The Herriot's Way 2010
Day Two: 10th April
Weather: Clear blue skies with hazy sunshine
Route: Hawes to Keld - 14 miles
Day 2 dawned bright but hazy, and was warm enough for one layer down in the valley, but two layers up on the top of Great Shunner Fell. Once we had checked out of the B&B, we had a quick nosey around the local church - nothing of architectural merit to see, and then stocked up on snacks at the local spar shop which was a poor alternative to yesterdays fare. I suppose there are plenty of shops to choose from and no doubt there are better sarnies to buy, but the Spar was convenient. The initial route took us up through the town along the road for some distance before veering off into the fields and peace away from the traffic. I was looking around at the surrounding fells and took the map out to figure out which one was Great Shunner out of the two big fells in front of me - the other one is Lunds Fell - a boggy morasse by the look of the eyelashes on the map. We had a good look back at the wide valley from the previous day, and anticipated the steady climb up Great Shunner Fell, although we wouldn't see the summit for a long time yet.
Great Shunner Fell beckons
The Curlews were whirling around the moors with their
plaintive warbling cries quite loud in the morning quiet.
They always remind me of childhood holidays on Holy Island,
Anglesey adn as such I always associate them with the
seaside not inland. We didn't see many Grouse about today,
and we saved that for day three and four. There were plenty
of signs at stiles to warn walkers to stay in single file
while crossing the meadows, which must confuse a few people
who have never witnessed the joy of the dales and only seen
the grassy fields. After starting out to the West we turned
to the North and down to Apersett Viaduct, with the view of
the fells ahead over green pasture and the ever present
field barns. There was a distinct green path to follow that
no doubt gets more worn as the year progresses, and the
meadows bloom - note to self, must return in June to witness
these. Down on the road again when we passed the viaduct and
into the small hamlet of Apersett, which has an elegant old
lime kiln with a muddy mess at it's base thanks to the local
cowherd - the farmer obviously likes to discourage walkers
from using the path through his patch, and luckily we didn't
need to. We were on the mainroad again for a short distance
and the route at this point is within 1/2 mile of Hardrow,
so if you missed it the day before you could always alter
the route out of Hawes to take in the falls. the route joins the Pennine Way
a small traffic jam - note the ginger
collies at the back
a fine cairn points the way down
We plodded on up at a reasonable rate of ascent until
reaching the good old Pennine Way, and here the traffic
increased a little. Route finding for a few was a little bit
trying and I think they wanted to follow us but we were too
slow, so they couldn't. The sheep were coming down off the
higher moors for lambing, probably the last round up. We
were engulfed for a short time in a sheep traffic jam. But
the local sheppard was very friendly and was accompanied by
two 'ginger' collies - very odd to see. Once the sheep had
passed the stoney Pennine Way stretched out ahead of us
snaking up Great Shunner Fell. Hazy sunshine restricted the
views around today, but all of the three peaks were visible
in the distance, Ingleborough by it's long flank, and the
other two by map and compass. We reached the end of the
Hearne Coal Road at Herne Top and turned off onto wet
moorland - even though it hadn't rained for a while. Over
the boggiest sections there are paved paths that have
occasionally collapsed into the boggier peat areas. A lot of
the stone flags were probably taken up from old mill towns
and some Carboniferous geology was on show in places, in
particular one bit with Lepidodendron (fossilised plant
remains) that look like motorbike tracks in the rock. These
were a localised deposit and reminded me of all the Coal
Measure geology I have seen over the years in Lancashire.
Where the peat hags thicken and the ground bogs over there
are plenty of Haslingdon flags laid down in a seemingly
never ending pavement - but the moor reclaims these by
enveloping them into the bog.
Kidson Hill to the right
The route took us up on a steady ascent to the north and
then the north west as we approached the summit shelter. The
views from here were meant to be spectacular, but today we
couldn't see that far, and to be honest with you my idea of
grand views is not really rolling, round topped summits. But
it was pleasant to finally get to the summit cross shelter,
and to be fair the views down into the typical Dales scenery
does inspire to walk further. I sat down and had some lunch
- a munch on a not so great sarnie, I filled in my daily
blog on my I-phone as I knew I wouldn't get a signal down in
Keld - but as it happens there is a comms mast as we walked
down towards Keld, so I could have posted later on. After
surviving a noisy gabble of lady hikers - you'd think
they would appreciate the scenery and pause for breath now
and again - no chance though! We moved off along a distinct
path where you can't really go wrong and made our way down
the hillside with the next stop at Thwaite. The route takes
you through a vast area of moorland, and at the moment it
didn't have much life around. Some of that may have been due
to some moorland management taking place, and beyond a fine
stone cairn on Thwaite Common the local warden was burning
off a few patches of heather. The smoke added to the haze of
the day and as we walked past the crackling grasses and
blackened heather it's hard to match this with the fact that
this regenerates the heather moors with fresh growth. We met
the fire setter, replete with paddle and quad bike, and he
complained that although the dry weather was a bonus, he'd
like some more wind to sweep the fires along a bit quicker!
I'm sure he was a pyromaniac - he should have been in the
fire service, but he really enjoyed his job.
the green old route over the top of Kidson Hill
The paved path gave way to a stoney track that runs all the
way down to the road into Thwaite - it was a lot harder on
the feet than the bouncy peat. Thwaite down in the valley
was looking ever more enticing, all the while drawing us in
with siren call of the local inn.....drink......drink. The
track wound it's way gracefully down into the village with
views of many Dales field barns on the flanks of Kidson
Hill. Ahead of us we could see the kick in the tail of
todays walk, with one final climb out of Thwaite. But I knew
we had a visit to the Kearton Hotel to visit for tea and
cake, a very welcome rest and very timely. It was quite busy
and it was nice to sit on the wall and watch the world go
by. As we set off down the road we didn't pay too much
attention to the guide and wandered down the valley a little
way following the river. But despite adding 1/2 mile to our
journey we had the bonus of seeing another delightful
packhorse bridge. We retraced our steps through the fields
and braced our legs for a final climb of the day, which was
again not too steep an ascent. It was a bit of a mixture
really, some 'ooh you bar steward' and some gentle 'oh yeh
baby' inclines - but they all had great views down the start
of Swaledale. The light at the end of the afternoon had a
lovely soft sheen illuminating the surrounding fells, and
the many barns positively glowed. We followed the Pennine
Way up Kidson Hill and over the other side of the valley we
had a sneak preview of tomorrows walk, and looked down on
Muker nestled down in the valley. I took a moment to
visualise the colour of the meadows in the summer - god
bless the set aside payments to the farmers - I'd rather see
yellow meadows for my EEC pounds than french snails. the way down to Keld that's Lovely Seat in the background
along Skeb Skeugh
Anticipation for tomorrow - looking over to Swinner Gill
Up on top of Kidson Hill after a small diversion - my guide
was too tired to navigate - spread before us was an ancient
track leading us onwards to Keld, between tunbledown
drystone walls. We crested the hill and the way took us down
towards Keld. This was another delightful valley but it had
a rubbish name - Skeb Skeugh - sounds like a bit of flem
yurgh. Keld beckoned in the sunlight and yet more field
barns dominated the landscape. There is a fantastic picture
in Butt House taken by a local photographer of the fields in
dappled sunlight - I think he's based in Reeth. We were
finishing the day in good weather (as on all 4 days), bluish
skies, evening sun, and beautiful rural scenery. As we
approached Butt House we spotted a couple in the garden who
had been drinking wine all afternoon after a short section
of the C2C. We had a good chat later on at the evening meal
in Butt House, happy to be halfway around. I was going to
walk up to the lodge to sample a beer, but didn't need to
and was too tired anyway.
