7 1/4 miles
Weather - sunny, then cloudy, stiff breeze on the tops, warm in the valleys
A good breakfast and we were off on our new adventure into the hills. The trains were on time but you do need to be on your toes at Manchester Airport railway station as the trains are liable to switch platforms at the last moment. I've a feeling the railway staff do this to make the working day more interesting. There were lots of people looking bewitched, bothered and bewildered as they struggled to carry their luggage and find their elusive, slippery, platform switching trains. Once on the correct train we met a Californian couple who were off to Lytham for the Open Golf tournament - I wonder what they thought of the chaos... We had one change at Preston which went surprisingly smoothly as we stepped off one train straight on to the next. Carrying just one ruck sack and no extra luggage is proving to be a boon.
We arrived in Settle in fine sunshine to find the town full of bikers - including a chapter of Hells' Angels called Satan's Helpers. There wasn't a lot of Devil worshipping going on but there was plenty of tea and cake worshipping in the Naked Man Cafe. After some tea and cake we were off up the steep path of Constitution Hill and soon we were both hot and blowing like a pair of steam engines. The Pennine Journey makes good use of the many existing paths and here we were following the Pennine Bridleway - a path we were familiar with from last year's epic walk A Dales High Way
We walked through Langcliffe which is a typical Yorkshire Dales village. The church was serving teas and they had a bric a brac stall but we had no time to browse or spare capacity to carry interesting purchases.We then carried on to Stainforth down a steep and rocky path and attempted to ford the river by the handily placed stepping stones. Anyone who knows me well will know my aversion to stepping stones and these were no exception. Discretion, as always, is the better part of valour and we took a detour over a handy bridge... In my defence the river was quite high and one of the stones had been swept down stream. After Stainforth we were walking over rolling moorland with limestone outcrops. Mrs C helped a Duke of Edinburgh group with their navigation. They were looking for Malham but were heading for Settle. Our next encounter was a herd of cows with calves but we manfully strode through the field and skirted round as many as we could. Of course, most of them had decided to have a meeting by the stile...
PenyGent was in full view now and looking magnificent and moody. For a change it didn't have it's usual mantle of cloud. We continued our walk in the warm sunshine along byways, moorland paths and over a lot of stiles. We saw cranesbill, clover, thistle, red campion and buttercups in the hedges. We saw a pair of curlews who flew very close and I suspect we were near their nesting chicks. We also saw wheatears, swifts, crows, wagtails and rabbits.
We arrived in Horton late afternoon and retired to the Golden Lion for a celebratory glass of wine - day one done and dusted. We were staying at Broadcroft House B&B which is a splendid establishment. A beautiful room with bathrobes and slippers! Top tip from Mrs C today was 'How to wash clothes whilst having a shower' - put your clothes in the shower tray whilst you shower and hey presto the clothes get washed whilst you do! Second top tip of the day from Mrs C. 'How to help your washed clothes to dry' - roll clothes in a towel for a few minutes and this will get rid of excess water - brilliant!
Brilliant
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