Travel Day

In August 2025 Al drove up from his home near Gloucester to stay with us overnight.

After a leisurely breakfast Jan drove us up from Home to Gargrave. We were staying in the Masons Arms just on the edge of the village in very nice rooms. We used it as our base for the next 4 days of the trek from Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hebden Bridge.

Day 14 Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Malham 15.2 miles 6h 45m

Weather: dry with sunny spells, warm out of the wind.

Jan drove us to Horton-in-Ribblesdale where we were dropped off at the entrance to the campsite where Al had parked his car last time. At 10.23am we resumed walking the Pennine Way. Within an hour we were well on our way up to the summit of Pen-y-Ghent (694m/2,277ft), reaching it at about 11.45am. There were good views at the top and quite a few other people. We just stopped long enough to take a few photos before starting down again.

We reached Dale Head Farm at 12.30pm and then made our way along a minor road towards the track up Fountains Fell. By the time we reached the top we had blue skies with white fluffy clouds, a bit of contrast to the last time I was here backpacking the Pennine Way in 1974 in thick cloud with no views at all!

By 3.15pm we were nearing Malham Tarn and joined a tarmac road past some wooden sculptures to Malham Tarn House at 3.35pm. It wasn’t looking as grand as I remembered it from previous visits but maybe this was just ‘rose tinted glasses’!

After the tarn we started down Watlowes dry valley leading to Malham Cove limestone pavement. It was a bit grey while we were on top of the cove, which was very busy, but the sun broke through again as we reached the valley floor a bit before 5pm.

We finished by meeting Jan who was walking towards the cove to meet us and walk back the last little bit. We celebrated with a pint in the Buck Inn, an old haunt from the 1970’s when all 3 of us worked for Unilever Research at the Frythe in Welwyn, Hertfordshire – we camped at the farm in Gordale Scar. Finally we ended the day with the short walk to the car park.

Overall, it was 15 miles so a reasonably long day for us with just over 3000ft/914m of ascent over the 2 hills in 7 hours.

Day 15 Malham to Thornton in Craven 11 miles 4h 43m

Weather: sunny and warm all day.

Jan drove us the few miles from Gargrave back to Malham so that we could resume our trek at 10am.

Most of the morning was spent walking across fields and alongside the river Aire then over Eshton Moor to Gargrave.

On walking into Gargrave we crossed the canal and walked into the centre of the village, crossed the busy road and the bridge over the River Aire and soon found ourselves outside the Masons Arms – the place where we were staying for 4 nights. It was 12.25pm and it seemed churlish to walk straight by so we went in for a lunchtime pint. We sat outside in the sunshine at one of their tables opposite the pub front door.

After our short break we were off round the back of the old school and up a small hill and on to East Marton and the canal again. The double arched bridge was very impressive. It wasn’t far from here to our pick up point in Thornton-in-Craven, which we reached at 2.40pm.

It was quite a short easy day being just 4h 43m, including our lunch stop in Gargrave, but we’d covered 11 miles with an average walking speed just under 3 mph, which isn’t too shabby these days.

Day 16 Thornton in Craven to Stanbury 13 miles 7h

Weather: Dull all day and cooler than yesterday so we wore windproofs all day.

Jan drove us to Thornton-in-Craven where we started walking from yesterday’s drop-off at 10.05am.

We started off down the old road but were soon onto a farm track and then climbing uphill and across to join a small country road called Clogger Lane. There was more uphill after this, but on tarmac, to a good track which took us to Pinhaw trig point at 11.15am. This was a bit under 3 miles from Thornton.

A long gradual descent over fields and moors followed until we came into Lothersdale at 11.45am. As luck would have it the Hare and Hounds pub door was open so we ventured inside. We were welcomed but the landlord wasn’t able to serve us drinks until 12pm so we made ourselves comfy and waited. There were also 2 other Pennine Wayfarers already inside, also waiting for opening time.

After a couple of pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord and a bag of crisps each we continued on our way at 1pm.

From Lothersdale we headed uphill again, over rolling countryside, then we came down into Ickornshaw at 2.10pm. It was all very quiet here with no traffic and no people around as we wandered through.

After Ickornshaw we headed up the hill to the A6068 main road, crossed it and continued uphill. Part way up I spotted a butterfly that I’ve seen a few times around where I live in Derbyshire, a Wall butterfly. With its wings open it was easy to identify but when they closed it was almost invisible on the rock it had chosen to sit on.

The farmland soon gave way to about 3 miles of moorland (mainly Ickornshaw Moor) and then we were walking past a number of shooting huts. They seemed to be well equipped with kitchen, table and seating areas inside.

Having left the moors behind we came down to a minor road, turned left along the road for a short section then mainly down footpaths to another road that leads to Stanbury village. Ahead of us was Ponden Reservoir looking in quite a sorry state as the water level was very low.

We followed the Pennine Way path along the south side of Ponden Reservoir, past some old cottages, to our arranged pick up point with Jan at the dam at about 5pm.

Overall, it was about 13 miles in 7 hours with quite a bit of ascent from several ups and downs. Our break at the pub in Lothersdale accounted for 1h 15m of the 7h, but I paused the GPS so that the time didn’t register, so we were walking for about 5h 50m.

Day 17 Stanbury to Hebden Bridge 10.9 miles 5h

Weather: dry all day, cold wind on the tops so I wore a thin windproof jacket over my warm layers for much of the day.

This was the last day of this trip in August 2025 so we packed our bags, checked out of our rooms and headed for the car park. Jan then drove Al and I to Ponden Reservoir dam near Stanbury to resume our trek southwards.

We were walking at about 10.25am over the dam and then along a farm track. After about a half mile we were onto heather covered moorland and a good track to the Withins of Wuthering Heights fame. Interesting to see footpath signs in a foreign language which we assumed to be Japanese. Top Withens was a ruined farmhouse when I passed it in 1974 and the shell of the building didn’t look much different, but it’s been restored and lost some of the character that I saw.

After another stretch of moorland we came down to Walshaw Dean Middle reservoir just after 12pm, about 5 miles from our start at Ponden dam. We passed the dam at the far end and walked along Walshaw Dean Lower Reservoir to another dam, which we crossed.

It was a bit of a maze of paths and tracks as we made our way to Gorple Cottages.

As we headed over Clough Head Hill we had views ahead to Stoodley Pike sitting on top of the ridge a long way ahead of us. Then we came down to Colden Edge Lane and the sign to May’s shop for Pennine Wayfarers to restock. We didn’t divert as we could hear the pub calling!

We continued down to join the path alongside Colden Water and crossed it by an old footbridge, which I recognised as being next to the wild camping site I used with a couple of other friends from Unilever Research in 1974.

At the top of the path from Colden Water in the garden of a cottage was a display of sculptures by Jane Revitt. Then we weaved our way along footpaths and minor roads to the top of a small but quite steep wood. There were lots of paths going in every direction so we just headed downhill on whichever path seemed the most direct. We eventually came out behind the Savile Bowling Club.

This was now just a few yards from our finish point for this part of the trek and at 3.17pm we arrived at the Stubbing Wharf pub, our pre arranged pickup point. We ordered pints at the bar and then went in search of Jan, soon finding her upstairs sitting outside near the canal towpath.

Overall, we walked 10.9 miles in about 5 hours

After our pints Jan drove us back to our home in Tunstead Milton.

Day 18 Hebden Bridge to Standedge Cutting 15.8 miles 7h 20m

Weather: light rain to start then dry but cold on the hills.

Al returned to stay with us in October 2025 to complete the last 3 days of the Pennine Way from our home between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge in the Derbyshire Peak District. We were going to do them as day-walks from my home as they were reasonably close.

On the first day we left at about 8am with Jan driving us via Glossop, Stalybridge and Uppermill to Stubbing Wharf on the edge of Hebden Bridge. It was a Monday but the roads weren’t too busy at all.

We put on full waterproofs although it seemed to be clearing a bit and a few minutes before 10am we were off. After crossing the canal we went steeply uphill on a wet slippery mainly stone path through woodland to reach a minor road. We left the road after a few hundred yards and continued along the edge of the wood soon joining the official Pennine Way route coming up from the main road between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.

By the time we reached Lower Rough Head at 10.40am we were in sunshine and had good views ahead to Stoodley Pike monument. Open moorland followed and we reached Stoodley Pike around 11.10am, took out our head torches and headed straight up the pitch black staircase to the viewing balcony that runs around the monument about 30 feet above the ground.

It was originally erected in 1815 to commemorate the surrender of Paris to the Allies after the Napoleonic Wars but the 121 foot high monument had to be rebuilt in 1854.

There were good views all round from the balcony and after taking our photos we moved off 15 minutes later.

After about 2.5 miles of open moors we came to Warland Reservoir, the first of a series of reservoirs which looked quite low after the dry spring and early summer of 2025. It was easy walking from here on Reservoir tracks all the way to the A58 main road and the White House pub, our lunch break stop at 1.25pm.

A bit before 2pm, after lunch of a pint and a bag of crisps each, we were off again over nearby Blackstone Edge. I remembered this stretch of moorland was dreadful in 1974, deep peat bogs and the clouds were down so we could only see a few yards ahead. In 2025 it was transformed, lots of grasses covering the black peat and the path was surfaced with stone slabs so we covered the ground very quickly. As we weren’t far from my home I have walked this area a few times and it’s always interesting to see the old worn packhorse road that some believe to date back to Roman times as well as a 600 year old medieval marker post. This little section ends with a pedestrian bridge over the M62 which we reached at 3.15pm.

After crossing the ever busy M62 we walked past the old radio mast before heading over White HIll and Close Moss to reach Standedge Cutting car park at 5.15pm. Jan was there in the car to pick us up and whisk us off home to Tunstead Milton.

Just the 15.8 miles in 7h 20m today over a lot of windswept moorland but mostly on good tracks so not the struggle it used to be over miles of peat bog. It was a dry day with quite a bit of sunshine, except for the first few minutes.

Day 19 Standedge Cutting to Torside Reservoir 12.9 miles 6h 11m

Weather: dull with a cold wind but dry.

Jan drove us back to Standedge Cutting car park after breakfast. It was about 24 miles and a bit under an hour. We put on rucksacks, adjusted straps, etc., Al did some very strange warm-ups in the car park and then we started walking at about 10.25am.

After a couple of miles the open moor gave way to the narrower views in Blakely Clough and a few waterfalls. This then led us down to a stream and on to Wessenden Reservoir. At the dam we picked up a good track that took us up past Wessenden Head Reservoir to the A635 road at about 12.30pm.

Next came the moors leading to Black Hill, notorious in the 1970’s for being impossible to reach the summit trig point because of the deep wet peat bog that surrounded it during and after wet spells. It’s fully tamed now, in fact the whole Pennine Way route across the moor is!

By the time we reached Upper Crowden Great Brook at 2.30pm it felt as though we were into the final straight for this penultimate day on the Pennine Way. In fact we still had another 2 hours to go to our pick up point with Jan on the other side of Torside reservoir.

In all, 12.9 miles and about 2500ft of ascent in a bit over 6 hours from Standedge cutting to the south side of Torside Reservoir, with only a few minutes break for a quick lunch.

Day 20 Torside Reservoir to Edale 15.9 miles 7h 50m

Weather: mainly dull with the odd sunny spell, light wind. Dry all day.

After breakfast we gathered our gear, jumped in the car and Jan drove us to Reaps Farm entrance the other side of Glossop, where we were picked up yesterday. It took about 25 minutes from home through Glossop. We started walking at 9.18am.

The summit of Bleaklow at 633m is a bit uninspiring – just a pile of rocks on a plateau of vegetated peat bog. The paths were much better than when I backpacked the Pennine Way in 1974 with paving slabs in most of the boggy bits. There were no problems at all.

The Wain Stones are a feature not to miss if like me you enjoy taking photos. They were immortalised in Wainwrights Pennine Way guidebook with the title ‘The Kiss’. They are just a hundred metres or so south of the summit and slightly west of the main Pennine Way track. There is a track right past them that soon joins up with the main route so hardly a diversion at all.

We crossed the A57 Snake Pass road leaving Bleaklow and heading for Kinderscout via Mill HIll. The sun briefly came out on Mill Hill and it was a bit after 1 o’clock so we stopped for a bite to eat and some water. We had covered about 8.7 miles in 3 hours so it was just over halfway for the day.

There were good views of Kinder reservoir from the edge of Kinder and the recent rainfall meant that the downfall actually had water flowing over it – it dries up during dry spells like we had through this summer.

There aren’t many features on Kinderscout to help with navigation but Kinder Low is an exception as it has one of the 3 trig points on Kinder and probably the most well known/most visited one.

On leaving Kinder Low we headed past Edale rocks and down to the pass above Jacob’s Ladder, joining the path near Edale Cross. From here we headed down Jacob’s Ladder, over the old packhorse bridge and along the minor road and then from Upper Booth Farm on footpaths over fields towards Edale.

Just after 5pm we were in Edale at the Nags Head. The end of our Pennine Way Way trek. We made ourselves comfortable in a window seat with a pint each to celebrate.

Jan soon arrived having parked the car in the big car park a half mile away, but we had another beer just to make sure it really was as good as the first one!

Overall, it was a bit under 16 miles with nearly 4000 feet of ascent in just under 8 hours.

The last day was a bit tough with lots of ups and downs over the 16 miles that we covered. I think we deserved our celebratory pints in the Nags Head in Edale at the end! After Jan joined us for the celebrations she took a few photos of Al and I at the pub. Then we walked to the car and she drove me home and Al stayed the night before driving back to his family near Gloucester.

Overall, we walked 282 miles in 20 days with mostly dry weather bordering on good weather for quite a few of the days. We mostly stayed in small hotels and pubs and were well looked after with food and drinks. Some of the rooms were small, such as at Twice Brewed, but we didn’t rough it anywhere, overall they were good. For me, the top part north of Middleton-in-Teesdale was my favourite for being a bit more remote with some of the most spectacular scenery. My favourite pub was the Tan Hill Inn north of Keld, the food was excellent and fast despite the crowds queueing out of the door at times and the Theakstons Old Peculier was in perfect condition. The Nags Head in Edale a close second.

During a normal day on the hills I would drink water before we started, about 2 litres of water containing Hi-5 Zero electrolyte tablets during each day and water when we finish. We also like to have a few beers, occasionally finding a lunchtime pub but always at the end of the day so that in total we downed 90 pints of beer over the 282 miles which equates to roughly 25 miles to the gallon.

Photography

The last 3 days I used a Fuji X-E5 40Mp digital camera and this gives far superior images than the Panasonic TZ100 24Mp compact zoom that I used for the previous 17 days, and I also much preferred using it. I mostly used it in aperture priority mode so I set the Aperture on the lens. I also set the Iso at 800, fast enough so that I didn’t have to worry about slow shutter speeds giving me unsharp pictures. In actual fact I didn’t need to worry about this at all as the camera has 7 stops of image stabilisation in the body – not something I ever found on any of my film cameras! The camera set the shutter speed and I was also using Auto-focus mode and I could move the position of the focus if needed. I’ve set the shutter button so that pressing it down halfway fixes the settings and focus so that I can recompose the picture if needed. So, overall it behaves in a very similar way to my old 35mm Nikon cameras that I was using up to the early 1990’s, but with a few extra bells and whistles.

The Panasonic TZ100 did produce some good pictures and had a super-zoom from wide-angle to 1000mm with a bit of digital jiggery pokery from the camera itself. Overall, I didn’t like to colours it produced, especially the greens which were often too bright no matter what settings I used. In the end I part-exchanged it for the Fuji camera through Wex Photo.

Some of the shots indoors and on wet days were taken on my Motorola Edge 20 which, like many mobile phones, gives decent photos as long as you don’t zoom.

Equipment

We both used our normal hill walking clothes and gear, I didn’t buy anything special except for the Harveys Pennine Way waterproof maps for the Pennine Way. I carried Harveys and OS maps covering the route for each day and a compass. I used the Harveys map to see the bigger view than on my GPS but didn’t need the OS maps at all so they stayed in my old 40 litre rucksack that I bought over 30 years ago.

We both had Satmap Active 20 GPS’s loaded with the route that I programmed into them which included all of our detours to overnight stops. It’s a shame that Satmap GPS are no longer available as I really like using them.

The post Pennine Way Part 3 Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Edale; A Photographer’s View appeared first on Dave Butcher.

I completed the Pennine Way in 16 days in 1974 so we were starting on the 50th anniversary of this! 

Last time I backpacked the whole way with 2 friends but this time I was hiking with good friend Al from Gloucester who hasn’t walked the Pennine Way before. We were also using Brigantes luggage transfer so we just needed light day sacks. We’ve used Brigantes many times before as they are very reliable. We were staying in pubs and hotels, so luxury compared to last time.

2024 is the first of 4 parts over a total of 20 days, so a bit more leisurely than last time:

2024 June: Kirk Yetholm to Alston 6 days

2025 June: Alston to Horton-in-Ribblesdale 7 days

2025 August: Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hebden Bridge 4 days

2025 October: Hebden Bridge to Edale, just a few miles from where I live, 3 days

I made a note in some places of mileages and times through each day but this was weather dependent to a certain extent. Rain stopped me doing this at times but the photos were all timed automatically in the picture data. Our usual walking pace is around 2.5 mph on hills, maybe around 3 mph on roads and 2 mph or so on steeper uphill slopes. Stops for photos and note taking are not included in these speeds.

We drove up on Monday 3rd June. Al followed my wife Jan and I in his car and dropped it off in Alston at the Alston House Hotel car park, as pre-arranged. 

We had a stroll to stretch our legs after nearly 3 hours in the car and found a cafe in the square for a tea break. My wife Jan then drove all 3 of us the last 2 hours to Kirk Yetholm where we stayed in the Border Hotel. It was about 220 miles from home in Tunstead Milton. 

The Border Hotel is usually the end of the Pennine Way for most people but for us it was going to be the start as we made our way from north to south. It’s about an 8 mile walk from home to Edale so I know the southern end quite well but haven’t walked the northern stretch since completing the Pennine Way 50 years ago. I managed to persuade Al to start in the north so that I could be in unfamiliar territory to see how much I remembered after 50 years.

Most of the days we will walk from north to south but for logistical reasons a few will be walked from the south going north. The first day is an example of this so that we are dropped off in the wilds of Cocklawfoot rather than finishing there and expecting my wife to wait until we turn up. Walking into the bar at the Border Hotel seemed a much better end to the day!

Tuesday 4th June 2024 Cocklawfoot to Kirk Yetholm

Day 1 14.6 miles 7 hours

Jan drove us to the start of today’s walk at Sourhope, near Cocklawfoot.

Jan dropped Al and I off a mile before Cocklawfoot, we crossed the bridge over the stream and walked along the road to Cocklawfoot Farm and the track up the hill.

The track was actually a major route over the ridge in days past called Clennell Street, an old trading route between Morpeth and Kelso.

It was 3.4 miles from Sourhope to reach the ridge at 11.05am and about an hour from Cocklawfoot Farm. It was noticeably windy here, we were obviously sheltered on the way up.

Then it was along a well slabbed path over the peaty landscape, so different to the miles of deep peat bog I struggled through in 1974. Kings Seat was quickly reached before heavy rain started at 11.45am.

At 12.20pm we passed the path junction for The Cheviot and continued for 10 minutes to Auchope Cairn 725m. The wind speed measured 37.5 mph on my anemometer, which is just about Gale Force. We pressed on steeply downhill to reach Auchope Refuge (also called Hen Hole Hut) at 1pm and 7.7 miles. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t the one I sheltered in 50 years ago, they seem to have replaced the old railway goods wagon with a large garden shed! The rain eased off so I took a few photos.

After a 20 minute break we continued to Schil summit at 2.15pm and 9.5 miles, just off route. It was reached by crossing a stile and climbing the summit rocks, it was dry.

At The Schil the wind had dropped to 32 mph but the windchill reduced the temperature we felt from 6°C to 0.5°C.

We had sunny spells from 3pm as we made our way down through a farm to the road to Kirk Yetholm.

We reached the Border Hotel bar at 4.45pm for a well earned pint and stayed at the Border Hotel again.

14.6 miles in 7 hours, 2910ft (890m) ascent. Max height 2457ft (750m).

Wednesday 5th June 2024 Cocklawfoot to Byrness

Day 2 17.2 miles 8 hours

Jan drove us round all the way to Cocklawfoot Farm so it was just an hour to do the 2 miles along Clennell Street to the ridge. There’s lots of room to park cars and turn around before the bridge near the farm entrance. We started at 9.25am.

It was bright, sunny and a bit breezy but we soon warmed up as we climbed the hill track to the ridge.

The ridge going south was similarly well slabbed like yesterday to the north so we covered the ground quite quickly. We reached Windy Gyle at 11am 3.5 miles in the rain and wind. We didn’t stop long! The sun briefly came  out soon after.

Mozie Law 552m was reached at 12pm 5.5 miles. The rain had stopped but it was still windy.

Lamb Hill was just a few minutes further on at 7.2 miles from Cocklawfoot, and the sun came out!

Another 10 minutes and half a mile saw us at Yearning Saddle Lamb Hill Refuge. We sat outside having a 15 minute break for a chat with other Pennine Wayfarers who were heading north. The refuge was a similar large garden shed type design, similar to the Auchope Refuge closer to Kirk Yetholm.

At 3pm 11.5 miles we reached Chew Green Roman Fort. We wandered around here to try and gauge the size of it – it’s huge and photographs don’t seem to do it justice. The defensive ditches around the outside are still quite deep in places too.

The route follows the edge of a military firing range and red flags were flying so we pressed on.

We followed the tops, like a high plateau, before descending steeply from Byrness Hill through freshly cleared forestry to Byrness.

Just before reaching civilisation Al decided to head butt a tree after tripping over a rock on the path. Luckily the tree was unharmed. It was difficult to tell if Al was affected as he still kept coming out with his usual gibberish! I was sure he’d be fine after a pint or so and this proved to be the case.

We arrived at Forest View Inn at 5.30pm, our abode for the night. I tried to stay here in 1974 when it was a YHA hostel. I was backpacking with good friend Chris but the YHA was closed and in quarantine because someone had an illness that the local GP couldn’t identify and thought it could be something serious. We camped on the campsite down the road instead.

Forest View was a very friendly place full of other Pennine Wayfarers from far and wide. There were 14 people walking north but only Al and I were walking south.

Dinner was Spanish Chicken with Chorizo Sausage and beers from the First and Last Brewery in Bellingham. 

During the evening I received a message from Jan to say our accommodation for tomorrow night at the Cheviot Hotel in Bellingham wasn’t available. Our booking was lost during the change in ownership! 

Fortunately, Jan managed to book us into the Riverdale Hall Hotel on the edge of Bellingham instead. 

17.2 miles in 8 hours, 2.7mph average moving speed, 2752 ft (840m) ascent.

Thursday 6th June 2024 Byrness to Bellingham

Day 3 16.6 miles 7.8 hours

The only downside of Byrness Forest View was that our room was too small for me to do my normal morning stretches for my bad back. Luckily I managed to find a small bit of floor to do a few to get me going.

We had a good cooked breakfast, had our photographs taken outside for posterity by Oli (he photographs most people that stay with them and posts the pics on Facebook), and left at 9.15am. It was sunny with a cold breeze.

It was easy walking on good tracks to start while I warmed up so I was fine.

We walked along forestry roads for quite a way. There were lots of huge log stacks beside the tracks.

Eventually, at 11.20am we turned off the forestry tracks onto footpaths through forest to open country.

There were quite a few birds in the area around Black Hill and Brownrigg Head including Stonechats and Sky Larks.

We stopped for our lunch break by a stream at 2pm. By this stage we had seen 20 people walking north.

At 3.45pm we walked into Bellingham and spotted an A-board near the old station  directing us to the First and Last Brewery. We didn’t want to appear churlish so we immediately diverted and as luck would have it their tap room, adjacent to the brewery, was open. I can highly recommend the Eclipse Milk Stout.

From the brewery it was just 15 minutes to walk the ¾ mile to the Riverdale Hall Hotel.

We checked into the hotel at 5.30pm and were in room 2, a huge twin room, with French doors leading out to a balcony overlooking the hotel cricket ground. This was definitely the best room of the trip but it was also the most expensive.

Coincidentally, the hotel also sold First and Last Brewery beers, even though when we asked the staff at the tap room they said the hotel didn’t sell it. 

16.6 miles, about 6¾ hours excluding brewery diversion.

Friday 7th June 2024 Bellingham to Once Brewed

Day 4 15.7 miles 7.2 hours

Breakfast was good, lots of it and fast service so we were away by 9am. It was sunshine and showers from the start so we put on full waterproofs before venturing outside.

At 11am and 4.8 miles we stopped at Low Stead for a bite to eat. I just had a chocolate bar. There was a conveniently placed chair at the side of the track so we had a sit down for a short break too.

At 1.10pm we stopped for lunch in a sheep byre on Haughton Common between Currick and Hawk Side. This was quite a memorable place for me because this was where I wild camped while backpacking the Pennine Way in 1974.

We reached Hadrian’s Wall at 2.55pm, just west of Housesteads Roman Fort and Cuddy’s Crags.

At 3.40pm we walked down to what should have been Sycamore Gap but it looked a bit sad without the tree. A mindless act of vandalism cut the 150 year old tree down on 23rd September 2023.

This is what it used to look like. I took this in July 2006 on the way back from taking landscape photographs along the Northumberland coast for my portfolio.

At 4.10pm we walked into Twice Brewed Inn where we had a room booked. We went straight to the bar before checking in. The Twice Brewed Steel Rigg Porter was very good.

We stayed in room 2 (same number as the hotel in Bellingham last night) but this one was a tiny twin room at the Twice Brewed Inn just south of Hadrian’s Wall. It was so small that Al could just reach over from his bed to hit me every time I snored. It was probably the smallest room for 2 people I’ve stayed in for a long time. Unfortunately, they have a captive audience as, apart from the hostel next door, there’s no alternative in the area if you’re walking.

15.7 miles in 7¼ hours, 1400ft (425m) of ascent with 2.7 mph average moving speed.

Saturday 8th June 2024 Once Brewed to Greenhead

Day 5 7.8 miles 3.8 hours

I had to do my morning back exercises and stretches on the bed as there wasn’t any spare floor space. However, the breakfast was good being both a cooked breakfast and buffet.

At 9.15am we left the hotel and in 10 minutes had retraced our steps back to Hadrian’s Wall. 

Just after this, at Steel Rigg, there was a country showground which looked like it was about to open to the public. We didn’t stop.

A bit later we reached the road at Caw Gap. The wall climbed away quite steeply on both sides of the road.

Shortly after leaving Milecastle 42 the path descended to a track to Cawfields Quarry, now flooded and used as a recreation area and car park.

There was no information or active archaeology going on that we could see at Great Chesters Fort. The site was very large but obviously part of a working farm. There were very few areas visible above the greenery, just the odd bit of stone wall here and there. The outline of the fort was very clear though.

We reached the Greenhead Hotel soon after Thirlwall Castle ruins. It was just a half mile detour from the main route.

I had a Blackhall English Stout, another very nice beer. 

When I backpacked the Pennine Way in 1974 I tried to stay here with my 2 friends. We were soaked through and just wanted somewhere to dry off. The receptionist was just finding us a room when the hotel manager came along. He asked what was going on, the receptionist told him, and he instantly said they didn’t have a room. He left us in no doubt that he didn’t like the bedraggled look of us. Unfortunately, that also meant that we had to walk another 2 miles to Gilsland to find a bed and breakfast to stay, making it a 21.5 mile day.

Luckily, times have changed and Al and I weren’t bedraggled so they let us in. 

We stayed at the Greenhead Hotel in a very comfortable room to the rear of the hotel. The restaurant was busy in the evening but they managed to fit us in and we had a tasty meal.

7.8 miles in 3¾h with 630ft (195m) ascent at 2.6mph average moving speed. 

Sunday 9th June 2024 Greenhead to Alston

Day 6 17.5 miles 8 hours

The cooked breakfast was good and set me up for the day. Then we packed our bags and Al took them down to reception ready for Brigantes to pick them up and take them to Alston. 

We left the hotel at 8.50am in the sunshine, but it was chilly. It stayed dry all day.

At 11.20am we stopped for a short break at a ruined barn after Hartley Burn. It was cold, dry and windy.

We soon crossed the A689 and were walking over moorland with few good features to pick out.

We could see a path through the vegetation beside the road up to the old railway track above and at 1.25pm we were on top of the Burnstones viaduct near Knarsdale Hall. Al went down to the road below to find out from a passerby where the nearest pub was. With her directions we diverted to the Kirkstyle Inn just up the road. It was marked on the map but we didn’t know if it opened at lunchtime. It was just a few hundred yards off route so we were soon there.

By 1.35pm we were sitting down in the Kirkstyle Inn for a mostly liquid lunch of Corby Ale and a bag of crisps.

The break didn’t last long as we were on our way at 1.55pm in the sunshine heading back to Burnstones Viaduct to pick up the trail again.

Al had painful feet from blisters on blisters, a common occurrence for him on our long treks. The path from Slaggyford officially crosses several fields to reach Alston but there’s a footpath beside the railway tracks all the way to Alston. This was much easier underfoot such that Al limped into Alston station at 4.25pm.

We headed into the main town square and went to the Turks Head for a pint of Black Sheep bitter. Beer is a well known remedy for sore feet and the good thing is you don’t have to rub it in, you just swallow it!

We left the pub and arrived at the Alston House Hotel at 4.50pm. Al had left his car in their car park on Monday – and it was still there!

17.5 miles in 8 hours with 1900 feet ascent 2.7mph average moving speed.

Monday 10th June 2024 Travel Home from Alston

We had a family room with 3 single beds so there was lots of room for the 2 of us. Al had 2 beds – one to sleep in and one to put his bag on. I only needed one, my bag was on the luggage stand! Having a bad back it really helps when I don’t have my bag on the floor.

After a good cooked breakfast we packed up and loaded our bags into Al’s car which was still parked in the hotel car park. Al then drove us back to Tunstead Milton to drop me off. After a bit of a break Al drove back to Gloucester.

Summary

In total we walked 89.4 miles in 6 days from Kirk Yetholm to Alston, including pub and brewery diversions. 

In 2025 we return to the Alston House Hotel to start the next leg of the walk to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Equipment

Camera

Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ100, a good travel camera as long as you can keep it dry. Al once poured his pint over a previous one and it couldn’t be repaired so I had to replace it. Quite why he wasted perfectly good beer doing that I’ll never know.

On wet days I used my Motorola Edge 20 mobile phone in an Aquapac waterproof case to take a few pictures. All the mobile phones I’ve had take acceptable pictures until you try and zoom in to the subject – then they’re rubbish! That’s why I use the little compact camera rather than just relying on the phone. Being a professional photographer makes me more critical of picture quality than most people I guess?

There are over 150 images in this blog post and every one of them has been edited in Photoshop. They were all cropped, often just top and bottom to remove parts of the image that were distracting or didn’t add anything to the scene. I also set the black and white points and then often adjusted the brightness and contrast. That was pretty much the extent of the picture editing. The colour balance has not been touched and everything that you see was on the original file so they are effectively the views that I saw, nothing has been added. So if you go to the same place these are views that you will see, the lighting and weather may be different but the view will be very similar if not the same.

Maps, Etc

Satmap Active 20 with Ordnance Survey 25k and 50k detailed maps. I programmed the route and uploaded it onto the GPS so route finding was very easy. I used it exclusively in the OS 25k map view for the extra detail of field boundaries and similar helpful features. 50 years ago I had to carry all 10 of the OS 1 inch to 1 mile maps (63.36k) for the entire route in my rucksack. It’s so much easier these days with GPS and luggage transfer so I only carry maps for 1 day!

Harveys Pennine Way North 40k waterproof map. I used this daily to see a larger view than that shown on the GPS screen to pick out the names of the neighbouring hills, etc.

Ordnance Survey 25k maps covering the daily route, just in case we wanted to divert off the narrow area shown on the Harveys map or something happened to the Satmap GPS. I didn’t use these at all but I still always carried them – you never know when you might need them.

Cicerone Guide ‘The Pennine Way’ and OS 1:25k map booklet. The guidebook wasn’t carried but was referred to each evening ready for the next day. 50 years ago we all carried a copy of the Wainwright ‘Pennine Way Companion’ guidebook – the one that pretty much everyone used at that time. I bought mine in 1973 which was 5 years after it was first published and it had already been reprinted 18 times! It was essential as the OS maps didn’t clearly show the route of the Pennine Way. In places the OS maps didn’t show the route at all! The main advantage of the Wainwright guide over the Cicerone guide was that every mile was marked on the hand-drawn maps in the guidebook – this was really helpful, as well as the detailed sketches of features to look out for.

The Cicerone map booklet was used every day to see the way ahead and around us, except when it was raining! The GPS screen is quite small (3×2 inches/7.5x5cm) so having a map for the wider view is useful.

I always carry a compass or two but I didn’t need to use either. It’s very different now with GPS technology compared to 20 years ago. For example, when I did the Munro’s from 1984 to 1996 I had to carry a map and compass in my hand all the time and refer to them almost continuously in bad weather or on untracked mountainside. Now I just glance at the GPS hanging from my rucksack strap which clearly shows the planned route superimposed on an OS 25k map and my exact position. The GPS is also completely weatherproof and has an excellent battery life of well over 20 hours.

Anemometer 

Kestrel 2000 pocket anemometer. It gives wind speed, temperature and wind chill. Always useful to carry if expecting windy or very cold weather. 

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