Chilterns Craft Show at Stonor Park

We are halfway through the ICHF Chilterns Craft Show at Stonor Park. 2 days gone, 2 to go. The show is just 5 miles from Henley upon Thames, 9.30am to 5.30pm. About 200 exhibitors, so lots to see.

Apart from a couple of hours at the end of today it has been dry and firm underfoot. Forecast is good for tomorrow too. Good weather for a craft fair held under canvas!

We have lots of new photos and some show offers. Our stand number is C19.

The photo shows a small part of the show ground situated in very picturesque countryside.

For a bit of light relief we met up with our good friends Andy and Val. Had a very nice meal and catch up at the Golden Ball pub near Henley.

Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk Richmond to Danby Wiske

Today was the last day walking this years section of Wainwright's Coast to Coast trail with Al (@apistake)

Richmond to Danby Wiske; a bit over 15 miles the way we went. See photo of Richmond Castle and River Swale from the start.
Another 8.40am start, another dry warm day. We planned to stop at the pub at Catterick Bridge but thought 10.50am was a bit early for a beer. We carried on to the Farmers Arms at Scorton.
Unfortunately, we were too fast and arrived at 11.45am; maybe that was the Olympic influence! The pub opened at 12am. We sat in the sunshine until opening time. Both of us had Copper Dragon Golden Pippin.

Next stop was the churchyard at Burton on Swale to see the monument to Henry Jenkins who lived to be 169 years old in the 1500's and 1600's. That's a long time! See photo.

From there it was farmland, cows and crops to Danby. The only muddy section on the whole day being the last mile to Danby.
We finished at 3.15pm at the White Swan. First off was a Northallerton Dark Ale, a bit sweet for me but the Yorkshire Dicky Edge was a good pint.

So, just a short day to end a great trip. The waterproofs were only used for 10 minutes in 5 days and the walking was good.
Thanks to Al for his company and keeping me entertained, even when he didn't realise it!

I have some new landscape, waterfall and other photos. It may take me a while to get to them though as my new book, City Light, will have to take precedence.

We managed a creditable 17 mpg (beer!) over the 73 miles that we walked in 5 days.

So that's 10 days down. Next year we return to Danby Wiske to walk the 4 or 5 days to Robin Hood's Bay to finish the walk.

Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk Reeth to Richmond

It was the easiest day of our trip today, as judged by the time we reached the pub in Richmond.

We left Reeth at 8.30 am after a very hearty breakfast at Cambridge House b&b. A friendly place on the north side of Reeth.

The route went through lots of fields of sheep, cows and a few walkers. Our route took us south of Marrick village then north and by the time we had rejoined the main route we had no-one on the route ahead.

Next stop was the 800 year old church in the small village of Marske. I ran off a few photos from the graveyard.
The final section to Richmond was just under a cliff edge with good views to the valley below. Hazy now so no photos.
We were in Richmond by 1.15pm (11 miles) and headed for Wetherspoons. Just the 10 real ales on but we limited ourselves to one; lots of pubs here.

Next was the Golden Lion, a Marston's pub so I was hoping for Snecklifter. None available but there was Hobgoblin so I had one of these, and another to check the first was no fluke!
Al (@apistake) asked the well endowed barmaid for a Real Handful; I'm surprised he didn't get a slap instead of a pint!
Al has dragged me back here this evening, am forcing down another Hobgoblin.

Tomorrow we finish this years trek in Danby Wiske, 15 miles from Richmond. Another good forecast, probably no rain in 5 days.
Jan meets us at the end to take Al back to his car in Shap and us back to Derbyshire.

Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk Keld to Reeth

We had a good day today on day 3 of our trip. Sunshine all day and easy walking. More importantly after yesterday, no bog!

Had breakfast at 7.30 am despite having trouble dragging Al out of the bar last night. No change there then! The breakfasts at Keld Lodge were excellent and set us up for the day.

We were off by 8.20am and by 8.30 I was taking photos. Keld is waterfall country. Kisdon Force was the first fall and is in several sections. All of them make good photos with the top one being the highest.

Lots of big views as we walked along. The next photo stop was a ruined mine building next to a couple of pretty waterfalls. See mobile phone pic below.

The country after this was quite scarred by mining. Ruined buildings, lime kilns and hillsides with no vegetation because of the methods used in lead mining. Lots of ruined buildings at the Old Gang Smelting Mill. Then it was a few miles through typical dales scenery to Reeth. Quite beautiful today.

We stopped at the first pub, as you would expect, the Buck Hotel. Jolly nice Copper Dragon Bitter, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Black Sheep Bitter, plus 2 that aren't my favourites.

3 pubs within 50 yards, 2 Theakston's and 1 freehouse. Trying the Old Peculiar at the Black Bull at the moment.

About 42 miles in 3 days so far. Pretty easy walking except 9 Standards Rigg peat bog yesterday.

Fleshpots of Richmond tomorrow (the one in North Yorkshire!).

Once again no phone signal so relying on wifi in pub.

Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk Kirkby Stephen to Keld

After a very nice breakfast at Castle View in Kirkby Stephen we started day 2. Overall this was day 7 of our version of Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk as we started last year.

It was an easy walk out of the village, with a stop for photos of Wild Boar Fell. Then 2 hours later we were on 9 Standards Rigg. I forgot to take a photo on my mobile so Al sent me one of his (the one with a line of big cairns).

The 9 Standards Rigg are a set of large cairn-like structures. I now have a set of photos of them.

The way down to Whitsundale was literally a quagmire of peat bog. I hate peat bogs and avoid them in the Peak District except when dry or frozen so this was a bit of a trial.

Al offered to to treat me to a hot chocolate at Ravenseat Farm. He had seen it on the Yorkshire Dales tv programme (the farm not the hot chocolate!).

Unfortunately, he only had £20 notes so asked me to pay. I'm still trying to work out how me paying for my drink as well as Al's drink and scone constitutes a treat!

Al did his good deed for the day by freeing a young lamb from the fence. It was trapped by it's horns.

We came down to the road and went back to Wain Wath falls. See photo. These are very photogenic falls and I ran off a few rolls. The lower falls were best.

I had to wait to take photos of the upper falls because 2 women kept swimming across my picture under the falls. How thoughtless!

Staying at Keld Lodge tonight. Black Sheep Ale is very good. The Black Sheep Blonde was good when we arrived.

Tomorrow we walk to Reeth.

Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk Shap to Kirkby Stephen

Today Al and I resumed the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk. We left the Greyhound Hotel in Shap a bit after 8.30am in sunshine.

With my bad back I had planned a route that was several miles shorter than the Wainwright route. It also had the advantage of a pub roughly halfway!

Neither of us had walked in the area we passed through, including the pretty villages of Crosby Ravensworth, Great Asby and Crosby Garret as well the town of Kirkby Stephen.

The countryside was typical dales scenery. Lots of dry stone walls and limestone scenery, including several areas of limestone pavement. Except for 5 minutes it was dry, and mostly sunny, all day. See photo.

Lunchtime was spent in the 3 Greyhounds in Great Asby. We tried the 2 beers on offer; Cumberland Corby Ale and Theakston Grouse Beater, both well kept and on good form. See photo.

This evening in Kirkby Stephen we started in the Bulls Head with Black Sheep Bitter but didn't fancy the Holt's bitter so moved across to the Kings Arms for Dent Aviator (not as good as last night in Shap) and Thwaites Wainwright route (not well kept).

Now we are off to the Jennings pub down the road to end the night.

Tomorrow we walk from Kirkby Stephen to Keld. Good forecast too.

Coast to Coast Preparation

Al (@apistake on Twitter) and I arrived at the Greyhound Hotel in Shap this afternoon ready to start our Coast to Coast walk tomorrow.
Just the 8 real ales on so we had our work cut out to try them all. Between the 2 of us we managed though.
Jolly nice Cumberland sausage for dinner. Best of the beers was Dent Aviator closely followed by Eden Best. 5 of the other 6 were good but Old Peculiar was past it's best. Good preparation for walking!
Tomorrow we resume our Coast to Coast walk, started in 2011, with 17 miles from Shap to Kirkby Stephen.

Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk Round 2

We have just had a very enjoyable weekend with lots of friends staying with us, walking the hills and visiting local hostelries. The only rain from Friday morning to Sunday night was while we were in the Quiet Woman in Earl Sterndale having a lunch break from the walking! It's not often the Peak District is one of the driest places in the country.

Today I travel up to Shap in Cumbria with good friend Al ready to resume our leisurely version of Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk which we started last year from St Bee's on the west coast. Tomorrow we start with a 17 mile walk from Shap to Kirkby Stephen and finish in Danby Wiske on Saturday afternoon, just under 70 miles in total in 5 days. Next year we hope to complete it and arrive in Robin Hood's Bay on the east coast.

Fingers crossed for dry weather!

I bought some new boots on Thursday, Meindl Dovre Extremes. They are similar to Meindl Lohtse boots but 3 inches higher around the leg. My Achilles tendon has been sore for quite a while now and having the top of my hiking boots hit the tendon as I walk doesn't help. So far I have walked about 25 miles in them without a problem. Hopefully that will help the tendon to recover while I continue to walk the hills and take photos.