Birthday walk

It was my birthday last week and we celebrated at the weekend.  I'd originally asked some of my relatives if they would like to come over in the evening and go for a Thai meal but they weren't able to.  So we hadn't really got anything planned.  The only plan was that CBC had to go for an eye test at the opticians in Maldon.

We couldn't remember if it was a 10.30am or an 11.30am appointment so we frantically had to drive over there for 10.30 just in case. It turned out the appointment was 11.30 so we decided to go for breakfast in the best cafe in Maldon, Mrs Salisbury's!  

I ordered a small breakfast (CBC had the Veggie breakfast) . It was delicious! I chose a Hot chocolate to accompany which was also delicious.

The building is such a lovely historic one. I took a picture in one of their bathrooms/toilets for you!

Velvet curtains, a massive mirror, there's a shower behind the curtain!

Here's a photo of the loo chandelier!

Whilst CBC went to his optician's appointment, I had a look round the charity shops and a couple of other shops.

I loved this man's shirt. It was made of beautiful materials but CBC was not impressed- pity!

I ended up buying myself a Seasalt Cornwall turtle neck in the charity shop as I wear the one I have already all the time. I also bought a lovely Boden stripy linen top.

We went into Coe's, an independent Gentleman's shop and I loved this tie display full of Liberty ties!

Once we met up again, I asked CBC if we could go for a walk. Despite the fact, he was wearing light-coloured trousers, as it was my birthday celebration day, he agreed.

We parked by the Cricketers pub in Danbury and walked through  and around Danbury Common.

I felt instantly refreshed and invigorated after only 5 minutes. The power of walking in nature, surrounded by trees!

I enjoyed seeing the moss growing here. Or is it Lichen?

CBC looked for newts in the pond. 

We found a Hellebore growing.

I spy a Ladybird!

We found this curious growth coming out of a tree. We wondered if it was Mistletoe?

I very much enjoyed the open skies and lack of people.

I was photographing fungi (another post to come!) 

and then CBC did his usual vanishing act!  I asked a dog walker if he had seen him and he hadn't.

All of a sudden, I heard him calling me in a creepy goblin voice.

Do you see him?

What a joy to see signs of Spring!

Both CBC and I were enamoured by this glorious tree with its three trunks.

Finally, I have seen some Snowdrops!

As we neared the car, I saw these soft-fluffy catkins swaying like Lemur tails or tabby cats in the breeze.  I stroked them and received a layer of pollen in return.

As we got in the car, Lara texted me to ask if I was passing her house and would I like to collect some books she forgot to give me the day before.

She is a piano technician and was working on a piano mechanism. I've never seen the keys and levers dismantled like this before!

As we left, CBC said it was a pity we weren't going to see a show. He'd looked at Ballet tickets or musicals tickets in London as he thought I might like to see a show. Since he seemed so keen but his search was fruitless, I looked in Essex and found that 'Top Hat', based on the Irving Berlin film, was on at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend.  They had plenty of tickets available and so I booked two and we drove home.  In the space of 10 minutes, I changed out of my muddy clothes and into a dress, cardigan, tights, nice shoes, straightened my messy hair and got ready to go.  CBC, worked at a slower pace and was ready eventually.

We drove to Westcliff and quickly had a meal at the lovely Thai restaurant.  We then rushed to the theatre, not managing to find a space up high and had to leg it up the steep stairs to the theatre.

The musical was brilliant fun and it was nice to be close.

I was cross in the interval that when CBC asked (egged on by me) for a real mug (they had them), he was told he had to have a disposable. I had a little rant about it (probably too loudly!) which CBC was a bit embarassed about and apparently caused smirks from some people nearby. It does annoy me though. Why is this the way of the way of the world now!

Back home, I opened my presents and cards.

CBC bought me some lovely trousers from the hippy shop in Hexham and a Susie Dent book. Mum got me a slip dress from Patra (sadly now closed), some infused honey and this unusual hoodie. It looks like it is quilted but it is printed.  It doesn't feel very nice as it is some type of shiny, thick synthetic but it looks really cool.  CBC's sister had sent me a cosmetic bag and the coolest mushroom card. Lara bought me a couple of cool books, a Cockerel brooch and  an owl necklace. My godmother got me a  a cool book on Folksongs. I had several lovely cards!

It was a totally unplanned day but it turned out to be wonderful and varied and CBC had made it nice for me.

xx

 

Madeira Day 3

On our 3rd day, we got up for Breakfast and CBC went to go and pick up the hire car.  We decided to make sandwiches from the buffet to take on our walk.  We got in the car and drove to do walks PR10 and PR11.

The first walk was a mere 3km total called Vereda dis Balcoes. It was super easy and accessible on a wide path that was pretty flat. 

It led to a viewing platform with wonderful views of the mountains around. We soon noticed people feeding chaffinches from their hands. Clearly The Madeiran Chaffinches love a Picnic. 

It didn't take long for me to lure my own chaffinches with a bit of sandwich. A few of them are from my hand whilst fluttering and the more audacious and greedy ones sat on my finger hoovering up every morsel. 

Despite them being comfortable if anyone with food held out a hand, it felt very special to have a tiny bird on the hand. 

Once we'd stayed here a little while, we walked back to start of the route. There was another route in the village. Pr10 which was longer.  Around 11km. It went along the Levada Do Furado.  It is one of the oldest public levadas, acquired by the state to irrigate the agricultural fields of Porta da Cruz.

Many of the walking routes follow the Levada, historic water ways. The routes can be quite narrow in areas and you will be next to a sheer drop but they have metal railing erected. 

The walk was pleasantly shady as it was overhanging with trees, however, the walk did not feel particularly varied as the view was hard to spot, there was little variation in ups and downs. 

A highlight of the journey was reaching a waterfall with a mesmerising clear pool. A man was swimming in there and we were tempted to go in too. In retrospect, we regret not doing this. 

Levadas. The walks are very safe as they have railings. However, a lot of the walk was the same.

Possibly the most exciting part of the walk was walking through the rock face!

The final 1.5km of the walk was downhill (finally some variation!) We ate our picnic lunch in some lovely shade before the descent.  It ended at the Portela belvedere in the municipality of Machico.

The views were beautiful from there.

We found a yellow taxi waiting there at the who drove us back to the car in Ribiero Frio! We were very thankful he was there!

Once we got back to the car, we decided to drive to Santana to have a look around. It was said to have examples of a typical Madeiran traditional house.

There were a few of them.

In one of them, they had a small shop selling a few things including ice-lollies from a natural company.  CBC had a pineapple and mint one.  I had a Strawberry and chocolate lolly. It was covered in a thin layer of crispy dark chocolate and had a fruity inner of real frozen strawberry pulp.  It was really tasty. We stopped for a cool drink in a nice cafe/restaurant. I had a non-alcoholic version of Poncha (punch with passionfruit and orange) and CBC had a bear.

As we sat there, I was admiring the beautiful archictecture of the hospital

We decided to have Dinner in Santana and there was a  Pizza restaurant with a very noisy parrot near the car. CBC had a pizza and I had some sort of tasty steak with fries and a beautiful rainbow salad.

In the car on the way back, we passed through many tunnels, long ones at that! We got back around 9pm so I decided to go for a swim FINALLY in the hotel pool. It was very pleasant. I then booked for the next morning.  They told me it had to be before 9am as they had swimming lessons then which seemed a bit annoying but I was happy to book for 8.30am.

Somewhere up Pico Ruivo Mountain

I will post about my holiday in Madeira soon but am on my way to my next destination! 

Here's a little snippet from my holiday, day 4 which I wrote for weekly prompt word poem.  The word in question was 'extra'. 

Somewhere up Pico Ruivo Mountain

 

Just a few more extra steps,

Just some extra miles,

Just keep walking up this slope,

Be over in a while,

You’re almost halfway through this trek,

I know your muscles ache,

You’re closer to the end and warmth,

Each extra step you take.

Don’t like this hill, don’t like this mud,

Don’t like this constant rain.

But will the sense of pride at the end

Be worth all the pain?

That guy we met at 7K,

“10 minutes,”- what a lie!

I want this hill to bog right off,

Don’t want to slip and die!

I’ve climbed a million extra steps,

My way is truly wend,

I’m wet and weary, worn-out, wan,

THANK GOD I’VE REACHED THE END!

 

The Pennine Way

 

Hello there!

Phew, it's been a busy holiday! I've barely stopped to catch my breath before moving on! Thankfully for me, my school has an extra day's holiday tomorrow so I am not back till Tuesday (and can get some work done!) 

We set off for Hebden Bridge on Sunday the 2nd April in the car.  I packed mostly that morning, although I had thrown a pile of camping stuff I thought I needed at the rucksack that I had borrowed from CBC's work colleague who runs DoE.   I really was feeling apprehensive since I had no idea how I'd be able to cope with 4 days of walking with a heavy rucksack on top of camping for 3 nights!  Before that, however, we had to get there and have 2 days in Hebden Bridge.  We packed pretty minimally as we would be walking for most of our time away but before that, we had to decide whether we would like the car in Hebden bridge and return to it at the end or to drive to our end point, Hawes and leave the car there and make our way back with our rucksacks only to Hebdon Bridge. I knew which version I liked best which was version 1! 

It took us about 4 hours and 20 minutes to drive there (or rather CBC driving, not me!) I provided snacks at regular intervals.  We decided that it was probably better to leave the car in Hebdon which was a relief to me.  We arrived ahead of when we could check into our Air BnB so we parked in the town and went to have a wander around.   We went straight to Mountain Wild, their main independent outdoor shop as I needed to buy a lightweight raincoat as both my Seasalt ones are too bulky and heavy for lightweight camping.  I ended up buying a Mountain Equipment one which was expensive but a good one and the man gave me a 10% discount on it. We also picked up some Dehydrated meals for CBC's sister/brother/brother in law which they had ordered as they were already 3 days into the Pennine Way ahead of us and would be meeting us in Hebdon on the Monday evening.

After a delightful lunch in a cafe in the market place, we drove up to Hebble End to our Air BnB which was this place called The Cabin.   We parked the car and found our way in. It was a lovely and so close to town, yet quiet with a lovely view over Hebdon.  We explored the apartment which had a lovely kitchen full of teas and cereals and snacks for us as well as milk etc. After a cup of tea and a sit down for a while, we made our way down to town to visit the Thai restaurant for dinner, Rim Nam Thai.

It was a really attractive restaurant with an impressive, well-priced menu.

I started with a mixed platter- this is the 1st Thai restaurant where you didn't have to have a minimum of 2 people ordering it, I could have it by myself without trying to persuade CBC to also have it! We ordered a bowl of Thai prawn crackers which was vast. The platter was excellent and varied!

For my main, I had Jungle curry with prawn which was very spicy, more than I expected. I usually have Thai green. It was nice but a little bit hot (and I like spice). CBC had yellow Curry which was mild- I ended up finishing his as he didn't have enough space for it all!

The next morning, after a really good night's sleep, we got up, had breakfast and headed into Hebdon.  After a look around and buying some things, we headed into Leila's Vegetarian Persian Kitchen for Lunch.

I had the mixed platter which was excellent. CBC had some lovely dishes too including Baba Ganoush and a Lentil Stew.

As we walked back to our apartment, we saw a train approaching as we walked over the railway bridge.  We decided to stand and wave, alla The Railway Children and to our delight, the train driver not only waved back but gave us a "Toot, Toot" on his horn!

We decided to go for a walk along the Canal Path to see if could meet the Pennine Way team on their way into Hebdon as well as trying out our rucksacks.  It was a warm day. The walk was ok (around 5 miles) until we took a wrong turn on the way back and CBC made us walk on my absolutely most hated type of path which combines the followung.

1. Woodland thus lots of fallen leaves.

2. Steep,thin Diagonal path.

3. Sheer drop next to it

4. Drop down to certain death in the river.

Making it worse was my massive rucksack which weighed a lot and skewed my balance.  I absolutely lost it at one point where I couldn't see where to tread without slipping down to the aforementioned death drop (several times in fact) and had hysterics. CBC was not particularly sympathetic.

This left me feeling rather anxious about the forthcoming 4 day trek.

We received a message from our Pennine team to say they were in town and we arranged to meet in the Indian Restaurant, Cardoman (excellent) for dinner.  We took a trip to the COOP to get some breakfasts and lunches for our next 2 days of camping/trekking.

The Pennine team looked completely shattered after 3 days of intense walking and camping so were really looking forward to their B&B bed and were happy for a shower.

The next day we arranged to meet at 9am on the main street.  I had a bit of an upset stomach after the Indian (lentils!!!! I love them but they do NOT love my gut!) so I made us a bit late so we got there at 9.20am.

We set off straight up the steep stone steps of the Hebdon Loop to get us back onto the Pennine Way. It was steep and hot work.

Here's our Team Photo!

After a few disagreements of the route (Kamoot versus OS map!), we got on. The team were well into the swing of things and have planned times for stopping for snacks and lunch.  Our day was 17.5miles and we were aiming for Ickenshaw for a campsite.

The walk was very varied but I was feeling quite bright. My rucksack felt extraordinarily heavy and I had to keep rolling my neck and arms!

Bananas are good for energy (I was wearing CBC's fleece here)

We stopped 12miles into our journey for lunch at a great lunchspot with benches (next to a ruined stone building).  I had made myself some Palma Ham rolls. The others had meal deals. CBC made coffee on his stove!

A distinctive feature of the Pennine way are these large flagstone paths.  Sometimes they get covered in bog mud and water but when we reached a moor at the top of a climb, there was a section called "The Sea" mainly because you are surrounded by bog and marshland in all directions. The light was golden and it was really lovely to walk on. A few times, the path disappeared and you had to try and avoid the watery bog. My trousers were already caked in mud round the bottom but after most of the day being right at the back of the group with the boys going far ahead, this section, I was in the middle and loved it!

By the time we reached Ickenshaw where we were camping in a field owned by some people, we were very tired with aching feet and legs. It was hard to believe we would be doing to the same again tomorrow but perhaps after food and sleep, it would be ok?

We set up our tents and cooked our dehydrated meals on the camp stove (you had hot water to the pouch, shut it and leave it for 15mins.  The place had a shower and toilet and they let us have use of their summer house (which had a kettle and plug which we didn't use till morning).

My meal, Orzo Pasta Bolognese, seemed pretty grim to me, it still seemed a bit hard and largely tasteless, whereas everyone else's seemed better. 

After cleaning teeth and visiting the loo (I'm usually a 'visit the loo 6 times' type- can't really do that camping), we got into our tents around 10pm.

And then, began my endless night of no sleep.

I had not brought a jumper with me on the trip and my tshirt for sleeping in (plus merino wool leggings) were not warm enough inside my borrowed down sleeping bag.  I put my down jacket inside the sleeping bag too but it made me sweaty. Also the church in the village chimed every hour and half hour and yes, I heard every blasted one of them! The ground felt hard and I didn't get to sleep until around 6am, when it started to rain- the sound was soothing.  By the time we had to get up, at around 8am, I was exhausted and feeling somewhat daunted.  I got up and showered which helped perk me up a bit and we headed to the Summer House to boil the kettle for our porridge pots.

I was so on edge, I struggled to eat my porridge and drink my tea. We set off around 9.30am to walk.

The day was overcast and became rainy pretty soon with a penetrating mizzle that seemed to seep into our bones! Everyone else, who had slept well (CBC delighted with his new down sleeping bag!), was in good spirits at first.

I felt really anxious because I felt like S, was a bit cross at CBC and I for holding us up a bit from leaving the campsite which, given my tiredness, was not good for making me feel positive about the day.  I seemed permanently stuck alone at the back though CBC did spend time with me, knowing I was feeling blue.

We reached a village with a wonderful honesty box of cake in clingfilm- massive slabs for £1- everyone grabbed 2 slices. I had one chocolate cake slab but after CBC accidentally slopped water everywhere, making others a bit annoyed, I did cry. Only CBC and his brother noticed but I was so tired, everything was making me upset. I trudged on saying Psalm 23 to myself and singing church songs which helped me to cheer up and keep going.

The rain was pretty relentless so by the time we were due a snack break, we reached a village. S asked was looking for a bus shelter for us to stop in when some amazingly kind builders asked us if we wanted to come and sit in the house they were working on and even offered us the use of their kettle plus teabags to make ourselves tea! We were unbelievably touched and went in. It was such a relief to sit down without the rucksack and drink warm tea. I ate a banana too which helped.

We reached the village of Gargrave (11 miles into our journey) and originally would have stopped for lunch in a pub but decided to just get sandwiches and aim for a pub in our final destination. We went to the COOP to get lunch plus lunch and breakfast for the next 2 days of camping.

This was 2 porridge pots, bananas, a sandwich for both days (I got a bacon turnoever as I wanted something hot).

As it was so wet, S called a Bunkhouse called Hilltop farm in Malham and tried to see if we could stay there instead of camping. I prayed and prayed that they would be able to accommodate us.

The owner was away in Northumberland but she tried to arrange for us to be let in.

The next stretch of the walk was the most difficult. After a steep walk, it was endless bog, slop, mud and water for miles with continual rain. My left walking boot had felt like it was leaking first thing in the morning and now, I had awful, sloppy wet feet for the next couple of hours.  Everyone was pretty silent as we trudged onwards.  

We crossed a bridge around 14.3 miles when all of a sudden, I looked down at my boot to discover...

Yes, the sole of my walking boot had come off. I walked the next 0.2 miles or so trying not to lose it. As we reached the main road, the sole came off totally! (the road that could take us to Malham, our destination). At that moment, a message had come through from Jill at the Hilltop Farm Bunkhouse who said she could pick anyone up from the road into Malham if anyone needed rescuing. I could not believe the timing of her message!  CBC called her and asked if she could come and help us! The others carried on determined to finish the 4 miles remaining of the walk.

Jill came in less than 10 minutes and got us in the car! I was so grateful, I almost cried.

She drove us to the bunkhouse and let us in. It was totally empty but us. She said it was really unusual for it to be completely empty at that time of year and they had a party coming in 2 days. Another amazing piece of luck (for me, the timing was divine intervention!).  She was unbelievably kind and helpful and offered to take our tent and any clothes away to wash and dry for us.  She said she might have some walking boots or shoes for me to borrow in the meantime and thought that perhaps the new (only opened in December) village shop, H's, might have walking boots for sale.  She also offered to drive me into Settle, should I not be able to find anything in the shop. So kind!

We took off our sopping clothes and hung all our belongings in the drying room and went for a shower before sitting down with a cup of tea.  She came back with 2 pairs of boots- 1 size 7 (too small) and one size 9 (a bit big) but the latter would do in the meantime.

The others arrived an hour or so later, totally demoralized. The 4miles we had missed were a river walk with thick, slippery muddy churned up ground (by sheep) and was really difficult.  They said we had missed absolutely nothing by missing those last few miles and their feet and spirits were not great!

They had quick showers and then hung up all their drenched, mud-encrusted clothing and J donned the pair of Size 7 boots (2 sizes too large) as her trail shoes were so disgusting and soggy and the 5 of us departed to the local pub, The Lister Arms (named after "Gentleman Jack", Anne Lister, for dinner.

Ah, the pub was wonderful and the food was tremendous! I had a stupendously hearty Fish Pie and all of us were grateful for the cosy fire and warm interior.  We all felt our spirits restore and we made our way back in the rain to the bunkhouse. I cannot tell you how grateful I felt at the prospect of my bunkbed.  They had given us 2 rooms (very basic, very tiny) and of course, the communual facilities with pillows and radiators.  I slept really well.

At the pub, we had made a decision, based on the poor weather forecast for the next day, plus my boot situation, plus the fatigue of the group, that we might take a rest day, IF we could get the bunk house for a 2nd night and would need to then adjust our plans.  Malham Cove was the next item on our journey and it is considered one of the finest parts of the Way so we would like to do it in beautiful weather, not torrential rain.

The next morning, we all had a lie in and then ate our porridge breakfasts.  We were all very achy.  My inner thigh  join at the groin hurt  a lot when I tried to raise it and was struggling a bit to lift it. This made me worry

Mid-morning, CBC and I headed into town to see what the boot situation was.

We walked via the river which was a delight with wrens trilling merrily and boldly coming close whilst the river played a soothing accompaniment.

To our delight, H's, the new village shop was really well stocked with a variety of useful items including outdoor clothing AND walking boots.

After trying a few on, the ones that were available in my large size 8, I ended up buying a pair of men's boots. I wore them out of the shop and CBC and I went for a walk around the town.

We decided to try and take the boots for a gentle walk before the rain started, to test them and walked to Janet Foss, a 1 1/4 mile walk to a gorgeous waterfall.  It was a very gentle walk on a clear path. To my delight, I spotted an abundance of Wild Garlic in the lead up to Janet's Foss- an absolute PARADISE of Wild Garlic!  I was rather gutted that I would be needing to transport my backpack so travelling 14 miles with Wild Garlic was not going to be the best choice so I had to leave it, but I snacked on it as we walked!  I was a little worried that my left leg hurt a lot

After the walk back to the village, we met the other siblings in the tea room for cake and tea.  An afternoon back at the ranch ended with us heading to the Buck Inn for dinner.

Both my starter and main meal (Vegetable Gyoza for starter and steak for main!) were tasty.

We traipsed back to the Bunkhouse.  A moment of panic was when my Brother in Law couldn't find the key and started to jog back to find it- luckily, he returned in about 3 minutes after he found it in his pocket.  We worked on packing and consolidating our belongings as much as possible and then tried to get to bed as early as possible.

The next morning, we rose around 7.30ish, showered and had breakfast.  Just as we were about to go, Jill turned up with a really kind offer.  When I wasn't sure about whether I would be ok enough to do the walk the previous day, I had mentioned this to her. She volunteered to transport my rucksack to Horton for me to the pub so I would be able to walk the lovely walk to Malham Cove and Pen Y Ghent.  I gladly took her up on this offer!  I was frankly sick of that rucksack!

What a difference sunshine and no rucksack make to your mood! We were all in good spirits  I was practically skipping and we were all cheerful!  The first part of the walk towards Malham Gorge and Cove and Gordale Scar was really beautiful.

Our next main landmark was  Malham tarn.  It made me think about swimming! We had our first snack break there!

Pen Y Ghent was on my mind as we walked.  Would it be scary and scrambly or would it be ok, especially now I didn't have my rucksack?  It was huge and impassable in my head.  I would be slipping and sliding on difficult to find paths- diagonal with nothing to hold onto!

Finally, after all the other climbs and downhills, Pen Y Ghent came into view!

We chatted to the other people we met- everyone said that PenY Ghent was beautiful, not too scary. Maybe I would be ok and wouldn't have to cry!

CBC and his brother started the ascent first, I was in the middle (I'd spent a lot of the day by myself in the middle!) and J & S were at the rear.

Can you see CBC and his brother?

Ah Pen Y Ghent was GORGEOUS!  It was a lot of climbing onto rocky ledges near the top and I needed some guidance on where to go but I enjoyed it! Not sure I would have been so good with my heavy rucksack!

Here we are at the top!

Only a few miles left to go but it was going to be a LONG downhill!

CBC and I walked together. I banged my toes quite a few times on the downhill- it was very gravelly and very steep and progress was quite slow! J&S ended up quite a long way behind us.

Eventually we made it onto the main road in Horton, aiming for the pub to fetch my rucksack and to meet the taxi we had booked to take us to Hawes.  Originally, we would have camped in Horton and walked to Hawes the next day but because of the rest day, we would have to miss that day and make it up another time.

The taxi was booked for 6pm, we got there at 5.45pm. Where were J&S.

Just before 6, bag procured, they turned up.  J had twisted her ankle on the horrid downhill so she had to go very slowly.

The taxi arrived and drove us to Haws.It was an amazing drive- you got to see the Ribbleshead Viaduct and driving made me realise just how far we were supposed to have been walking the next day!

We arrived at our B&B in Hawes, Herriot's.  Ah, how welcome that shower was, how comfy that bed and duvet!

We had booked a table at Voujon, the Indian restaurant for dinner (it was Easter Sunday!).

After delicious poppadoms and chutneys, our main arrived. The menu had some really interesting dishes on it. I ordered a fish dish and CBC a prawn plus we shared rices, dhal and naans.

The prawn was too spicy for CBC so we swapped. We ate everything!

A discussion was had over dinner.  J realised she would not be able to cope with much downhill with her ankle, especially not with a rucksack but really didn't want to end their Pennine Journey there (CBC and I were due to end at Hawes as we were only there for 4 days of walking but the others were supposed to end in Teesdale). They decided to try and get a taxi back to Horton and do the 12 mile walk the next day which only had minimal downhill. We would meet for breakfast and then CBC and I would go and get the Little White Bus to Garsdale station and they would get their taxi.

After an excellent night's sleep and a tasty breakfast, We said goodbye to the others and went to get the bus. This is a community-run minibus that is there to serve the village of Hawes to link to train departures and arrivals at Garsdale station 6 miles away.

The bus only cost us £2 each due to a current government scheme that reduced all buses to only £2 a journey. The driver was really friendly and informative. He told us that not as many people use the bus as they don't know about it, so if you ever go there, it's really worth using! You can also charter it to do your own journeys during the middle of the day.

Garsdale station was beautiful!

 The train came and it took us to Leeds, via lots of little stations.  The journey was long but scenic (delayed though!).  At Leeds, we took another train back to Hebden Bridge

At Hebden, we walked back to the car! What a delight to change into some other clothes!

Now it was just a 4.5 hour drive back to Essex!

Maybe we will continue with the Pennine Way next year!

Things I learnt:

• Cet a better air bed.
• You need a midlayer, some sort of longsleeved layer to keep you warmer when you sleep. Only having a down jacket as my 'warm layer' was not enough
• Merino wool base layers are brilliant!  They keep the sun off your skin and you don't feel the sweat so much as you would in cotton.
• Waterproof trousers are a necessity
• A good,breathable raincoat is crucial!
• Do not carry a heavy bag. Get a lighter bag!
• If you have any doubts about your walking boots, maybe get some new ones! I had had doubts about mine.
• Suncream is always necessary. I was good with applying mine but some of the others weren't!
• Water is heavy! Unless it is a really hot day, you probably don't need as much as you think!
• Explore your rucksack carefully! You may discover sneaky snack pockets round your waist strap that would have been useful to know about before the last day!
• Support Public transport! Use it or lose it! 
• A nice packet of sweeties is worth having in your pocket
• Get a lightweight hat and take it with you!
• Having a buff is very useful- you can use it as a makeshift hat, hairband, scarf, a little bag etc
• Bring sunglasses!
• Earplugs may stop you from wanting to destroy the church clock!
• Stop worrying about whether you are annoying other people. It makes a stressful situation worse!
• Bring thick socks- they are good!
• Consider a bag transfer service! Totally worth it!
• B&Bs are really worth using on a long tiring trek!
• Try to keep things dry
• Walking poles are really helpful if struggle with hills
• Reproof your waterproofs!

I'm sure I would think of other things.

Hope you enjoyed this epic!

xx