Too Old Codgers

Statistics:
distance - 17 miles
moving speed – 2.8 mph
start – 8.45 am
finish – 6.30 pm
moving – 6h 10m

Graham went for a walk before breakfast intending to see Glenridding, but a heron, swan and cygnets, dippers and the reflections on Ullswater were too photogenic to pass by. He hurried back to breakfast without seeing Glenridding. And breakfast was worth hurrying back for – fresh fruit salad and a big cooked breakfast for Graham and Mary had cheesy scrambled egg. Before leaving we had another chat with the landlady while she compiled our lunch – this was one of the friendlier places on the walk.

'Swan, cygnets and reflections on Ullswater'

At 8.45 we set off, walking the length of Patterdale past the church, Patterdale Hotel, the White Lion and Patterdale Stores. At Godrill Beck we were delayed by a builder's truck being driven ever so slowly over the bridge with an inch or two to spare on each side. Ahead of us we could see a long string of people straggling up to Boredale Hause. The climb up to Boredale Hause opened up views behind us over Ullswater and Glenridding, to our right up Grisedale, Striding Edge and St Sunday Crag, and ahead to Brothers Water and Kirkstone Pass. When we got close to the hause, a group of four people we had seen at both Grasmere and Patterdale were obviously deciding on the correct route. One of the group headed off directly east along the best defined of the many paths, another two followed at some distance leaving the other poring over a map and pointing south. We thought the last of the four was correct and headed south. The last time we saw them, three were standing on a clifftop peering down into Boredale and the other was following reluctantly.

'View back to Patterdale, Grisedale and the Hellvellyn ridge'

'Brothers Water'

'Angle Tarn'

We met three young blokes coming down towards us, who confirmed we were on the path to Angle Tarn. The Tarn was as beautiful as we had remembered it, shimmering brilliantly under an overcast sky. Across the Tarn we could see the Tassie two some distance ahead. Near the tarn we solved a puzzle that we had wondered about for weeks. We often saw crescent shaped excavations beside the paths we had walked. Here we saw a sheep rubbing against the side of one of the 'excavations' – they were sheep scratching holes.

Past the tarn and Satura Crag, we stopped at 11am on a rock shelf for morning tea. From this vantage point we could watch people climbing up from Hayeswater, and we had a clear view of Rest Dodd, an unplanned detour on our 2010 C2C. Once we reached the saddle below Rest Dodd we understood how we had taken the wrong path in 2010, for the same reason as the four at Boredale Hause – the distinct path is not the C2C path. This time we were aware of the potential error and headed for the Knott. We stopped for a chat with a couple of Hartsopp residents on one of their regular jaunts to Hayeswater then up to Angle Tarn and back home – how wonderful to be able to do such a walk from the doorstep.

'Morning tea, Rest Dodd in the background'

After skirting the summit of the Knott and walking towards High Street, we reached the turnoff for Kidsty Pike. Graham still wondered about his planned route over High Street, but his wondering ceased when clouds started rolling across the flanks of High Street. So we turned towards Kidsty Pike to see a group of walkers at the summit and another larger group heading for it. We followed along and caught the larger group as they were leaving the summit. They were doing a charity walk to raise funds for Leicester Hospice, with two guides who had led such walks many times previously. One of the guides offered to take our picture. From the summit we could just make out the cement mill at Shap, still 10 miles of walking away.

'Clouds rolling across the flank of High Street'

'Crowds gathering on Kidsty Pike'

'The too old codgers at Kidsty Pike summit'

Part way down to Haweswater we caught up with the Leicester 10 who had stopped to regroup as some of the less agile lagged behind. Having passed them we rushed down the ridge to stay ahead of the fitter members of the party. That was tough on legs and knees. We had planned to stop for lunch near a pretty little waterfall on Randale Beck near the edge of Haweswater. When we arrived we found the Tassie two enjoying their lunch near the beck. We didn't want to disturb their peace, so headed off in search of another spot.

'The Leicester 10 and Tassie two descend from Kidsty Pike'

'Mary approaching Haweswater'

We decided we would walk until we had covered 10 miles so we wouldn't have so far to go after lunch. We climbed over the shoulder of Birks Crag and down to another little waterfall, then up again over the rock fall area, from where we could see sunrays streaming down over the lake. At the next creek crossing we saw a red squirrel scampering along a drystone wall. As Graham pressed the shutter of his camera, the squirrel jumped up into an overhanging tree. It was only when we got back to Australia that we realised the picture caught the tail and hind legs of the squirrel as it disappeared into the foliage. Part of the stone wall had collapsed providing a comfortable place to sit and we had walked 9.7 miles, so we stopped for lunch in the vain hope we would see the squirrel again.

'Sunrays over Haweswater'

As we lunched on ham and mustard sandwiches we saw the Tassie two approaching and at the same time heard increasingly loud honking. The cause soon appeared as a flock of hundreds of migrating geese flew over. We had been seeing smaller flocks for the past two weeks, but nothing as impressive as this flock.

After a cool, cloudy morning the sky was clearing during the afternoon to reveal a bright, hot sun. The sky and the lake changed from grey to blue.

'Blue sky over blue Haweswater'

At the end of the lake we again met the Tassie two at Burnbanks. It was the last time we were to see them. They were staying at Bampton Grange and would be one or two days behind us for the rest of the walk.

From Burnbanks we walked through the delightful woods along Haweswater Beck. We turned away from the beck to cross fields towards Rosgill bridge. Along the way we could see the church and pub at Bampton Grange where we had stayed in 2010. We knew we were reaching the edge of the Lakes national park when signs were appearing to make walking easier. Shap Abbey appeared, but we had seen it on our previous C2C and decided that getting to Shap was a higher priority than seeing the charming Abbey ruins again.

'Haweswater Beck'

'Shap Abbey and the River Lowther'

'Signs appeared, making walking easier'

We got to Shap at around 6pm and decided we deserved a drink before reaching our B&B. We went into the first pub and all conversations stopped as people turned and stared. We turned and walked out. The second pub was marginally better (no ice, no lemonade) so we had our usual (Jennings and a double scotch whisky) and left. As we walked up the main street to our B&B, our progress was blocked by a flock of sheep being herded across the road. We had booked Brookfield House B&B after reading glowing reviews of the B&B and the landlady Margaret. We reached the B&B at 6.30 and were shown to a comfortable room from which we watched a glorious sunset over Kidsty Pike.

'Sheep herded across Shap's main street'

'Arriving at Brookfield House B&B'

'Sunset over Kidsty Pike (left on horizon)'

After a shower we walked back to the third pub, the Greyhound, for dinner. We had to wear coats because it was much cooler. Graham sampled a Hawkshead Brewery beer and lamb Henry that were both very good, and Mary had brie wedges with salad and chips and a pinot grigio that were very pleasant. We were surprised when our hosts from Grisedale Lodge in Patterdale turned up for dinner. We had a pleasant chat over dinner. They had no bookings at their B&B for this evening so decided to go for a walk. They were disappointed that we had booked Brookfield House so they were unable to stay with their friend Margaret – apparently she was restricting her bookings to one room per night at that stage. When we got back to the B&B we had a long chat with Margaret before going to bed at 10pm.

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