Sept. 22 Day 9

Patton Bridge to Staveley--8 miles

Here it is the 9th day of our hike and we both feel rested and refreshed. It should be another beautiful day of walking. We hate to leave our lovely room with the great views of the little lake. It was a nice place to spend an extra day relaxing. Mrs. Jenkinson fixed us a hearty breakfast and sent us on our way with a friendly smile.

We walked down to the bridge at the crossroads and the road continued up a steep hill that had us both huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top. This is where we left the trail day before yesterday and we turned off the road to the right and continued on. This first picture is looking back down the hill but you can't see our B&B because it's further down. It was a beautiful scene though.

 

 As we a walked along, the countryside became even more pastoral. This is actually looking back up the road we've just come down from the top of the hill. It was a very narrow farm road, so no traffic and very pleasant walking.

 Periodically over the last few days we've passed these rolls of what I presume are bundles of hay. But oh my! They smelled really bad. I can't imagine anything inside being tasty animal food. Yuck.

 

 Sometimes the path got really narrow

 

And sometimes there was no path at all. You had to make a good guess at whether to follow a stone wall, or take off across the pasture. There were so many sheep trails, you never knew which one was right. Another great tree I couldn't resist. I think I must be a descendant of the Ogier, Loial.

About noon we came to Sprint Mill situated beside the little river Sprint next to the trail. We were ready for a rest and there was a sign saying welcome hikers, so we crossed a bridge and explored the huge mill building and it's several floors of antiques and primitives. they sold various homemade refreshments and we had tea and 'biscuits' It was a very interesting place, sort of a commune of several artists and craftsmen and their families. Their website is here: http://sprintmilling.wordpress.com/sprint-mill/

 

I used their restroom in a little building behind out by the creek. That was an experience. I'm sure it was one of the first indoor toilets ever! In a tiny stone building that had to be hundreds of years old. Water dripped on my head! But who's complaining...I was glad for it! The setting was lovely and we had a restful hour sitting in a beautiful spot.



On down the trail we came to Burneside Hall. It is a Peel Tower with records that date to 1290. This part was built in the 14th century. There were originally two towers but only one remains. Peel Towers were fortifications where the lairds lived and where signal fires could be built by the garrison to warn of approaching danger. (Those barbarians-the Scotts) This place had an amazing history.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burneside_Hall

 

Walking by the River Kent

 

 



Up the steps and across the bridge to Bowston

This was a neat little village and we sat on a bench in front of these apartments and ate our lunch. It's fun to walk on the edge of a village and see the yards and homes of the people who live in such a different place than we do.



Don't you love this mailbox? We see them all over England. The VR stands for (Queen) Victoria Regina and her reign ended in 1901 so they are over 100 years old.

This was unusual to see a flock of black sheep.

Another beautiful tree

Cowan Head-a complex of old mill-workers homes converted into residential cottages. They were very nice and very expensive...

Occasionally we met up with other hikers, but not often. We were pretty much on our own the whole 10 days.

We are now in the Lake District National Park. Since we are on the very edge, it looks just like Yorkshire.

This was getting close to the end of our days hike, and I was pretty tired. We've had quite a bit of ups and downs, and this was after one of the 'ups!'

 





 We got to our night's lodging pretty early in the afternoon, and it had turned off quite warm. It was on the edge of Stavely, so it was close to Dales Way. The Eagle and Child Inn was a typical English Pub. Maybe busier than some-a restaurant with 5 guest rooms upstairs.  We sat in the little private garden across the street by the river, and read in the afternoon sunshine.

The menu was on the wall, the food was great and it was a very busy place at dinner time.

We sat here and enjoyed our dinner and watching the locals and the fun. I had the roasted vegetable and feta pie and Russell had his usual steak pie. I think it is always available so they don't bother putting it on the menu. He must have had it half the dinners we ate in England. It's a simple, beef stew-sort of.

We had a nice little room with a newly remodeled bath. The large spotless tub was wonderful to relax my tired body. Our room was on the front (one of the three windows upstairs) and I thought it would be noisy, but it was quiet and we slept well. 

http://www.eaglechildinn.co.uk/ A good place to stay.

 

 

 Next entry: Sept. 23 Day 10