The Game's A Foot!

Rumours of a bacon buttie were understated...Mark is also preparing our lunch and snacks for the train, every LDW should start with a 'Mark'...thanks from us both x

Night Before The Adventure Begins

All packing done, a chip buttie with a brew as a treat and now off to bed with the promise of a bacon buttie in the morning...all these butties, my weight is going to increase and not decrease at this rate!

Night all...next post will be on Day 1!!!

Laminating Party

We are almost set for the Coast to Coast after an evening Laminating maps to ensure we have all the information on where we are walking and where we are staying. We had quite a production line going in the end and many hands made light work - thanks everyone

Planning Evening

Final evening of planning is now complete...best part being the realisation of the lovely food all the venue's we're staying at are providing; just how many cooked breakfats can we eat?!!!

It's now a reality that we set off in 5 days...hope the sunshine we've enjoyed this last few days lasts.

Blakey Ridge

Blakey Ridge

Coast to Coast Day 10

Breakfast was a lengthy process but not as bad as for the lady who waited 40mins for beans on toast...they must have 'bean' very special! If she'd had waited much longer they'd have been a has 'bean'! 

In true Wainright style we walked away from the direction we were ultimately heading...with The Lion Inn in view for a good hour as we doubled back on ourselves. More moor walking followed much to Colin's delight...Richard even started to be able to tell the difference between different colours of heather, not an ability to be proud of! The bleak monotony of the moorland was interrupted momentarily by the 'leaving stone', Colin finally got to put his Jaffa Cakes there ready for the next Coaster & he collected a tired looking cereal bar.

Before long we arrived in Glaismere & found a suitable cafe for lunch, Ste Henderson met us there & we all looked forward to the short walk into Grosmont. Fortunately this was a short walk as it took over an hour in the cafe to be served.

Just after leaving much to our amusement & confusion an American lady stopped us; we initially thought she was going to ask for directions but it turned out she just wanted to quote lots of statements at us from her C2C book! Being as adept as we now are at understanding C2C language we pointed her in the direction of the cafe we'd just left & she wandered away very happy.

We set off for our shortest afternoon to date after a photo shoot on Beggers Bridge courtesy of Ste. Crossing the stepping stones in Egerton Bridge saw Colin being very brave & star jumping on one! 

We arrived in Grosmont to see one of the steam engines in the station and just before a shower set in we managed to take some pictures and get ourselves comfortable in our second tea-room of the day. Ste commented later that he enjoyed our 'tea room hiking' style!

Our B&B was an amazing building built in the 1800's but it was very tired & a recent attempt to redecorate it failed miserably to bring it into the 21st Century. All that said the stain-glass windows were very pretty & the mirror on the stairs was HUGE.

Ingleby Cross

Ingleby Cross

Coast to Coast Day 9

Boots still not dried out even though we'd turned up the heater & put lots of fresh newspaper in them so it was back-up plan to ensure we started in dry footwear-Richard in his walking shoes & Colin in his 'snug' fitting lightweight boots.

We weren't quite prompt enough for breakfast so a couple of other hikers nabbed the best of the fruit salad. Richards late arrival upset the landlady even more with a minor hissy fit about our drinks...for some reason she couldn't believe I knew how he'd want his tea!!!

We left at 8:45 and immediately started climbing up onto The Cleveland Hills. Initially the views were obstructed by the forest we had to climb through but before long we had our fleeces on to protect us from the strong chilly westerly winds as we stood looking over the lowlands towards The Pennines...a patchwork of fields whose variety of colours were classic England farmland...it brought back those 'lovely memories' of our 'amazing' day crossing them! We were even able to glimpse Richmond in the distance as the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the castle.

What we now loving know as a classic Wainright walk followed, why go the direct level route when there's the option to go up & down & back on yourself...funnily enough we don't know the answer either especially as we've got in the region of 160 miles behind us.

The views to the Pennines were very rewarding, particularly for Colin who was very excitable about seeing Ingleborough, Crossfell & 9 Standards. Richard was considerably more excited about the tearoom we came across for first lunch particularly their sumptuous selection of cakes but Colin however denied him the opportunity to gorge himself as we'd been given cake in our packed lunch...so he had to wait till 2nd lunch for cake and eat flapjack with his cup of tea.

A quick calculation of the miles ahead depressed us both as 13miles was indeed 'a long way' given we were in our third day of 20+ miles. As ever though we got our heads into gear and after one last down then up over the Wain Stones we hit the North York Moors and continued onwards along the route of a dismantled railway.

Colin's earlier tumble down a steep decent caused him to join Richard in walking with 'chicken wing arms' as he also had to compensate for the reduction in pressure on the affected leg. Thankfully no-one was around to see this graceful movement as we also decided that a sing-a-long to Moulin Rouge was in order to get us both through our respective pain barriers.

What was ahead of us was miles & miles & miles of a dark cinder path...we started to understand why Wainright had suggested we should have stayed in Patterdale, since The Lakes we haven't had the best of scenery. Today we learnt a new fact to ponder over as we walked through the moorland: Britain has 75% of the worlds moorland and in England the North York Moors has the most continuos moorland...a fact we can confirm after walking much of it.

Our meal at The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge was constantly interrupted by us both wincing & shuddering & shaking & scowling & fidgeting as the pains whipped up from our feet through our legs to make sitting most uncomfortable. Richard did manage to eat all his Yorkshire pudding as he grimaced and sniggered at Colin's facial expressions feeling evil satisfaction to each screwed up eye movement he made knowing that finally he was suffering the same as he had for the last three days.

Richmond

Richmond

We had a little bit of a lazy start and went down for breakfast 8:00. We were delighted with the spread before us and both tucked into huge bowls of fresh fruit salad before having scrambled eggs and toast and jam.

We finished packing and sat on the bench outside the b&b to force our boots back onto what I'm not sure I would still call feet. Setting out was tough as we waited for our muscles to loosen up again. We made a quick trip into the centre of Richmond to support some local businesses with our sandwich purchases. I couldn't resist a sneaky Yorkshire curd tart for the journey.

A steep decent down and we were on the river out or Richmond. After about 40 minutes of walking and a slight navigational error we felt and saw the first signs of the impending doom of rain.

This wasn't the sort or rain that passed over and cleared. Oh no, this was rain set to be with us for the next twenty miles. There was some variety in the rain however to keep it exciting. Sometimes it was heavy, most of the time it was really heavy. Sometimes it ran down your face and into your coat and all of the time it ran into your legs and into your boots. Huge crashes of thunder scared us stupid as we counted them a mile closer each time until we were just on the edge of the storm. 

Infront of us the roads and fields were relentless. A Wainright describes the miles as 'tedious and dull'. We suspect like us he had some other choice words to describe exactly what he felt about what has been the only really horrible day on the trip. 

The only higlights were a woman taking pitty on us offering to make us a cuppa which warmed our hearts. The second upon arriving at the village of barrow on Swale, where someone had set an honesty table beside the road with a selection of cakes. Having both opted for the honey and almond cake behind us a friendly farm lady asked if we would like a cup of tea with that. Yum yes please. We sat and talked with her for about twenty minutes and learnt lots about farming and Colin played with her sheep dogs.

At about 4:30 we arrived in the village of Danby Wilke. Still raining we stopped in the pub for a cup of tea and to essentially wring out our socks and drip all over their floor. The place was full of drowned coast to coasters who all shared in each others pain. Eventually we decided we had to move on. With nine miles still to go we were pushing our luck to arrive by 7pm. We did have a brain wave however. We were due to be camping but decided wet tent and wet walkers was a bad idea so we called ahead to ingleby cross and booked into a bed and breakfast. 

We were saved as there was one spare room in a guest house in the village so we were delighted when we arrived at 7pm (an impressively fast pace considering the way we were feeling and the distance).

A tray of warm scones & a pot of tea were presented to us in the conservatory along with a towel to dry ourselves off. Although all were appreciated the rather lengthy 'induction' did become tedious as we sat shivering in damp clothing dripping onto her furniture...she seemed unconcerned at our plight & that of her seats sadly.

Once in the room damp clothes were hung in every available space, boots were shoved full of newspaper & bodies were warmed & cleaned in the shower. Another trip to the local pub for food & a lemonade with a quick return to our room ended what has sadly been the worst day of our trip :-(

Keld

Path to Keld

Coast to Coast Day 7

No rain overnight, BONUS! Almost sunny when we opened the tent but we immediately closed the door as there were midges galore swarming us. Inside the tent we then found Colin the Caterpillar had moved in overnight along with a spider who was chasing flies...all very rural.

Leisurely start with Heather offering to serve our breakfast at the tent...we declined politely owing to the midgies. All was under control until Passpartoute turned earlier than expected so another frantic packing session followed. After the van drove away Colin realised he'd left the days maps in his bag...along with the address of tonight's B&B! A quick check revealed that AW's guide was still in his daypack so the days navigation was done using hand-drawn images & 30yr old descriptions! Nevertheless we completed our 22miles in under 10hours even in the searing heat of the day...no minor achievement given Richard's blisters & Colin's age!!! Sunstroke wasn't optional for the day with us both suffering shivers on more than one occasion.

After seeing the same 'support guy' for the last three days walking to meet his group of friends behind us we suddenly realised we'd missed a trick in not getting one of our own organised :-( Even though Colin cheekily asked if next time he'd bring us a bottle of water each he was as ever empty handed when we saw him next.

The route took us past many derelict smelting mills but the gravel track was very tedious...it posed the question "why would you go up there?", we think it's ideal for persons with an unhealthy interest in industrial dereliction...they could just visit Ancoats!!!

Reethe was bustling with a market set-up on the village green, selling everything from leather loafers to lemon slices but sadly for Richard no coast to coast coaster.

We sat on a bench shaded from the mid afternoon sun by a large ash tree. Eating our sandwiches, drinking too much fizzy pop and watched village life unfold in front of us. Richard was disappointed that Miss Marple didn't make a surprise appearance!

Using AW as his guide Colin did promise a nice shady walk in the trees along the River Swale...what Colin actually delivered was walk across meadows & grazing land in the full glare of the afternoon sun. It wasn't long till the sun affected us & during a 10min respite in Marsk Richards speech became so delirious & non-sensical that Colin ended up crying from laughter & nearly choking on a 'snake shaped sweet' 

A long painful walk on hard Tarmac ensued but we did eventually reach Richmond...although how a very friendly lady who had a random interest in the local bands playing live in town tonight & buzzards in the forest reckoned it was 30mins away when we clearly had over 2miles to hobble is beyond us...we think she may have been Wonder Woman.

A very refreshing shower meant that we could force a gentle stroll into Richmond for our evening meal...a very busy Italian restaurant that had almost as many staff as customers: most efficient! Staying awake to enjoy their efforts is proving very demanding but the pain in our feet reminds us intermittently that now is not the time to sleep.

Kirkby Stephen

Kirkby Stephen

We Orton'ed of mentioned this but we will...

We both had a good nights sleep after leaving the tent doors open at night to make it alot cooler. We got up around 7:30 and decided to have a relaxed start and planned to leave around 9:30. This was until rain delayed our packing and then the baggage carrier people turned up to take our bags at 8:15 before we had even got the tent down. Arrgh 10minutes of super fast packing started as we rushed to get packed and ready to go. 

After a quick catch up with Josh and Kieran in the shelter we set off to the centre of Kirkby Stephen to find lunch and have a breakfast and cuppa in a nice cafe. From the warmth of the cafe we sat watching the rain bucket down and coast to coasters slope on by their sorrows drowned. After dripping over the floor of the cafe for quite long enough we finally realised the rain was not stopping and that we would have to start walking. 

Turning out of town we knew that it was going to be all up hill from this point to the Nine Standards which are essentially just some big kerns. It rained all the way to the top and as they emerged through the mist we met up with a nice family from Essex. Husband, wife and two children. We had a great chat with them about all manor of things and like us they appeared to be enjoying themselves despite the rain. 

The next point was to negotiate the right path down off the hill. They encourage people to take one if three routes to prevent erosion. We opted for the blue route which like most of the others was a quagmire. A huge amount of bog hopping was in order for the next two hours which was all quite good fun as we looked for signs of the path in the mist. We also met an American family who amazed us by firstly being out of America but by also having three very young children which Colin high fived to congratulate them. 

The next most exciting event was arriving at ravenseat farm which we knew from the Julia bradbuy DVD where a lovely farm lady brings you tea and scone jam and cream for only £3. We sat on the same picnic table outside and then moved directly into a barn when it started raining. We were the only ones there but as we sat over the next twenty minutes two by two more walkers arrived until the barn was full of people eating scones and drinking tea. Josh and Kieran even surprised us by turning up along with some new people who were just doing half the route starting from Kirkby Stephen.

Leaving the farm we only had a few miles down the valley to the campsite and to welcome our arrival the clouds parted, the sky turned blue and the sun started shining. Not to long later we arrived and quickly put the tent up to allow it to dry. 

At 6:30 with the arrival of Kieran & Josh (from here on in called Henry & Stedman) Richard's blisters were put to shame when Henry showed us his...words are failing us all on how to describe them the closest description being that they resembled the dead mans feet in the autopsy photos at St Bees.

A relaxing evening in the barn with Henry & Stedman followed with much silliness brought on by tiredness, Haribo & a bottle of wine. 

Shap

Shap

Coast to Coast Day 5

We're sat here writing this as our feet throb and try to escape our trainers...like a red top paper once said "phew what a scorcher". Richard says his face is so hot you could fry an egg on it; he may not get a mention for a while as he's off to the next table to talk with Miss Marple as she eats her cheesecake & inspects a clue with her magnifying glass!

After solving the logistical problem of our drinking water bladders not fitting in the sink in the poor facilities of the pub we'd stayed we then went the co-op & stocked up on enough fluids that would have run Trafalgar Sq fountains for a day. 

Shortly after leaving Shap Main St we crossed the M6 on the footbridge & even managed to attract a couple of horn honks as lorries passed under us...we guess these are fellow C2C'ers.

The tedium of crossing the bland moors to arrive here in Kirkby Stephen was broken by a visit to a Chocolate Factory in Orten for a pot of tea, fresh warm scone with jam & freshly made complimentary chocolate flowers.

The skies cleared as the day drew on and the temperatures soared to a mighty 40+ degrees (well that's what it felt like as our feet hit the hard ground beneath us) We wish to challenge Wainright's description of velvety turf in limestone pavements...today's turf felt more like hot coals.

Navigation was easier than previous days as our C2C Caravan snaked it's way across the bleak, bland & tiring moors towards our destination. This didn't however stop one party head off under a disused railway instead of over it...we obviously offered vocal support as we yelled "Oi Oliver you're going the wrong way!"

After such a tiring day & failing to see the clearly signed campsite we were met by a most 'unfriendly' caravan site attendant who demanded we paid before leaving her office...I presume in a earlier career she was either a head-mistress or doctors receptionist. A most frightful lady who's attitude has cost her employers our business tomorrow as we shall purchase our lunch from a local baker of the finest & deluxe clarsss that we surely deserve! ( nose swept up in the air, back turned & storm out of reception).

We're now eating dinner and having a well deserved break. After re-reading today's blog I shall stop typing now as the painkillers are obviously having an effect when mixed with the lager & Richard has retuned after helping Miss Marple solve the local Murder Mystery that we'd obviously stumbled in on earlier and she has now left.

Patterdale

Coast to coast day four

Today we decided that since we were in a hotel we would sleep in to a reasonable time and set off after nine. We started with a hearty breakfast, Colin kept topping up the orange juice and I even impressed myself by having cereal and a full fry up.

Looking out of the window it was hard to decide what to wear given that it was raining heavily down the valley. In the end we plumped for shorts and then immediately put on waterproofs as we set foot out of the door.

Back down the road into patterdale before heading up to angle tarn pike. Colin had wanted to go to the shop in patterdale but I put him off and he mock wined about it for the next mile. We tried to shelter under trees but it was futile. 

Heading up was exhausting but finally we reached the top and then proceeded to get hopelessly lost in the mist along with an increasing number of other coast to coast walkers. Before long fifteen or so people were looking for the path. I know the lakes discourages signs but on this occasion I think one was called for.

In the end we agreed a route to take and headed up a little hill and finally sighted the path. Salvation! A quick walk along this path and we were on track again to angle tarn. 

Next was an up and round the knott. Not however before I spied a 'zebra carnival' what the hell is one of these I here you hollar. Well essentially I just saw a row of walkers each with black or White waterproof covers over their rucksacks. From a distance they looked like a line of zebras. In the end we bumped into them a little further up and they requested a photo with us as we had mascots with us and they wanted photos of ours with theirs. Somewhere on the net there will soon be a quad teddy photo of eeyore, doug, dobbie, and a little black and white dog.

It was still very misty and in poor visibility we headed up to kidsty pike. What a great stroke of luck as we reached the top the clouds cleared and the sun started shining. We decided this would be the perfect place to stop for lunch looking out over riggindale.

The after lunch the decent was PAINFUL. It was steep and it was hard going on my knees. Colin was finding it hard on his feet and it was killing my knees. Needless to say we did get there in end but were not happy to be faced with a long long walk along haweswater reservoir. I've never favoured reservoir walking but this one went on and on. I suppose I should be greatful since it's this one that provides me with my water in Manchester.

At last we reached the end and sat on a bench in the tiny village of Burn Banks for a well deserved rest. After an apple Colin read out the information board about how the dam was built. Apparently during the building and blasting process no humans were killed and only one rabbit. This made Colin giggle to himself for the next thirty minutes. 

Out along the river lowther next over some high styles and many bridges. I swear it was like something from the Krypton Factor. The river edge was however very nice with old oak trees along the banks and White clouds high in the blue sky. 

After a few minor navigational hick-ups we soon saw the shape of Shap Abbey rising out of the valley infront of us. We knew we were almost at Shap and our feet were crying in relief. 

A final mile and a half along Tarmac roads and we arrived at the Bulls Head pub and our nights stop. The facilities were basic to say the least, but the hearty food and drink soon helped to relax. 

Patterdale

Rosthwaite

Rosthwaite

Coast to Coast Day 3

A rainy night disturbed Richards sleep but I slept soundly...apart from trying to turn over onto the side I fell on which wasn't clever!

No breakfast incl. today so we headed off towards Rosthwaite to buy provisions...but once again there was nothing open; same in Southwaite so we headed up Southwaite Beck via Johnny's Wood at a good pace, passing 'our' Dutch Ladies & we met Josh & Kieran who'd bravely wild camped overnight, making us jealous as they ate their cereal bar breakfast...yum yum!

Out of nowhere came a steep assent up Greenup Gill to Lining Crag...oh it was steep for that early in the day. At the top we met the grandfather & grandson duo who we've not mentioned before but they both looked very spritely given the steep assent & were both ready for the next stage as we arrived. A quick stop for first lunch to catch our breathes gave us chance to admire the views as the clouds clung to the tops of the fells.

We set off across the boggy top of Greenup Edge, Brownrigg Moss & Moor Moss towards Grasmere Common now deep in the clouds finding it difficult to navigate owing to there being more streams & becks in reality than on the OS map!

An occasional clearing of the cloud allowed us to check our navigational skills & confirmed that the boggy descent was the correct route into Goody Bridge...where yet again there was no opportunity for us to buy provisions and we were both getting very hungry.

A quick decision was made to by-pass Grasmere & head to an OS map marked pub (The Travellers Rest)...and the break proved the ideal pick-me up: sandwich, soup, tea & copious amounts of lemonade for Colin!

Dry once again & food in our bellies we set off upto towards Grisedale Tarn hearing rumours from walkers heading down that the weather in the next valley was sunny! Richard very bravely or given Colin's track record for clumsiness, very stupidly followed him over a condemned bridge that crossed near Tounge Gill Force waterfall.

A gentle climb up to Grisedale Tarn as the weather did indeed clear we looked down into Grisedale Valley. Colin has described the path down the valley as his favourite so far, leaping and bounding like a Gazelle over the rocks...and yes staying upright!!!

A fancy footbridge led US along the correct C2C route as many others stayed on the wider more obvious path...but they were wrong & as if to prove this they missed seeing Wainright's Barn nestled under a small copse of trees.

A steep grassy path headed down towards the Beck and a bridge...as this is classic Colin falling territory he was concentrating so hard that when a lamb called it's mother he jumped & very loudly called out in surprise -insert your own noise hear, I'm sure it'll be close enough!

At the bridge Richard got accosted by a very excitable lady who thought he was very professional having a rucksack that had a bladder in it for water especially with the pipe for drinking whilst walking! As it had just started to rain she soon realised that her daughter was less interested in Richards professional walking gear and more interested in getting back to the car.

A 30min walk beyond Patterdale brought us to our first B&B of the trip...and given the rain the welcoming farm was a perfect end to the day...Richard even managed to watch Corri (Colin caught an old episode of Dinnerladies!)

Ennerdale Bridge

Ennerdale Bridge

Coast to Coast Day 2

Our first cooked breakfast served by the first of our many hosts with a cheery disposition, and two beautiful dogs that Colin wanted to adopt...again likely to be the first of many!

After a minor diversion backwards to see the fake stone circle we set off at a good pace to Ennerdale Bridge with the intention of stocking up on fluids & maybe an extra sandwich for lunch...there was nothing there let alone anything open!!!

Not too deterred we set off along the path that hugged Ennerdale Water. There were heavy clouds on the fells but a refreshing breeze for us. All banter & chatting came to an abrupt end when we had to spend the next 30mins running the gauntlet of a midgey assault, Colin's head looking like a battle had happened on it!

A short rest at Robin Hood's Chair and then our first climb of the day...yeah right in hindsight that wasn't a climb...but keep reading for more on that! Colin very bravely helped a lady on a steep path, well it was for her...Colin was so brave!!!

Cows...again Richard was nervous but then got distracted by their ear muffs...yeah fluffy eared cows, oh the pictures will look so good. 

A quick skip hop & a jump through a Lord of The Rings style wood brought us to a major delight...a YHA that had a self catering kitchen & an honesty box!!! Queue a respite for tea & cake...yum yum!!!

Little did we know this little relaxing detour was only to lull us into a false sense of security for the next hike which was almost vertically up for the next few miles. We had however been warned in the YHA as we read Wainright's guide that in his opinion people choosing to do this path could claim to be 'super men'. Whilst writing this in the evening over lunch Richard is wondering if his super man name is 'stupid idiot boy'!!!

The views made using this alternative route so worth the effort...really worth it. The weather then in true Lakes style closed in and we had to don our waterproofs. A minor navigational error almost took us down to Buttermere but we soon realised our error & retraced our tracks to correctly head along the ridge towards to what we both now know affectionately as 'Darth Vadar Mountain' a name it earned by the sinister gathering of culminous-ominous clouds above it!

Although we thought we were foolish to still be batteling on through the rain, it was the sight of a climber the other side of a valley clinging to the mountain as the wind & the rain assaulted him that made us glad to be where we where.

The path ahead was hard to make out. I think the problem was we didn't realise quite how far we still had to go and so were looking for paths much closer than they actually were. We had the hilly hights of haystacks infront of us and realised that despite bring a hike up it was still better then the long walk round. 

Walking up haystacks was actually more of a scramble and colin was getting tired. I lost count of the times colin managed to trip up by this point in the day as the total was more than double figures...after I'd had my stumbles earlier in the day on the flat ground near along Ennerdale Water & in the woods.

Then it arrived 'the fall' not water fall but colins almighty skid fall. I'd just got to the end if a sentence 'oh how strange this rock is dry' when Colin slid sideways his feet went from under him and he fell with a thud. The 'dry' rock was in disguise and proved to very slippy! Colin giggled then reality must have hit him as hard as he'd hit the rock that he had to get up or he'd cease in the position he'd fell. I gave him a helping hand, some magic Haribo & a couple of painkillers!

Although still wet & windy there were slight respites just long enough for us to gather our thoughts & for Colin to keep checking the map..."not long now, only another couple of hours"!!!

Honistor was our next major 'landmark' & as we dropped out of the clouds Richard realised that his 'coast to coast coaster' would have to be purchased another time as the shop was shut...Colin was more disappointed that he couldn't have the '99 ice-cream' cone he'd promised himself, the difference of our priorities!

It was all down hill from Honister and a painful downhill at that as both of us suffered from tired legs & sore feet. Seatoller has never looked so inviting but we passed by and headed for our campsite just outside of Rosthwaite.

The tent went up in no time and after a very relaxing shower we went for some food. "The Scagill Hotel is 5-7 mins walk from here" we were told, it's true to say that folk in The Lakes must have different timepieces to us - 15mins later we arrived...both of us recognising it but neither of us knowing which ODL event we'd ended up there!

Two very substantial pie & chip meals & large glasses of lemonade later meant a brisk 15min walk back to the tent and sleep...zzzzzzzzzz.

St Bees

Here we are along the coast

Coast to coast day 1

Fortunatully johnny had kindly agreed to take us to the train station at 6am. Thankfully not before mark had made us a nice bacon butte and prepared  lunch for us for later in the day. The train was prompt  and after a quick change we arrived at St.bees train station at 10:00.

After dropping our bags off we thought we should head to check out the priory church before setting out properly. Before entering the church we finished off our bananas and left the skins on the bench until we returned. Inside the church was set up ready for a wedding. A very cheery lady who we shall call Beverly talked eagerly to us about our journey and also seemed keen to recruit us to her cricket team. Of all the beautiful features in the church Colin most liked the dead body and autopsy photos.

Upon leaving the church we discovered beverley clearing away our banana skins. Colin was very apologetic and tried to reclaim the skins to bin ourself. She was having none of it and insisted on taking them away for us.

We swiftly left St bees and after asking a holidaying family to take our photo at the C2C sign...20 photos later & many carefully composed pictures later Colin realised he'd met with a holidaying family related to David Bailey! We went down to the beach to begin selecting a pebble to carry across to Robin hoods bay...not a quick process with so many to choose from.

The original path had been fenced off but this was no issue to us...we're doing Wainrights route & a quick skip over a style meant the first of many photos of our first day's walking was taken.

Following the coast a quick diversion to the lighthouse meant having to walk through our first cattle herd...Richard nervously avoiding eye contact with them.

Mark's beautifully prepared lunch was eaten looking out over Fleswick Bay towards Whitehaven whilst sat on two well positioned boulders...but where they natural?

A 90 degree turn east after walking past a working quarry where Richard has promised to take Colin when he's in his wheelchair for a fun day out marked the point where we turned our backs on the Irish Sea and headed inland towards the Lakes.

Who should we stumble on round the corner but a huge garden tiger moth caterpillar crossing our path really rather quickly...we immediately christened him 'Colin The Caterpillar' We felt it only right to allow him to do his verge2verge journey in front of us before we continued. I then noticed a toad in the gutter and knowing it was in colins I spy book called him over to look. I was then horrified to see it was actually dead but blown up like a toad balloon out of the shrek movie. With my stomach turning over we moved swiftly on only to have to press up against the nettle filled verges on three occasions to avoid being crushed by increasing sizes of farm machinery.

We soon sped on and arrived in Cleator where we stopped of for an ice cream before heading up to the summit of Dent. From here we could look right back to the light house at St bees and infront of us were the majestic views of the Lakeland fells. behind us we could see the meandering route one M AW had taken us on and in the distance the hills of Dumfries & Galloway and also the misty outlibe of the Isle of Man. We stopped here for a while and applied sun cream not realising that our legs had taken it badly in the weather along the coast.

From dent it was a periously steep decent. Apparently this is the steepest section on the whole route and it was infact very steep. It was hard to stay upright. At the bottom of the hill a lovely stream and shady valley awaited. Grasses swayed in the wind and it as a really peaceful two miles to the first nights campsite.

Round a few final corners we came across loads of horses and several people pony trekking. A quick turn to the left and we were at the campsite. Colin was impressed with the speed in which my tent went up so after ten minutes we were able to grab the shower we had both been dreaming of the last few miles. When Colin was away I got attacked by a huge toad that hopped onto my foot and then stared at me until I shook it away scared I'd find it in my boot in the morning.

After a hearty tea we started talking to people around the campsite. Josh and Kieran got free food from everyone else as they arrived last out of all the days coast 2 coast walkers. It was a small friendly site...esentially in the owners garden.

After filling in the days I-spy spottings in our books we went to order breakfast only to realise that actually it's not the blisters on our feet that will be the issue tomorrow it will be the blistering skin on the backs of our legs that will need tlc...ouch!

The Journey Begins

It's now little over a week before our jouney begins and it's fair to say the weather isn't looking great for the journey ahead. Fingers crossed our boots will have some time to dry out overnight else I suspect a long journey walking in puddles. Here is the route we will be taking to complete the 192 miles. Wish us luck