Dufton to Haltwhistle - Wednesday, 29th August
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| Views over to the Lake District from the excellent Alanholme campsite |
37 miles cycled
A cold night gave way to a glorious day. Failed to leave by 9:00...
Quite country lanes through the Eden Valley, with views over to the Lakes, brought us to pretty Melmerby and breakfast at its 'Stores and Tearoom'. Still reeling from the bank holiday, we discovered their kitchen shut and have to settle for the shop's pies and sandwiches to satisfy us.
Afterwards David discovers, on his phone, the small sign we saw to the bakery actually points the way to a bakery-with-a-café. Sigh.
Ah yes, Faffmeister David and his phone. Ever conscious of the time we lost at the beginning of the trip due to, amongst other things, the inefficient navigation, we start relying on Mrs. Google's directions via David's phone.
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| Breakfast pies at Melmerby. The kitchen's closed on a Wednesday (obviously, why wouldn't it be?), but the shop is open. |
Its faff time well spent because it means less errors. But Keith and I grind our teeth waiting for the faff to end...
We have a hard climb today out of the Eden Valley over Hartside Pass, which started in earnest after we leave Renwick.
Half way up, in which there was already a fare bit of walking involved, I suggested 'just for a laugh' we take the off road route to the top.
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| Because my camera's screen was broke, I didn't always realise the knob on the top had moved... |
Good grief I thought Keith was going to kill me...
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| ...hence the odd black n white shot. Nice effect though. |
We practically had to carry the bikes over bogs, steep craggy paths and streams.
But oh what fun.
At the 1900ft summit, along with outstanding views, we found the burnt out remains of Hartside Café. It burnt down when the snow was so deep the fire engine couldn't reach it.
By utter contrast the long descent to Alston was perfectly graded. With almost no need to peddle we glided for 5 glorious miles.
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| The Faffmeister |
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| Eee, luxury |
Lunch at Blueberry's Teashop, Alston.
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| Lunch. |
The outdoor shop was having a sale so I bought some drybags. Rude not to, really...
I did have a reason though, the rain cover for my panniers was not rain proof. Bit of a design flaw there.
The easy going through country lanes...
.. were painless until a small incident involving a short downhill, a small bridge, a sudden increase in gradient followed by a sharp left hand bend and a numpty on a bike who failed to change down gear fast enough.
The going got even easier when we hit more old railway at Slaggyford.
Wildlife seen on the way were two barn owls out during the day and a 'road kill' ('dismantled-railway kill'?) squirrel.
I only mention the squirrel because the extreme unlikelyhood of a squirrel getting caught out by a bike. Perhaps it was deaf. And blind. And it had a limp...
When we reached Lambley the NCN 68 was forced to detour up and over a short hill before re-joining the railway, missing out Lambley Viaduct with its extensive views across the beautiful South Tyne river.
The detour's because of an obstinate land owner Sustrans couldn't persuade into letting cyclists use the railway that crosses his land for a few yards.
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| Harebells |
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| Scabious |
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| Grass an' stuff |
We doubled back and had a look.
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| Views with a lot of extensiveness |
By then it had passed 7:00 and we were eager to push on to our target for the day; Haltwhistle Camping and Caravanning Club site, just South of the town. It took non-members.
We had a warm welcome and a flat pitch for a very reasonable price.
The only downside was that there were no nearby places to eat. We had the phone numbers for three taxi firms and as many take-aways.
The taxis were 'not working tonight' and the take-aways were either shut, didn't answer or didn't deliver.
That was the only time we were caught out. Cold rations and an early night.
Unfortunately, it was also another cold night....
37 miles. We had got fitter. Overall the days were less arduous and the recovery times after a particularly steep hill were shorter. David had leapt from the back of the pack to the front. For the first time since the disappointingly slow start we actually start to think we may make our train home!
Summery despatch:
"Long day today 37 miles over a 1900 metre pass.
Camped just short of Haltwhistle.
Small casualty but nothing a hot blade couldn't sort out.
Failed to find provisions tonight, we are forced to draw straws.
Send money."
Signal from Basecamp:
"Looking at Heston's Roadkill Recipes book.
Badger pie or squirrel.
Either of the aforementioned recipes you could knock up quickly especially squirrel kabab.
Dinesh and I were looking at your progress on the map.
Astounding!
He sends his best wishes as we all do.
Money and provisions on the way."
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