[Home] [Background and Preparation] [The Walk] [Postscript]     Day 15 Sunday 3rd June 2012 Alston to Kellah Farm Well the five blokes turned out to be ok - a mixture of cyclists and bikers (motor). There was the inevitable snoring and farting in the night but I expect I did my share and I seemed to sleep ok. After breakfast at the YH I took once more to the trail - getting a bit sated with it now and ready for the adventure to end. It was cool and cloudy but clear at the altitude I was at and no rain. Mostly low level walking, lots of sheep, lots of barren, moor-like terrain with some woody glades by streams. All fine enough but not strikingly different from what went before. Setting off through open sheep country Bridge over a stream Passing a viaduct At Knarsdale I diverted from the route by over quarter of a mile to visit the Kirkstyle Inn, a place the guide book had enthusiastically recommended. It was an enthusiasm I failed to share. I asked the plump barman for a cup of tea. 'We don't do tea.' 'Any hot drinks then?' 'Coffee.' 'OK I'll have a coffee. Have you got any cake, fruit cake or something?' 'We don't have cake. This is a pub.' An unpleasant person, I thought. I'd been to lots of pubs where they had been happy to serve up snacks and tea or coffee, but this bloke was just rude and dismissive as if the very notion was beyond the pale. I kept my first and last visit to the Kirkstyle Inn brief and unlike the author of the guide I will not be hallucinating about the place as I stride along the final furlongs. Walking through a patch of Burdock (?) The leafy banks of the South Tyne Through woodland ways... then back to open country An abandoned farm building I arrived at Kellah Farm at about 3.30, unsure of what to expect after my last farm experience, the one at Langdon Beck. This couldn't have been more different though, it was a wonderful place. All the fittings nice and clean and modern, all high quality stuff. A great lounge, warm and comfortable, and a welcoming cup of tea from Lesley who also offered to drive me to the pub later for a meal. Plus, of course, at Kellah everything wasn't plastered with shit, which I find rather nice. The Wallace Arms This was the pub Lesley drove me to for my evening meal. She dropped me off then picked me up later when I rang to say I'd finished. Very nice of her and a reasonable meal too. Distance: 14.1 miles (including a mile diversion to Kirkstyle Inn) Average speed: 2.5 mph Total ascent: 2319 feet Total Distance: 208.64 miles