Captain's Log

Keld

I thought I might have felt a bit tired after yesterday’s 25 mile hilly epic (see Captain’s Log, Crack On To Keld), but I felt fine as I packed up my tent. Two young girls and an older woman were packing their tents up next to me. The woman came over for a chat. She said that one of the girls was her daughter and that she was supporting both of them as they did the C2C EaBo. Yesterday, the girls had been refused a camping pitch in Kirkby Stephen since the campsite didn’t allow groups on the site who were under 18. I said that it was sad that the campsite owners couldn’t use a bit of discretion. Two female teenagers kitted out to walk the C2C were hardly going to party all night. The woman said that she was going to drive the teenagers over to Kirkby Stephen today and then they’d walk from there back to Keld. Our paths would therefore cross at some point on today's walk.

I was quite excited about today’s walk. Maybe excited was the wrong word. You get less excited about things as you get older. Interested might be a better word or even curious. I’d never explored the part of the Dales between Keld and Kirkby Stephen before; at least not by walking. It looked like a remote, desolate area on the OS map and from what I’d read, that pretty much described what today’s walk would be like. I’d finally leave the River Swale behind and head across the moors of Whitsun Dale. Flattish moorland would gradually  lead me up to the massive cairns of Nine Standards Rigg. There would then be a long downhill plod to Kirkby Stephen where I hoped that the campsite owners would allow me to camp, despite my boyish, young looks. 

Halfway

I followed the B6270 out of Keld. There was a sign at Keld Lodge indicating that I was now passing halfway on the C2C. I enjoy passing halfway on a trail since you've then walked further than those walking the other way. You therefore have greater ‘trail experience’ no matter how marginal that might be. I turned off onto Stonesdale Lane and used the road bridge to cross the River Swale for the last time. I followed a path high above the river for a kilometre or so, before swinging north along one of its tributaries. The River Swale had been a faithful guide, leading me across the Dales from Bolton-on-Swale. The landscape now adopted a more desolate feel. The anxious cries of Oystercatchers echoed along the beck. I was beginning to enjoy and absorb myself in this remoteness, when I was astounded to see a Tescos home delivery truck puttering along the hillside on my left. I’d not realised that a road was there since it was hidden by a stone wall running alongside it. I followed the delivery lorry up the valley and saw it stop at a collection of buildings further up. This was Ravenseat and is famous for being the farm of the C4 TV series  ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’, where the celebrity farmer lives with her ex-husband and nine children (although, I guess some may have grown up and fledged by now). There was no sign of them today and the Tescos delivery lorry had gone to another house next door to them. There were a couple of discarded patio tables near their farm and so I took the opportunity to stop for a brew and biscuit. 

Slabs

The C2C now swung westwards on a boggy stretch following Ney Gill. Footbridges had been placed to ease the way. This area seemed even more remote. There was no danger of a Tescos home delivery lorry springing out of the undergrowth around here. On the skyline I could see a small building that my OS map informed me was a shooting box. I had half an idea to use the structure as a windbreak to make a brew. As I approached though, I could see through its window that somebody was inside. I didn't want to disturb any member of the Tweed Trouser Brigade and so I plodded on. As I reached the crest of the hill, the huge mass of Nine Standards Rigg became visible to the north. There was an equally impressive hill, High Seat, to the west. This was an epic landscape. 

I came to a C2C fingerpost that pointed me to an infinite line of slabs that led up the hill to Nine Standards Rigg. The slabs were a relatively new addition and were not without their critics. The plateau of Nine Standards Rigg was a renowned boggy area. So boggy, that my out-of-date C2C Trailblazer guide documented different paths that should only be used at specific times of the year. Even so, such draconian measures didn’t prevent further erosion and so the hill eventually ended up with a slab walkway solution. I have to admit that the long line of slabs does look intrusive at the moment. Given time though, like those slabs in the Peak District, I think the environment will grow around them and they’ll appear more discrete. I headed off along them. There was already a large cairn visible on the horizon. 

Nine Standards Rigg

The cairn didn’t turn out to be one of the ‘nine.’ In fact the outlier must have been over a mile from the summit. I made fast progress along the slabs. The ascent was exposed to the wind and I was grateful when I reached a jumble of large stones that provided a natural windbreak. I got my stove out to make a brew. As I was in the process of boiling water and digging some biscuits from my goodies bag, a couple of walkers approached from the direction of the summit. They were the two teenage girls who had camped next door to me at Keld.
‘Enjoying your walk? I was camped next to you at Keld’ I said to them as they approached.  
‘Yes’ replied one of them and they both walked past without stopping. They obviously didn’t want to talk. Maybe that was a good thing, but in my view probably wasn’t.      

A curiosity in the array of slabs was a gravestone in ‘Sacred Memory To Richard, Husband of Mary Banister of Croston.’ What a great idea to use gravestones as slabs! It has to be better than them weathering away in a graveyard. Croston is located on the other side of the M6, south of Preston and so it was a long way from home. A lot of these slabs were taken from the floors of 19th century mills and so I guess it is from the right sort of area. I plodded on and came to a couple of boundary stones with a line engraved vertically down the middle. There was a ‘C’ on the left side and a ‘Y’ on the right; Cumbria and Yorkshire, presumably. 

I reached the summit of Nine Standards Rigg where I found a toposcope on top of a circular plinth. My attention though was really drawn to the massive cairns that I could see a couple of hundred yards away to the north. The cairns were much bigger than I was expecting. Their different shapes and designs were also a surprise. Nobody knows who built these ancient stone cairns, some up to 4 metres high. Maybe it was a farmer with too much time on his hands. Somebody must have been determined though since it's quite a slog to walk to their 650 metre high location. Folklore suggests Romans or Englishmen built them as decoys to trick invading Scots into thinking they were an army on the horizon. The only real mystery to me is why they’ve nothing to do with Robin Hood. They provided a wonderful foreground to the surrounding landscape. I could see the northern Pennines from here and also a distant Lake District to the west. The slabs continued westwards from the summit in the direction of Kirkby Stephen which I could see in the valley below. I started my descent. 

Descent

The descent was pleasant enough, initially on slabs and then on tracks. There were always the tremendous views ahead and to the north to keep my interest. Looking back, I could just see the nine cairns poking their tall heads above the summit of the hill. They didn’t look much like an army to me. Eventually I reached a roadhead and this continued downhill towards Kirby Stephen. The road passed Hartley Quarry which was discretely nestled into the hillside to the east of the town. I somehow managed to miss a sign (assuming there was one) to the turn-off for the town centre and I ended up taking a detour around Hartley Hill. I still ended up at Frank’s Bridge where the C2C path also entered the town. There was a double fingerpost there with Robin Hood’s Bay 108 miles to the east, and St Bees 82 miles to the west. The remaining miles were gradually coming down. I crossed Frank’s Bridge and entered the town. 

Kirkby Stephen

Whenever I’ve driven through Kirkby Stephen, I’d always visualised that if I ever did the C2C path, I’d make sure to have some chips and peas from the Coast To Coast fish and chip shop. I sought it out only to find it closed. In fact, according to a notice in the window, it was going to be closed for the next 3 days. I was missing my sit mat which had blown off my rucksack during the gale force winds on yesterday’s high level route to Keld. I couldn’t see any outdoor type shops, which seemed a bit unusual for a town with a popular National Trail running through it. There was a bike shop though and I went in to see if they sold sit mats. The chap behind the counter looked at me as though I was speaking Mongolian when I asked him if they had any. I gave up on the idea of buying a sit mat and went back to the quest of buying food. There was a cafe nearby with plenty of people sitting outside at tables on the pavement. I was led to a spare table by a waitress and was in the process of sitting down, when she said,  
‘I have to let you know that we’ve stopped serving food.’
My arse hadn’t even touched the seat. I heaved my rucksack back on and sighed. I looked at my watch. It was only 15:30. Kirkby Stephen didn't seem to want my business. The town did have a One Stop village store though. I went in and accumulated what I considered to be a relatively healthy meal. I tucked it away in my rucksack for later. I needed to find the campsite now. 

The Pennine View campsite was to the south of the town, next to a housing estate. It turned out to be the best campsite I stayed at on the C2C, both in terms of value and facilities. If you want to incorporate a rest day on the C2C, then the Pennine View campsite would be the ideal place to take it. The showers and toilets were great. I washed and dried my walking gear using their laundry facilities. They had a dedicated kitchen and washing area for the campers. There was also a bar and cafe where they were serving pizzas. Unfortunately, I’d already bought tonight’s meal from the One Stop shop and so didn’t partake. The camping area accumulated about a dozen C2Cers and their tents. Notably, the Terminator didn't arrive. It was now a couple of days since I'd seen him at St Giles Farm. I wondered whether he’d given up on the trail for some reason. By the time I’d finished washing my clothes and had consumed my One Stop gourmet, it was getting late and so I retired to bed. Luckily none of the other dozen campers snored, although I can’t account for myself.       

It had been an easier walk than the previous day, but it was still quite a challenge. Nine Standards Rigg was high and the tracks leading to it, boggy in places. It had been a remote and desolate part of the Dales, but impressive and with epic views despite that. Tomorrow would present a flatter walk to Shap.