The Coast to Coast Path runs for 192 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, passing through some of the finest landscapes in northern England, including the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. Hayley and I are hiking the Yorkshire Dales section.
By happy chance, we arrive at Kirkby Stephen station within seconds of each other, courtesy of delays, with me travelling south from Aviemore and Hayley journeying north from home — surely a good omen for the days ahead. It’s a short walk to the beautiful Old Croft House, where our welcoming hosts offer tea and cake, a small luxury before the camping begins.
The Taggy Man, recommended in my CAMRA guide, is perfect for dinner and a drink. The nearby church bell is rung at eight o’clock every evening to signify a curfew (“taggy” being an old word for a curfew). Local children were told that the Taggy Man would get them if they were not home by eight. He looks like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, who gave me nightmares for years.
Next day
After the overnight downpour, the sky is clear as we begin our walk over fells and moors to Keld.
The Nine Standards wait at the summit, silent sentinels watching over the land.
We were warned about mud and bogs, but someone has recently laid a Yellow Brick Road. I’ve mixed feelings.
All is revealed over the next rise. The park rangers explain that this is ongoing work to upgrade the path to National Trail status.
Descending from the hills, Rukin’s Park Lodge campsite is nestled next to the River Swale. Some hikers never leave.
Hayley gets my trusty old Zpacks Duplex while I practice pitching my Durston X-Mid Pro 1. A Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) expedition arrives to keep us company. We leave the kids to their cookpots and head up to Keld Lodge for a nice dinner and a refreshing pint of Black Sheep Ale.
Next day
Our daily distances are short, so we rise at a leisurely hour to discover the DofE trekkers have slipped away silently like ninjas.
The Keld Green Cafe is essentially the front parlour of someone’s house. The chef greets us and sits down at a table opposite to chat. I feel guilty for prodding him into action. He returns with possibly the tastiest bacon sandwich I’ve had.
There are various routes to take to Reeth. We choose the highest route through the colourful hills.
The old Blakethwaite lead smelting mill is my favourite spot.
We rest next to the old peathouse where peat cut from the moors was stored and allowed to dry before being used as fuel.
Spoil heaps dress the hillside. I can’t resist the lure of a stone crusher.
The Orchard campsite offers shelter from the forecast bad weather, surrounded by apple trees, which is our cue to head into the village for apple crumble at The Buck pub.
Resting in my tent, something catches my eye by the trees. A hedgehog trundles past.
Next day
We have early morning visitors.
Today’s section is pastoral, less wild than yesterday. Some locals are unfazed by visitors.
Richmond is charming, teeming with visitors on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We are in good time to catch the bus to Darlington for the train home.
The end of a lovely, varied trip, culminating with three days of peaceful, companionable walking in the sunshine. I guess we will have to complete the other sections of the Coast to Coast Path at some point. My list grows ever longer, and you know, I’m happy with that.
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Paving 🙄😟😱
Apparently, to be given National Trail status, they have to provide a certain amount of accessible routes with paving stones wide enough for all-terrain mobility scooters etc.
I still have nightmares about the bog quagmire from Nine Standards to Ravenseat, my daughter sank up to her thigh and I had to pull her out, saying “whatever you do don’t lose your boot!” Slipped several times and when we arrived in Keld we looked like creatures from the black lagoon!
Haha. It was like a stroll through formal gardens now. I guess the slabs will look less intrusive once they have weathered. A couple had already sunk into bog.