Captain's Log

Cauldron Snout

I saw a grey morning as I poked my head out of the tent. Rain was in the air. I put my waterproofs on in the tent in preparation for what looked like a damp morning. I’d camped at a secluded area below the waterfall, Cauldron Snout. The pitch was fairly well protected by the surrounding hills. A few years ago, I’d wildcamped here during a named storm and survived. On that occasion, the river  had turned into a torrent and I’d found a couple of dead lambs washed up on the riverbank. The water looked pretty tame today though. 

Today’s walk was a flattish one and at 11 miles, relatively short compared to the previous two days. I’d simply follow the River Tees) downstream to the town of Middleton-in-Teesdale. I’d booked into the Teesdale Hotel for tonight and so I was looking forward to a bit of R&R. The highlights of today’s walk would be High Force and Low Force, waterfalls that are always worth seeing, no matter how much water tumbles over them. I had breakfast, packed my gear up and set off alongside the riverbank.

Rocky Start

To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the first hour of today's walk. The scenery was certainly pretty enough. It was the trail itself that was the problem. It followed a space between the crags on my left and the river to my right. Over the years, rocks had fallen from the crags and nestled on the riverside. This meant that the Pennine Way was less of a defined path and more of a scramble over boulders. This would be fine on a dry day when your carrying a light rucksack, but rather more difficult on a wet day whilst hauling all your worldly belongings on your shoulders. Yesterday, I met a NoBo couple at High Cup Nick who said they’d met a walker on this stretch heading south.
‘He was bleeding from the mouth and had a bruised cheek,’ said the man. 'He’d obviously taken a tumble on the rocks.'
As always, when I’m presented with these types of difficulties, my strategy is to take it slow and steady. I made sure that each foot placement was as secure as it could be. The method wasn’t infallible, but it mitigated any major slips and stumbles. I gave a sigh of relief when I reached the end of the boulder section. The rest of the day would be a stroll. 

Source Of The Tees

The valley opened up and the Pennine Way drifted away from the river. There then ensued a series of field-hops. In the past,  I’ve found it easy to go astray on this particular stretch; the signage isn’t particularly good. I didn’t have a problem today though; maybe I was just lucky or possibly the trail was now ingrained in my memory. The route met up with Harwood Beck and then followed it downstream until it met up with the River Tees again. Google reckons the source of the River Tees is at Tees Head which is located near the col between Cross Fell and Little Dun Fell, a stone's throw from where I’d walked yesterday. The stream from there runs eastwards across the moors and is labelled as the River Tees on the OS map. It then flows into Cow Green Reservoir. Presumably the water flowing from the reservoir down Cauldron Snout was the River Tees too and was also the river I’d been following this morning. Earlier this year, I’d walked along the River Tees from its mouth to Stockport (see the Mini-Venture, Tyne Tees Taster). It was hard to believe that this sparkling turbulent water turned into the sluggish, brown river near Stockport and Middlesbrough. Maybe one day I would follow the River Tees from its mouth to its source. Interestingly, the official Teesdale Way long distance footpath doesn’t actually follow the River Tees to its source; instead it follows the Pennine Way from Cauldron Snout to Dufton. 

High And Low Force

The day was still grey, but the immediate threat of rain looked unlikely. I took my waterproofs off. Half a mile or so upstream of High Force I came across the eyesore of Middleton Quarry on the other side of the riverbank. A sign warned me that I should ‘stay clear’ if I heard a continuous siren. As you may find with signs in the country, somebody had used it as target practice with a shotgun. Kids with their guns. It was all quiet today though and I swiftly walked the distance between this sign and an accompanying one further downstream.   

I finally came to High Force. I felt a little dizzy as I watched the water tumble down its 21 metre precipice. It looked very impressive, although a better view of the natural wonder can be found at a viewpoint a few hundred metres downstream. At that point, I was able to look upstream and get a better impression of the drop of the river. I was last here a couple of years ago (see the Captain’s Log, Tees' Waterfalls Walk) and somebody had cut some of the vegetation down since then, enabling a clearer view of the waterfall.  

It was a lovely walk, following the river downstream. Occasionally, I’d meet a day walker coming the other way, but it wasn’t particularly busy. There were more rapids and cascades that finally culminated in Low Force. These waterfalls didn’t have the same drop as High Force, but they were dramatic, all the same. It was getting to that time of day and my stomach was complaining about its lack of calories. I decided to pay a visit to the Bowlees Visitors Centre’s café. It was only a 10 minute out-and-back walk from the Pennine Way.

Bowlees Visitors Centre

Probably the reason I’d not seen many walkers near the waterfalls was because they were all in the cafe filling their gullets with goodies. I ordered a cheese and tomato toastie, cheese scone and a coffee. I soon managed to shovel it all down and I pondered whether I should order another coffee and cake. The cafe had been built out of an old chapel and they’d used some of the old pews as seating for the tables. I was sharing a pulpit with a fellow who had been tapping away at a laptop at a neighbouring table. I was quite astonished to hear him fart. It was definitely audible to me, but probably notto  the rest of the good patrons of the establishment. What really gave it away was that I felt the considerable vibrations from the air turbulence along the bench of the pew. I looked across at him with what I hoped was a face of astonishment, annoyance and disapproval. He didn’t bat an eyelid. He closed his laptop, gathered his things and started to make his way out of the cafe, leaving me to deal with the ownership of any offensive aromas he left behind. Another cake and coffee was out of the question. I packed up my things, hauled my rucksack onto my back and made a quick departure. Not too quick that it would have drawn suspicion though. 

Field-hop To Middleton

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with a lovely 3 mile field-hop along the river to Middleton-in-Teesdale. Initially, the footpath followed the riverbank, but when the river decided to meander a bit more aggressively it drifted away into fields. The last time I’d walked through these fields they'd contained a colourful array of hay meadow flowers. It was still too early for them though and so I had to make do with the views of the river and the hills along the valley. Gradually buildings on the outskirts of Middleton-in-Teesdale came into view and eventually I reached the B6277 and the bridge over the River Tees to the town itself. 

Middleton-in-Teesdale

I was too early to check-in at the hotel and so I explored the town in search of food. I ended up at Kaylee’s Cafe & Bakery. A sign outside said that ‘Fat People Aren’t Kidnapped.’ There was no citation as to which scientific study supported this hypothesis, but I decided to give the establishment a try anyway. It was like walking into a sauna as I entered the cafe. My glasses instantly steamed up. Presumably one of the servers behind the counter, maybe even Kaylee herself, gave me a napkin to wipe my glasses. The glasses started to steam up again as soon as I put them back on. I managed to decipher the lettering on a chalkboard and ordered a coffee, together with a chocolate brownie and chocolate custard. I paid and made a dash for the exit to sit at one of the patio tables outside. The chocolate brownie did come with chocolate sauce. It was also accompanied with a thin wafer of chocolate too. In order to make the customer feel a little healthier, the dish was garnished with a slice of strawberry. Even for my sweet tooth, it found it all a bit too sweet for my taste. Having said that, I guzzled it all down.    

I checked in at the Middleton-in-Teesdale hotel. My £58 single room was pretty much as I’d expected it. It was clean enough, had a bed, some complementary coffee/tea and biscuits and also had an ensuite bathroom. The bathroom suite and theme may have been an unusual dark chocolate brown, but the shower had hot water and felt good since my last dousing with water at Bellingham, five days ago.