Wainwright's 1938 Pennine Journey

Here is a rather late report on our continuation of the 247 mile Pennine Journey....from our 4 day walk completed in the spring of 2012.  (The previous section of our Pennine Journey from Settle to Bainbridge had been completed over three days in August 2011 and weren't blogged)

This time though,  the first two days walking were wet, with rivers in spate.  The last two days were sunny and dry.

A friend of ours called Chas who is a folk singer (not of Chas & Dave fame) has written a song about how wet we were when we got to Tan Hill.  If he will copyright the words to me I will post it here!

We aren't walking exactly by the excellent Pennine Journey guidebook edited by David Pitt in that whilst we are keeping to the route we are deciding our own day length sections.

Day 4

After driving from Pickering we parked Geoff's car up (Yvonne and Jennie styed overnight in Askrigg) and we walked from Bainbridge (after a late start) to Keld, where we stayed at the excellent Butt House.

Yvonne - Jennie - Judy - Geoff at Gyhllfoot Tearoom in Gunnerside where wet & muddy walkers are welcome

Day 5

We walked from Keld to Bowes via Tan Hill from where we needed to use the wet weather route suggested in the book. Prior to that on the way up to Tan Hill we had to leave the Pennine Way at Lad Gill which was impassable as the picture below shows. We stayed at The Ancient Unicorn Inn in Bowes. Good food, but very poor accommodation, however there was nowhere else to stay.

Geoff at Kisdon Force north of Keld

Lad Gill between Keld and Tan Hill was blocked by a swollen beck
Left to right: Geoff, Phil, Jennie, Yvonne

We left the Pennine Way and went down to the road to cross Lad Gill via this bridge to reach Tan Hill pub by road

We spent two hours at Tan Hill drying out. They made us welcome. The Ciabatta sandwiches are much nicer than the Lasagne was! Not recommended, the Lasagne that is...

You can see the amount of water in the River Greta near Bowes

To get off the same bridge we had to climb the fence. The gate was awash.

Day 6  

Bowes to Middleton in Teesdale. I've never walked in that area before. Lovely sunny weather. We stayed that night at the Teesdale Hotel which ws excellent in all respects.

A much more pleasant day. We made the detour over Goldsborough Hill to find a pleasant lunch spot in a hollow.

Middleton in Teesdale now in sight

Day 7 (Half day walk) 

We walked from Middleton to High Force, the first time I've ever been there. There was plenty of water coming over the fall from previous days, yet it wasn't raining that day. Perfect!

The traditionally styled but very nice Teesdale Hotel in Middleton - recommended

My first visit to High Force in Teesdale

We walked back to the High Force Hotel for lunch and then used Hodgsons's Taxis from Barnard Castle to return us and our luggage back to Bainbridge.

We are continuing up to Hadrian's Wall in October and have pledged to finish up back in Settle in September 2013 80 years to the day that Wainwright completed his Pennine Journey.

Best wishes to all Pennine Journey Supporters!

Phil (Report Writer)

Judy 

Geoff

Yvonne 

Jennie