Kirkby Stephen to Keld

After a long break over winter we were all ready and eager to go again on the next stage of our coast to coast journey. We set off from Bradford on Friday evening and had a good journey to Swaledale where some stayed in the YHA at Grinton and the rest in B & Bs and pubs in Grinton and Reeth. Our driver did a spendid job of negotiating the narrow winding roads in the dark and dropped us off at Grinton Lodge. This was once a shooting lodge but is now owned by YHA and is a very comfortable place to stay with a roaring log fire in the lounge and very friendly staff.



On Saturday morning we set off for Kirkby Stephen to pick up the trail again. It took us a long time to get there in the coach as the roads are very narrow and winding and the driver had to negotiate road works, an irate lady who claimed he had damaged her step, and various very tricky bridges. It was quite a relief to get out into the fresh air again and on our way. The 'A' and 'B' walks took a similar route to the top of Nine Standards Rigg. As we gained height the mist got thicker and the wind was blowing so strongly that several people lost their footing. The weather can only be descibed as 'atmospheric' and regrettably we couldn't see the views of Cumbria behind us and Yorkshire ahead of us but if you follow the link you will get an idea of what we missed!

Ray Wilkes did a brilliant job of leading the 'B' party through the bogs and the mist and the gales down to the valley below where we completed our journey to Keld in good time. The food at the hostel was so good and the weather so unpleasant that only a handful of people made there way down to the pub. The rest stayed by the log fire chatting and playing a few games till bedtime.
So we are now half way through our journey and walking in our own beautiful county of Yorkshire. Wainwright in his Coast to Coast book says 'The attainment of Nine Standards Rigg is an occasion for celebration. This is the main watershed of the walk and the most extensive and interesting viewpoint on it.' Hmmm pity we couldn't see a thing!!