Wednesday, 8th August.
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring. This is how I envisaged today’s walk, mile by mile (don’t bother counting, there are 14). It’s quite hard to devise a coast to coast route across Britain that hasn’t got any boring bits, even in Scotland. And of course in my case by boring I mean flat. I suppose somebody who finds flat parts interesting might enjoy today and find the hilly bits, well, awful.
‘The’ Coast to Coast Walk has the same boring bit as this walk, just further north; a flat expanse separating the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. The aim in my eyes is to get across it as quickly as possible, but the Bay 2 Bay seems to want to faff about in it for a while. So today’s route meandered around and didn’t finish as far away from the start as it should have.
Last night I had the nicest meal of the trip so far: chicken stuffed with Brie, wrapped in Parma ham and served with Mediterranean vegetables. For some reason it was listed on the menu as chicken supreme, which does it a great disservice. My room was also great, as was breakfast, so a successful stopover all in all.
During breakfast I had a sudden urge to order two doom metal records online, which I duly did from a shop in the Netherlands. I suspect this was the result of receiving subliminal satanic messages during my sleep. Honestly Jen, it really was, this village is powerful! It was also during breakfast that I decided to make today more interesting by typing the blog on my phone as I went along, mile by mile, as it would be so boring that I wouldn’t need to see where I was going for most of the time. I could also use a boredom rating, as unusually I don’t think I’ve rated anything out of 10 on this trip yet. So here are the Day 7 live updates (sort of):
Mile 1. Through Snape village followed by pretty uninteresting farmland (but I survived unharmed!). Passed a man with 2 dogs. One was a collie and I like collies. Boredom Rating: 6
Mile 2. A quite interesting mile through a stately home’s grounds, littered with horse jumps and strange miniature buildings. Passed a boy and a girl with 2 dogs; one appeared to be blind. Also the path passed through the garden of a semi-detached house! BR: 2
Yes it really is this way!
Mile 3. Boring farmland followed by a housing estate on the edge of Bedale. Was heading towards a woman with 2 dogs but when she saw me she turned and went the other way, quickly. BR: 8
Mile 4. Through Bedale town centre which included a coffee stop, so not really boring at all. Bedale reminds me a bit of Mold (with fewer charity shops and hairdressers), with the high street leading up to the church. Out via a pleasant, tree-lined path. BR: 2
Mile 5. Along a road. Followed a man looking down at his phone the entire time, probably doing exactly the same thing as me. BR: 9
Mile 6. It’s all kicked off! Through a short path of nettles and thistles to junction 51 of the A1(M). Through a revised road system on the cycle path, alongside the A684, past a service station and along another road. Awful but not boring so I don’t know what to do now. BR: n/a
So it’s fourth exit off the first roundabout, then straight ahead at the second.
Mile 7. Through dull farmland, made a bit more interesting by watching the wheat being harvested. BR: 6
Mile 8. Path irrelevant as it involved a pub stop in Scruton village. I was peckish but it was too early for lunch so I settled for a pint of Wainwright’s to plug the gap. BR: 0
Mile 9. Turnips. Many, many turnips. Then a nettly path up a railway embankment, a walk ALONG the railway, more nettles and another crossing of the A684. BR: 5
Yes it really is this way (again)!
Mile 10. Along a bridleway through farmland. BR: 8
Mile 11. Still on the bridleway. Eating lunch on the hoof. BR: 9
Mile 12. The bridleway is now on an embankment alongside the river. I’m shepherding about 300 sheep. It’s lovely and fun! BR: 0
Mile 13. Why did I have to leave the river? Will this bloody bridleway never end? BR: 10
Mile 14. No more, please! BR:10
Mile 15. Why is there a Mile 15?! It was only 14 miles when I measured it on the map with string. Finally turned off the bridleway onto a path alongside a dead straight horse gallop. It’s a mile long. BR: 10
Mile 16. Lane to my accommodation. At least I can see the finish now. BR: 9
Well that passed the time I suppose. As for my accommodation, well I’m not quite in South Otterington yet. When I was planning the walk I could find nothing in the area except the Solberge Hall Hotel, a former stately home and now a renowned wedding venue, apparently. The lady at reception seemed to accept my dishevelled appearance but couldn’t seem to accept that I’d walked here, as presumably nobody ever has before. In the end I wrote ‘no car’ in the Car Reg’ box and she seemed happy simply to have something in all of the spaces on the form.
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