass of scaffolding - while the restoration is laudable, it's also a little disappointing.

But worse is to come as we take a wrong turn, and after fifteen minutes or so find ourselves back in Greenhead - there's nothing for it but to turn and retrace our steps.  With this mishap behind us we press on to the Wall, which is as unimpressive in it's current state as we'd been led to believe.  I take a photo of us sat on the thing (P1), and also a portrait shot (P2) and a shot of the view south (P3), and then we head off along the Wall.

More Wall.

It turns out that the ridge we walk along is regularly cut by gorges, and the going is very tiring - before long we decide to take an unscheduled break at the oddly named Twice Brewed, at which we are very thankful for the pub (P4) being open at midday.  After a couple of fortifying pints we head back to the wall, pausing on the way for Alex to study the local wildlife (P5).

The wall has been restored somewhat here, and while it's still not impressive in itself, the picture one gets of the effort and organisation involved in the original construction certainly is.  Unfortunately after this glimpse of history, the Way turns north and into another prolonged trek through bog, this time made even more unpleasant by the presence of an unending supply of midges.

We trudge on as best we can, but it is a very long day - in fact it really isn't possible to express quite how unpleasant the conditions are.  Suffice to say that by the time we get out of the bog and start walking through farmland (P6) both Alex and myself are beginning to suffer from trench foot.  Thankfully from here it is but a little way to Bellingham, and the somewhat ominously named Cheviot Hotel (P7).

View south from the Wall.

Bonus pub!

Alex has a toad.

More sheep!

Not many pubs left now.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 12 : Alston to Greenhead

Bogged Down

It wasn't a very photogenic day...

Our guide suggests that this day will be a disappointment after the High Pennines, and indeed it isn't wrong.  We are moving into the last sixty miles of the Way, and the impression grows that less effort is made to maintain the path in this region than the more well-travelled parts further south.  For much of the day we find ourselves wading through ankle-deep bog - the path is generally underwater, but any attempt to leave it finds the terrain to be far too uneven to actually walk on.

We begin to worry that this is a taste of what is to come, and indeed it does seem that the remainder of the way is there mainly to reach the symbolic endpoint of the Cheviots, rather than in order to pass through any pleasant walking country.  In the event, we eventually trudge into Greenhead (P1) with wet boots and low spirits, but still hoping for something a bit better tomorrow.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 11 : Dufton to Alston

Big Balls and Bigger Hills

Run, sheep, run!

Another long day, however the previous one went better than we'd expected, and finishing the Way is beginning to seem a realistic prospect.  It is perhaps fortunate that an early morning fog hides the climb that we have to make out of the valley, and for a little while we walk along farm tracks, at one point taking up shepherding for a few hundred yards (P1).

But eventually we climb out of the fog and see what's in store - the photo (P2) really doesn't do these hills justice at all.  The initial climb is the worst, some six hundred metres practically straight up, and I am forced to stop several times.  At least from here the view is superb both out over the valley (P3, P4 & P5), onward along the way (P6), and eastward (P7).

They are very big hills, honest.

We can also see a huge white ball on the next summit along (P8), which after a short climb we pass (P9).  From here we continue up, finally reaching the top of Cross Fell (P10), the highest point of the Way.  While it isn't really as impressive as Pen-y-Ghent for instance, nonetheless there is a sense of achievement.

However, there is no time to admire the view as we have a long way to go yet - constant climbing is slow work.  We press on through bleak and boggy country for the rest of the day, taking away no pictures and few memories, and it is with weary feet that we finally make it into Alston.  To be more accurate we pass through the outskirts of what appears to be quite a large village, making straight for the campsite. After a shower we spend a pleasant evening at the Blue Bell Inn (P11).

A view!

Alex and me with a currick.

Stitched together panoramic shot!

More hills to come.

And a view in that direction too...

Approaching the large ball.

Ball!

Cross Fell trig point.

The Blue Bell.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 10 : Middleton-in-Teesdale to Dufton

Things get a bit Picturesque

High force.

Day ten, and it is time to get serious.  We've got this far never doing more than sixteen miles in a day, but from now on we have four days of twenty miles or more, starting with the trek to Dufton.  At least things start off easily enough as we follow the Tees valley, and indeed during the day we pass through some of the most attractive scenery of the Way so far.

The first big waterfall is High Force (P1), slightly beyond which we pass a different side of the landscape, a quarry (P2).  From here on the path becomes more difficult (P3), and it is something of a struggle to reach our intended lunch break, some twelve miles into the day.  Finally we arrive at Cauldron Snout (P4 & P5), and after clambering up it sit down to eat.  The meal may be a little strange (P6), but it does provide some much needed energy and we set off over the bleak Pennine ridge with renewed vigour.

Industry!

We are glad that the day has turned out fine, considering that it is bank holiday Monday, as it is very exposed on the high moors.  Today Alex seems to have found some new strength, and I am lagging behind a little when the ground seems to open up in front of us (P7), and we are facing the most spectacular landscape feature of the Way, High Cup.  We take a number of pictures of the rift valley, of which a couple (P8 & P9) are included here (actually the others are here too - P10 & P11).

From High Cup the way is still long and at times terrifying as we crawl along the wind-blown edge, looking across at the other side (P12).  But eventually, after passing an interesting piebald sheep (P13), we make it to Dufton and the welcoming Stag Inn (P14).

A bit of bouldering.

Cauldron Snout.

About to climb up.

So tasty!

Geology is about to happen.

Alex at High Cup.

Me at High Cup.

More High Cup.

And even more...

One side of the cup, from the other.

Baa!

Location of a well earned pint or three.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 9 : Tan Hill to Middleton-in-Teesdale

Halfway There

Half way!

It's still bank holiday weekend, but the weather seems to have forgotten for a while and as we set off it is cloudy but dry.  At once we see the benefit of spending the night at a high altitude, as we start the day off with a gentle downhill slope - previously we had generally begun with a steep ascent out of a sheltered valley.  Before long we reach the end of the southern half of the walk, where it seems only right to get the camera out (P1 & P2) and pause for a while in contemplation of the distance travelled.  But all too soon I am trudging off behind Alex (P3), as the landscape becomes bleaker in a portent of things to come (P4).

Looking back south.

It begins to rain and the euphoria of reaching halfway dies away - we still have a very long way to go.  We are grateful indeed to find a half-ruined barn (P5 & P6) in which we can at least be dry while we eat our lunch.  From here on the day is gentle enough, through the farming country of lower Teesdale (P7), however Alex's body is beginning to let him down, not helped by the way one of his walking poles has already broken.

The descent into the valley towards Middleton (P8) is particularly strenuous, and we are glad to find a campsite half a mile or so before the town.  After a much needed wash of both ourselves and our clothes, we head into Middleton to find it well stocked with pubs - we choose the the King's Head (P9) on the quality of the beer.  We also obtain some food from the late night co-op, more of which tomorrow...

Alex leads the way.

Proper wilderness here.

Shelter.

It's our packs look.

A more agricultural bit.

A green and pleasant land!

Ooo, quite foody this one.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 8 : Hawes to Tan Hill

No, Really We Can't Walk All the Way to Bowes

This pub is at least a bit of a landmark.

Bank holiday weekend dawns unsurprisingly wet, in fact we are glad at least that the tent is still dry after a stormy night.  After passing through Hawdraw the day turns into a trudge through increasingly wet bog, as the rain comes down.  But our spirits remain high, and in fact we make very good time, as there is little incentive ever to call a halt under the conditions - for similar reasons I don't take my camera out of my bag until the end.

At first we move sufficiently quickly that Alex is talking about carrying on past our intended destination, and walking all the way to Bowes - the midway point of the route according to our guide.  I can see his point, it would be good to be at least half way after eight days, the problem is that from Bowes we could either do ten miles to where I planned for tomorrow anyway, or thirty miles, which frankly I'm not up for.

Practically wild camping.

In fact as the day wears on and we hit a long and gruelling climb, even Alex agrees that we should stick to the original plan.  The reason for the climb becomes clear when we reach journey's end, the Tan Hill Inn (P1), not only the highest pub in Britain but most hospitable too - it is very pleasant indeed to warm our feet in front of the fire and know that the tent is only a few yards walk away.  Admittedly the camping area is a little rough and ready, but it does come complete with ducks (P2).

Photos to go with this post can be found here.