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Friday 25th May 2012 Gargrave to Malham Today was very easy, once more beneath blue skies but possibly a degree or so cooler which made the walking nicer. As there was no hurry I didn't set off until 9.30. The breakfast was ok, served up by a 50+ year old, stubbled Lancastrian from Clitheroe - he and his wife had bought the B&B seven years earlier and had spent a year renovating it before opening as a B&B. There was a notice in my room saying that guests couldn't wash clothes in their rooms but washing facilities were available on request. Accordingly I took a plastic bag containing a few items down to the lass and she said she'd get it done for me. I assumed this was out of the goodness of her heart, similar to the B&B owners who'd freely offered to do this for me on my John o' Groats ride. Ha, not a chance. An extra £3 on the bill. Not to worry.
Anyway I left Gargrave, a very pleasant village, at 9.30 and had an easy walk for a couple of miles. I'd arranged to meet Les Fitton and his wife, Carol, about halfway along the route to Malham. They live near Bolton but have a static caravan on the edge of the Lake District and today they'd driven from there to Malham with the aim of walking towards Gargrave to meet me and then walking back to Malham together.
In the middle of a field of grass I got a call from Les saying where he was - not so far off apparently. I carried on and on seeing a figure in a red top off to one side of the track I diverted to see if it was Les. It wasn't but I spent five minutes chatting to this bloke, a fellow walker, and then as I left him who should come striding along the way but my old pal James Corner, easily recognizable from afar by the bright yellow rain-cover on his rucksack. (James-Corner.blogspot.co.uk or http://countrycorners.wordpress.com/). I walked along a way with James and on cresting a rise we saw a couple in the distance, accompanied by a dog. It could only be Les but rather weirdly he started off in the opposite direction as soon as we appeared. Of course he was expecting a solitary figure and had thought he'd missed me - or just got fed up of waiting. A loud cry of 'Oi, Les!' attracted his attention and we joined up. James soon forged ahead as he was due to meet his wife and a couple of friends in Malham so I ambled along with Les and Carol, a very friendly pair.
The walking was easy, only one steep bit, and the only occasional concern was cows and calfs in the fields as Les and Carol had their Cairn Terrier, Bodach ('Old Man') with them. No troubles though. We arrived in Malham by about 1.00, too early to check into the B&B I'd booked (Miresfield Farm, £32) so we entered the Buck Inn for a pint. Who should be there already, of course, but James. His wife hadn't turned up yet so we sat with him and chatted over three pints of Thwaites' finest.
Mrs Corner and chums eventually turned up and James left with them. Shortly after Les and Carol prepared to leave but generously offered to take some of my load to Horton for me. I left them my tent, sleeping bag, Thermarest, two spare maps and my fleece, making my sac a good deal lighter. Unfortunately I left my wallet and credit cards in the fleece but just had to hope it'd be ok. A very nice village, Malham, very picturesque and I received a friendly welcome at the B&B. In the evening I repaired to the other pub in the village, the Listers Inn, and had a stodgy but filling cheese and onion pie and chips washed down with another pint of Thwaites.
The terrain today had been mostly grassy hills and rolling pastures with sheep, the odd horse, and cattle, some with young. No peat bogs or moors today, just farmland, dry stone walls and flowering hedgerows. Distance: 7.54 miles Average speed: 2.1 mph Total ascent: 2132 feet Total Distance: 85.04 miles | |||||||
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