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.

Travel Day + Garrigill to Alston 4.5 miles 2h 10m

Jan drove us up from Home to Horton-in-Ribblesdale where we had arranged to meet good friend Al to resume the Pennine Way. He had parked his car in the Holme Farm campsite car park and booked it in for 7 days so that he could collect it after we return to Horton. 

At 12.15pm Jan was driving the 3 of us to Garrigill so that we could walk the short section to Alston where we finished last year. We had planned to do this at the end of last year’s trip and taxi back to Alston but Al had painful blisters on his feet so we moved it to the start of this trip.

It was just a couple of hours drive from Horton so at 2.30pm Al and I were walking from Garrigill via the alternative route because the bridge over the river was still closed about halfway to Alston. After a 4.5 mile stroll we arrived in the car park of our hotel, the Alston House, at 4.40pm. It’s actually about a 1.5 hour easy walk from Garrigill to Alston House but we ambled along and Al chatted to a couple that we met about beekeeping, once he get’s started on this it’s difficult to drag him away!

It was a bit early to stop so we continued to the Turks Head pub for a pint or two of Theakstons Bitter in the town square, which was another 10 minutes.

Day 7 Garrigill to Dufton 15.7 miles 6h 40m

Weather: sunny with blue sky as we started but it quickly clouded over and became cooler. Early afternoon the clouds came down on the tops but by this stage we were already beyond Cross Fell. It was brighter at the end of the day as we walked down Knock Fell out of the clouds and into Dufton.

After a good cooked breakfast at the hotel Jan drove us back to Garrigill and at 9.35am we were on our way up Cross Fell en route to Dufton on a tarmac road which led to a good wide track over the moors towards Cross Fell.

In just under an hour we started seeing several Golden Plovers close to the track with shooting butts and small reservoirs close by.

The good track continued all the way to Gregs Hut which was 6 miles and 2h 25m from our start in Garrigill. This is a mountain bothy with a communal area and a separate room with a good sized sleeping platform. We stopped here for a 15 minute snack break.

At 12.15pm we left the hut and just headed straight up towards the summit plateau as the obvious track was taking us a longer way round. It was just rough grass and heather, a bit lumpy in places, not too steep but pretty straightforward. The summit of Cross Fell was reached at 12.55pm. There’s a huge wind shelter and a trig point a short distance further on. It was dull and breezy but clear so we did have a few views, unlike the last time I did the Pennine Way in 1974.

From Cross Fell, the highest point on the entire Pennine Way, we headed along the good path down and then up to Little Dun Fell. The clouds were closing in now so views were disappearing on high ground ahead but we had views from the dips in the ridge. Cross Fell behind us still looked clear. By the time we reached Great Dun Fell at 1.40pm the clouds were right down and visibility was very limited so we followed the GPS. The radar station, with domes and masts, on Great Dun Fell looked quite menacing in the mist!

I also carried maps and a compass but we never needed them for navigation, just for identifying the bigger views beyond the small screen of the GPS.

Next, at 2.24pm, came Knock Old Man cairn and then it was down and out of the clouds to a substantial footbridge over a stream at 3.10pm.

From here the good tracks continued through fields between shapely looking low hills to reach the day’s end at the Stag Inn in the centre of Dufton at 4.15pm.

Jan was there in the car to meet us and we all went in the pub for a drink.

It was quite busy with the end of the Sunday lunch crowd still there. We found somewhere to sit and I had 2 pints of Jolly Colliers Stout from the Jolly Boys Brewery. It was jolly tasty and went down very well after a jolly long first day!

Day 8 Dufton to Langdon Beck 13.5 miles 6h 15m

Weather: It was a nice sunny day but very windy as we went higher with gusts of around 40mph on my wind speed meter.

After a good breakfast in the Alston House Hotel Jan drove Al and I round to Dufton and started walking at 10.15am along the road and then good tracks up the hillside. Jan drove home from here.

At 11.45am we had the first good views towards High Cup Nick from the rim. From here it took us about 30 minutes to reach the Nick, which is the very best viewpoint. It was a clear day so we had a spectacular view along the length of the narrow valley from our lunch break right in the middle of the Nick. I took quite a few photos so have a look at these to see what I mean. Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying my medium format film camera with me or I would have some spectacular black and white landscapes.

After about 15 minutes we headed off across High Cup Plain reaching the bridge over Maize Beck at 1.20pm. This was quickly followed by a sign telling us it was a military firing range on our right-hand side.

The lenticular clouds were spectacular for quite a while as we walked over the moors here (often a sign of bad weather to come).

We were soon on the track to Blake Dale Farm, through the farmyard and out to the bridge below Cow Green Reservoir dam at 2.40pm.

The next bit was dreadful, there was no path so we had to clamber down steep slopes covered in thick high heather and steep rocky sections. The thunderous water of Cauldron Snout was on our right the whole time, a very impressive sight, especially from the bottom.

From here there’s a track over jumbled rocks alongside the River Tees.

We reached Widdybank Farm at 3.50pm where we left the route and followed the farm track to the road as we were heading for the Langdon Beck Hotel for the night, which we reached at 4.30pm, a very friendly welcoming place with several real ales on hand pumps.

It was a tiring day with 3264 feet of ascent and 13.5 miles. Fortunately, the Hazelnut Latte Stout soon revived me! 

Day 9 Langdon Beck to Middleton-in-Teesdale 9.2 miles 4h 55m

Weather: It was a cool wet day so we had full waterproofs on all day.

We left the hotel just after 9.15am and headed along a road back the way we came in yesterday until a farm track to Intake Farm, on the edge of the village, took us over Harwood Beck. Then we immediately joined a path along the river to Sayer Hill Farm where we rejoined the Pennine Way after our brief excursion to Langdon Beck.

After crossing over Saur Hill Bridge we continued following the Beck to the River Tees. We stopped to watch the Common Sandpipers for a few minutes before reaching the river. 

We crossed the river again by another bridge and followed the route up the hill behind Cronkley Farm and down Bracken Rigg to a riverside path. Soon after this was a large quarry on the opposite bank, a little incongruous in such beautiful surroundings.

The river started to make a lot more noise telling us we were nearing High Force. It was just here that we started seeing the first runners doing the Montane Spine Race along the whole length of the Pennine Way. Apparently some of the runners continued racing through last night so they were already heading down into Dufton and beyond, these runners that we passed were the chasing pack. In total we only saw 10 runners today even though many more started in Edale 2 or 3 days ago.

We reached the top of High Force at 11.20am, it was in full flow as you can see from the full frontal photo. I think it makes a better shot from this side of the river and it’s a free viewpoint whereas from the hotel side they charge a fee to see it.

The path just follows the river, past some smaller falls called Low Force and the Wynch Bridge (a suspension footbridge giving access from the Bowlees car park), all the way to Middleton-in-Teesdale.

We had a short lunch break sitting on one of the stone stiles in the rain at 12.20pm, just after Wynch Bridge. We also chatted to one of the Spine Race marshalls for several minutes just on the edge of Middleton.

Finally, we arrived at the Teesdale Hotel at 2.10pm and were staying in single rooms for a quieter night for both of us! First though, we quenched our thirst with a pint or two of Black Sheep Bitter. We ate in the hotel in the evening too and everything for the whole stay was excellent. This was probably the best hotel on this leg with the Langdon Beck and Keld Lodge a close joint second.

Overall, it was a short day, or half-day to be correct, of just 9.2 miles with only 456 feet of ascent. There was lots to see along the river so we enjoyed ambling along rather than, on longer days, picking up the pace because we have many miles to cover.

Day 10 Middleton-in-Teesdale to Bowes 13.1 miles 6h 27m

Weather: It was dry but dull to start with and a bit cool so I had 3 layers on, then we had blue sky from a bit after 10am. 

After a full cooked breakfast at 8am we started walking at 9.38am and retraced our route back over the bridge but continued straight up the road ahead to a T-junction. Here we followed a footpath straight up the hill ahead. As we climbed higher the view back to Middleton was getting better as you could see more of the buildings. It was dull but the clouds were thinning quickly.

The route crossed several green fields on a good track leading to Wythes Hill Farm at 11am. There was a family of 3 partridges on and beside the track as we walked down to the road.

On crossing the road we were soon at Grassholme Reservoir where there were lots of people waist deep in the water fly fishing.

This is marked as a nature reserve and we watched several Grey Lag Geese for a few minutes. Shortly after this I met one of the Spine race runners. He was from Sheffield, so not that far from where I live. He was near the back of the field but determined to finish even if he missed the timed cut-off for the next checkpoint. I hope he made it!

Within another hour we were at Blackton and Balderhead Reservoirs.

It was also the home of Hannah Hauxwell. She became a bit of a TV celebrity for the basic farming life she had led for many years in her cottage without any modern facilities.

I photographed the information board which describes her life and photographed her main meadow which was a mass of wild flowers as she didn’t use any modern fertilisers or chemicals on the land.

More moorland and minor roads took us past an old military area with several warning signs about unexploded munitions and dangerous chemical waste. Not what you expect on wild moorland.

After this we were soon in Bowes and at 3.50pm we were looking around and photographing the castle ruins.

Our hostelry for the night was the Ancient Unicorn which was just a few minutes from the castle. Our room was in the old stable block in the courtyard. It didn’t feel very welcoming and we weren’t impressed with the food or beer so it’s not one that we will be revisiting.

Day 11 Bowes to Keld 13.6 miles 6h 50m

Weather: sunny and dry all day.

We left the Ancient Unicorn at 9.20am, revisited the castle as the path goes right by it and pressed on across the moors to the south.

At 10.37am we came to a Pennine Way fingerpost where the Bowes diversion rejoins the main Pennine Way route.

By 11am we reached Sleightholme Farm and a barrier across the road to stop vehicles going any further. Just beyond this was an old triangle warning road sign so this was a public road to Tan Hill Inn in the past.

We opted to stay on the old road and avoid the moorland path over peat bog as it would be easier on my bad back and Al’s feet.

We arrived at the Tan Hill Inn at 12.45pm and it was surprisingly busy outside for mid-week in June. Fortunately, that meant there was plenty of room for us indoors and we chose a table near the bar. We had a bite to eat and a couple of excellent pints of Theakstons Old Peculier.

We left the pub at about 2pm and headed south over the high moors towards Keld which we reached at about 4pm.

It was then just a short walk uphill to the top road and Keld Lodge Hotel, our hostelry for the night. 

There were a couple of good real ales and the food was also very good. We had single rooms here which meant that we both had a good night’s sleep.

Day 12 Keld to Hawes 13.2 miles 7h 20m

Weather: Another sunny day but with a cool breeze

The Keld Lodge was one of the best places that we stayed on the whole route, we enjoyed it here and there was good food and good real ales.

We were on our way before 9am, heading downhill back to the main Pennine Way route. This follows a good footpath high above the River Swale.

There were good views across to Great Shunner Fell, our main peak of the day, before we descended to the small village of Thwaite.

From Thwaite it took us about 2 hours to reach the top of Great Shunner Fell in sunshine after about 430m of gentle ascent on good paths.

We stopped for a bite to eat at the top and chatted with 3 other people already there. They moved off before us.

The paths on the way down to Hardraw were in equally good condition and we reached Hardraw village in just under 2 hours from the top.

We stopped at the Green Dragon pub for a couple of pints of Theakstons Old Peculier and a bit of a break.

From Hardraw it was just over a few fields to Hawes and the Board Inn where we were staying in a twin room. We ate at the Fountain Inn just a few doors down, it was buzzing as they had the rugby on the TV which Al was keen to watch. The food and beer were both good here.

Day 13 Hawes to Horton-in-Ribblesdale 14.1 miles 5h 45m

Weather: Sunny spells with a cool breeze on the tops with light rain showers from 12.30pm.

We left the hotel a bit after 9am and headed for the Pennine Way path beside the church. Unfortunately, it was closed so we went through the churchyard instead, which brought us onto the closed path just beyond the closure.

From there a good footpath led us around the outskirts of Hawes and neighbouring Gayle to open country. Looking ahead to the dry stone walls it looked like they had been built by someone after a session in the pub! We’re used to seeing walls built in straight lines but these weaved left and right over the hillside ahead.

We were quickly climbing up the hillside on good paths to join a cart track around 10.30am.

An hour later we reached Cam High Road. This is an old Roman road. A walker with a sun brolly went past us heading north, that’s something you don’t see every day in the Yorkshire Dales! It must have come in handy later when we had heavy rain.

Just after midday we stopped for a bite to eat just at the junction of Cam High Road with the track to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. We had views to Ingleborough and the Ribblehead viaduct. It was spitting with rain by the time we finished so we put on waterproofs for the next section.

The track passed several well known caving potholes such as Calf Holes and Sell Gill before heading down into the busy village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale. There were lots of walkers doing the 3 peaks challenge as you often see here now, not just in the summer.

We finished this leg of the Pennine Way at 3pm in the Golden Lion bar. We had been unable to book any accommodation in Horton so Al collected his car from the campsite car park, after checking in the office that there was nothing extra to pay as it was there for half a day extra to what he had booked. All was fine.

Al drove us the few miles to the village of Clapham where we were staying in the New Inn.

The New Inn looks like a traditional old village inn from outside but it was very modern and clean inside, including the bar, restaurant and rooms. Lots of people were sitting outside until an electrical storm rolled in and drove everyone except a dedicated smoker indoors. Staff had to go outside and drag the errant smoker inside as lightning was flashing every few seconds and he was standing under a garden umbrella beside a tree – not the best tactic to use!

Camera

I used a Panasonic TZ100 compact zoom and my Motorola mobile phone.

The Panasonic camera was used for most of the shots outdoors when it wasn’t raining. In the rain I used my mobile phone in a waterproof case with a clear panel for the lens to shoot through. Indoors I used the phone camera.

I must admit I didn’t like using the Panasonic as it didn’t always do what I thought it should. It seemed to have a mind of its own, and the colours, especially greens, were rather more vibrant than I would have liked! So much so that, this trip was in June and in September I part-exchanged it for a decent digital camera that I could set up exactly as I wanted it – a Fuji X-E5 with a 22mm wide angle lens, not a zoom, and it’s still small enough to go in my jacket pocket.

As far as editing the photos goes, I cropped most images to reduce unwanted sky and foreground and adjusted the brightness and contrast a small amount using the Curves function in Photoshop. Apart from that everything is exactly as I saw it.

Equipment

Satmap Active 20 GPS with the pre-programmed route that I created.

Outside 40 litre rucksack, made by POD of Sheffield in the 1990’s so very well made and weighing just 1kg. It’s very slim too with no side pockets to get caught on shrubs or stiles on narrow paths and compression straps to reduce the size further. I bought it to use for ski mountaineering where every gram saved is a huge bonus but it’s great for treks too. On this trek I was carrying about 8kg including 2 litres of water each day.

Meindl Dovre Extreme GTX boots. I have a problem with Achilles Tendonitis with short boots but these are 10 inches high and don’t aggravate my Achilles at all.

Mountain Equipment Drilite Alpine Gaiters on dry days – mainly to keep my trousers below the knee dry and mud-free as I don’t have any spare walking trousers!

Rab Gore Tex jacket

Sprayway Gore Tex Paclite waterproof trousers

Rab Zawn Hoody thin thermal jacket – worn most days

Patagonia Nano Puff gilet – worn a lot as it’s warm and windproof

Mountain Equipment Ibex trousers – my ‘go to’ walking trousers for all but winter and hot weather, which is most of the time in the UK!

Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody jacket as my emergency jacket, it’s very warm but light. Mostly it stayed in the bottom of my rucksack

Odlo and Mountain Equipment T-shirts, Rab Pulse thin zip-polo’s. I like to wear several thin layers of clothing rather than fewer very warm layers like fleece. I often wear thin long johns under my trousers on cooler dry days too.

Harveys Pennine Way waterproof map

OS maps in rucksack – not used but just in case we needed to divert off the Harveys strip map

Suunto compass, just in case everything electronic fails!

Leki Makalu carbon fibre trekking poles – essential because of my bad back

Baseball cap, warm hat

Windproof gloves and liner gloves

Buff thin neck warmer folded in two.

Platypus 2 litre water bottle and drinking pipe, plus High 5 Zero electrolyte tablets

The post Pennine Way Part 2 Alston to Horton in Ribblesdale; 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. 

The post Pennine Way 2024 North to South: Kirk Yetholm to Alston appeared first on Dave Butcher.

The night before we started we stayed in the White Lion Hotel in Hebden Bridge. We only booked the accommodation for the trip about 3 weeks beforehand so not a lot of choice and the room here was very expensive, it wasn’t worth the money to us. They provided a coffee making machine but no way to make tea or any other hot drink. Very soft mattress too which didn’t help my back. The Timothy Taylor Boltmaker was okay but the Fox and Goose is still the best place for beer in Hebden Bridge. Very nice porter on hand pump when we were there.

We walked for 6 days and luckily it was dry for most of the time, just a few short showers, nothing major. A pleasant surprise for the end of October! The total distance was about 67 miles.

Our luggage was moved each day by Brigantes, we have used them a few times now and they are very reliable for moving bags in the north of England. This meant that we just carried light day sacs.

Day 1: Sunday 20th October 2019. Hebden Bridge to The Moorcock Inn, Littleborough. 10 miles

After walking through the centre of Hebden Bridge we made our way up the hillside and some woods to join the Pennine Way after a couple of miles and followed this for several miles. There was a good view to Stoodley Pike on the hill above, a bit under a mile away. I’ve been up to Stoodley Pike several times and always had poor weather, today was no exception – a very dull day, but dry. The route that followed over the boggy moors was quite easy, the path was well slabbed to avoid the bog. I remember when I did the Pennine Way in the 1970’s it was a quagmire at every stretch of peat bog (we had heavy rain every day after the first 2 days which didn’t help!). No such problem now, most of the moors that we crossed had well paved paths. We had to put waterproofs on for a few minutes while crossing the moors but took them off as we walked beside the reservoirs near the main road. We had a break at the White House pub above Littleborough, the Timothy Taylor Landlord was good. From here we headed downhill a mile or so to the Moorcock Inn on the edge of Littleborough, our hostelry for the night. Our room was a reasonable size but was more reminiscent of an alpine mountain hut than a b&b or hotel. Had to be careful of the bare floorboards, they weren’t smoothed off so splinters were a hazard. The food was okay but my pint of Theakstons Black Sheep Bitter tasted of vinegar so I sent it back and switched to wine. They obviously don’t look after their beer.

Day 2: Monday 21st October. The Moorcock Inn to Marsden. 9.8 miles

Another dull day but dry. We crossed the road from the Moorcock and were on our first footpath. We made our way to Blackstone Edge and followed the old Roman/Medieval road to join the Pennine Way coming from the White House. Then along Blackstone Edge to the trig point and down the gradual slope to cross the M62 on the footbridge. The traffic noise could be heard from quite a distance on both sides of the road. Then on past the phone masts and a burned out Land Rover on Rook Stones Hill, over White Hill and down to the A640 at Haigh Gutter. Here we left the Pennine Way and took the Pack Horse Road to the small town of Marsden. The road was narrow, well flagged and flanked by tall brown grasses. This led down to the Close Gate packhorse bridge and along to Marsden. Our first stop was the Riverhead Brewery Tap, next to the river. An interesting pint of chilli flavoured porter was followed by something a little less fiery. Then we headed to the New Inn at the top of the town, where we were staying the night. We were well looked after here with good food and beer.

Day 3: Tuesday 22nd October. Marsden to Dog and Partridge on the Woodhead Pass. 15.8 miles

After a good breakfast we headed uphill to rejoin the Pennine Way above the Reservoirs. This is the Wessenden Alternative Route of the Pennine Way, created to avoid some of the worst peat bogs on the entire route.We left the Pennine Way once again at the A635 and headed to Holmbridge and the Bridge Inn. It was several months since our last visit and it was a surprise to see it had a new name, the Pickled Pheasant. The brewery which used to be next door had been evicted and moved a few miles away. The wall separating the two properties had gone and the space was now occupied by the bar and lots of restaurant seating. It was clearly more of a restaurant than a pub. We didn’t stay long. From here we crossed the Holme Valley and made our way uphill and across to Winscar and Windleden Reservoirs at Dunsford Bridge. There were good tracks all the way from here to the Dog and Partridge Inn at the Sheffield end of the Woodhead Pass. We stayed the night here, very comfy rooms, good food and beer. 

Day 4: Wednesday 23rd October. Dog and Partridge to Ladybower Inn on the Snake Pass. 14 miles

We left after a good breakfast and headed over the moors towards the 3 big Derwent reservoirs of Howden, Derwent and Ladybower. After leaving the A628 behind we followed a good track and Swinden Lane through some woods before heading uphill onto the moors of Mickleden Edge and on to Cut Gate. From here the tracks were less well defined as we made our way over Margery Hill and along Howden Edge. Then on to Derwent Edge over Lost Lad, back Tor, past the Cakes of Bread, Dovestone Tor and Salt Cellar (photo stop). From here it was an easy stroll along the edge over White Tor and Wheel Stones to Ladybower Tor and down to the Ladybower Inn, our end of day stop.

Day 5: Thursday 24th October. Ladybower Inn to Edale. 9 miles

This was more familiar ground from here so I didn’t really need the maps or GPS to get home, but I did have the GPS handy just in case of memory lapse!

From the Ladybower Inn we walked along to the reservoir dam and crossed over and then we were quickly on the steep path up through the woods to Win Hill. Not a good day for photos of big views, the clouds were down on the tops. We followed the ridge to Crookstone Knoll and up on to Kinderscout where we followed the southern edge to Ringing Roger rocks. The clouds had lifted so we had misty views down into the Edale valley below. We soon found ourselves in the Nags Head in Edale where we stopped for refreshments before walking the last half mile, or so, to the Rambler Inn for the night.

Day 6: Friday 25th October. Edale to Tunstead Milton. 8.5 miles

Another dull day greeted us as we walked the last section of our trek home to Tunstead Milton. It was easy walking all of the way on good tracks and footpaths. From the end of Rushup Edge we picked up the Pennine Bridleway. After a few miles we headed off to Malcoff then to Bowden Head, Past Bowden Hall, across the A6 and into Chapel-en-le-Frith by the back door. In less than 2 miles we were home. 

It was a good walk on mostly good tracks and paths. Only 2 day had mileages over 10 miles, the 3rd and 4th days and the 3rd day didn’t seem too bad since we were able to have a break at Holmbridge. We were lucky to have so little rain in October but the days were mostly dull so there wouldn’t have been many good shots if I had carried my big Mamiya 7 film camera. My bad back thanked me for not carrying too much!

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