Something to do in 2018

And you know, many people come up to me and say “Get out of my bathroom I’m calling the police”

Many bloggers (read “some” bloggers) (actually, one blogger) are, currently writing things about “wot I did in 2017” and quoting several statistics such as the number of bananas they ate on their walks, how many times they insulted a herd of cattle and what they’d like to do in a Youth Hostel dorm when all the lights go out.

By way of contrast, I’ve been struggling with my TGO challenge route. I have the route, but measuring and descibing the fecker in understandable terms is, for some reason or other, a real pain in the crampons.

So I gave up.

Instead, I’ve created a route which joins up several pubs in the Durham Dales. For completeness, the route starts just outsid County Durham, a few yars inside Northumberland, in fact, and ends in North Yorkshire, a similar number of yards beyond the border.

But, for completeness, and to avoid any driving after all that beer, it has an extension to Kirkby Stephen, in Cumbria, which has a railway station quite a distance outside the city centre, nonetheless, but in consolationj, it also has a fine selection of pubs, shops, chippies, cafe’s and public toilets for the entertainment whilst waiting for a train or a bus.

The route begins at The Lord Crewe Arms at Blanchland and it goes like this:

Blanchland to Edmundbyers 5 miles (2 drinking opportunities (DO’s))

Edmundbyers to Stanhope 9 miles (3 or 4 DOOs)

Stanhope to Rookhope  6 miles (at least 1 DO)

Rookhope to Westgate  4 miles (1 DO  and, possibly the best steaks in Co Durham) (Just sayin’)

Westgat to St Johns Chapel 2 miles (2 DOs and 2 tearooms)

St Johns Chapel to Cowshill 3 miles (1 DO)

Cowshill to Langdon Beck 8 miles (1 DO)

Langdon Beck to High Force 3 miles (1 DO)

High Force to Holwick 2 miles (1 DO)

Holwick to Middleton in Teesdale 4 miles (?4 DO’s)

Middleton in Teesdale to Mickleton 2 miles (?1 DO’s)

Mickleton to Eggleston 3 miles (?2 DO’s)

Eggleston to Romaldkirk 1.5 miles (2 DO’s)

Romaldkirk to Cotherstone 2.5 miles (1 DO)

Cotherstone to Bowes 8 miles (?2 DO’s)

Bowes to Tan Hill 8 miles (1 DO)

Tan Hill to Kirkby Stephen (optional extension) (Multiple DO’s)

Clearly, I need to explore this further.

The challenge, should anybody be rash enough to take it, would be to attempt to drink in all the establishments on the list which will eventually be published on this very blog. From previous experience, many will be closed when you arrive. There may be too many pubs in one day for comfort and for a happy bladder and some will have been converted into private homes. Others will have grumpy landlords/landladies, and others will be absolute stars.  For those with dogs, they might not let you in and there will be cattle, horses and surly gamekeepers protecting the lives of their grouse and pheasants so they can be killed later.  And you doctor/cardiac nurse/diabetic nurse/dietitian will not approve of this type of thing. But your life is but short anyway. If you don’t die of this, you will die of that, and that could well be a lot worse than this.

Pics are from 2017 walks in a random order or fashion

Happy New Year.