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.
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!
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
