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.