It seems that everybody (and his dog… sniff…) wants to go to High Cup Nick at the moment. This was my guided walk and, apparently , there’s another two guided walks to the same place from Cow Green within the next week or two or three..
Or four – look, I’m not sure when the other walks are taking place.
This one was yesterday and 37 (possibly 38) people turned up including stewards Ralph, Compulsory Dave and Ruth.
It was supposed to be the hottest day of the year but, in point of fact it was cloudy, windy and a bit on the cool side. So much for the met office and the Beeb who seem to believe them. Another hottest day of the year is supposed to be happening today. Not at Pietowers, it isn’t. In fact, I believe that this phenomena is only taking place in the bottom right sixteenth, or, possibly, generously, eighth portion of the British Isles.
I did the reccy all on my own with nobody with me last Sunday in tolerably warm conditions.
I have to report that on both walks nothing at all happened and nobody was injured, hurt, disrespected or lost. A cheese sandwich did receive fatal damage as did a small family of red seedless grapes and some jelly babies.
For those intent on walking the Pennine Way between Langdon Beck and Dufton, you should note that the Birkdale estate is currently making a real pig’s ear of constructing estate roads between Birkdale farm and Maize Beck and that the PW flagstones are buried underneath it. The stones of this road are loosely put together and will rumble under the boots of the Pennine Wayfarer and there is some serious danger of coming a cropper on it unless extreme care is taken. You may be well advised to get the web address of a “No Win No Fee” claims company before you embark from Birkdale farm.
We went up the PW, across to the rather lovely limestone gorge on the PW flood route and back the way we came. This little gorge has a selection of fine camping spots, interesting rock formations, small caves and pools and the walls are decorated with wild flowers.
The flower-of-the-day, though was the carpets of scented wild thyme which are everywhere on the limestone bits of the moor.
Here’s a map.
It’s 14 miles.
Some of today’s pics were donated by walkers on the guided walk – notably Graeme and Jo. Ta Graeme and Jo.
Click the Mind logo to donate.
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5 comments:
That bit of road making sounds hideous.
Its 'orrible, Dawn. Somebody's going to lose their face on it!
When Dixie and I did that bit of the PW, I fell crossing the river just above the Nick, and bruised my right hip and bum pretty badly. It didn't half hurt too, but because there were people wandering around, I had to pretend that I'd meant to fall all along, and try and walk off without limping at all... I ended up taking Ibuprofen for the whole of the rest of the PW after that....
I always love pointing the pointy thing at your pics so I can read to quote you put there. Another good one for the plants would be Shakespeare's 'I know a bank where the wild thyme blows'...(In the oldest folio it reads 'a building society' instead of bank; but the bard edited it out to sound nicer I expect.) I continue to be amazed at the place names of where you walk, and hope you never run out of places like that.
Chrissie - I once fell in the beck at Blake Dean after pretending to ignore some young ladies disporting themselves in the sun on the opposite bank. #awkward...
Reifyn - I'm glad somebody hovers over the pics. I must try harder with the captions...
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