Weather: Sunny; Steps: 21265 Distance: 5(+3) miles; Time: 2h 30m; Calories out: 636; Blisters: nil!
A whole week of walking with no rain and solid sunshine. Unbelievable. Another 'rest' day with just a short walk in the morning. More interesting ancient archaeology of the Giant's graves and some industrial history along the disused Smardale railway line which had a high viaduct over the river.
Arrived at the Croglin Castle hotel in Kirkby at midday. A vast old Victorian railway hotel in need of care. It has new owners who are making changes – but it seems slowly. Oddly enough though I feel more at home here than in many of the very prim and prissy rooms we have stayed in so far. The bedroom is vast and reminds me of the one I had as a child.
Had a look around the railway museum at Kirkby East station which they hope to open up to steam trains in August. Interesting listening to all the enthusiasts talking a strange language of numbers, which I presume were engines. There's something good about enthusiasm for whatever it happens to be
We've arrived at Kirkby on the highlight of their year – the Classic Commercial Vehicle Rally, yet more enthusiasts. There are buses, lorries, vans, fire engines, tractors, steam engines, bicycles etc. I never knew I'd enjoy it so much! The streets are full of stalls and I think all the local country folk are here. It made me realise how different a small northern market town is to Maidenhead!
The church was quite grand with a lovely pulpit made of local Shap granite. There is also a Loki stone there, apparently only one of two in the Europe. Loki was a horned devil, from Norse mythology. It dates back to when the Vikings were in the area.
We travelled on an old open top bus to Brough, a nearby village. It had even more old vehicles there. Having decided there's a limit to how many old buses you can find interesting, we decided to walk up to Brough Castle, which must have been quite amazing in it's heyday from the 1300 to 1700s. Now a ruin managed by English Heritage, with a lovely ice cream parlour run by Brough Castle Ices. Had Dime bar icecream; the best of both.
All in all a fun day, back to solid walking for the next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment