Day 11

Once Brewed to Kellah (August 2013)
13 miles
Weather - cloudy to start, clearing later with sunny intervals and a warm breeze

On the trail by 9:00am and just us on the path.  This section is very up and very down so my trusty stick came in very handy today.  Windshield Crags came and went and we were buzzed by fighter jets.  As the morning progressed we met more walkers who were all very happy to chat.  We met a couple from Cannock who were bikers.  We met the Italians again - the young lady was not feeling so good and was planning to catch the bus at Greenhead.  Her partner was looking super stylish with his mini-sou'wester hat.  We stopped at Cawfield Crags to use the handy loos and then before we knew it we reached Walltown Crags where we had lunch.  There were toilets (spoilt today) and a shop selling tea, ices-cream, sandwiches, gifts, postcards and blister plasters (they know their market).  We took the opportunity to buy and write postcards whilst enjoying a cup of tea.  The very kind lady running the shop said she would post the cards - a lovely lady and a lovely place.  

Next on the trail was a romantic ruin - Thirlwall Castle.  This was closely followed by a walk into Greenhead via a path flanked by a river,  railway and wild raspberries.  At Greenhead we left the Hadrian's Wall Trail and had to negotiate crossing the fast and furious A69.  We waited for a lull in the traffic and scuttled over accompanied by a friendly wave and blow of a horn  from a lorry driver.  Up an embankment to a stile and our first encounter with a Pennine Journey waymarker.  The next section was vague.  We were looking for a ladder stile, half right at the end of a row of Hawthornes.  We eventually found it after wading through long marsh grass and tussocks with no discernible track.  

For the next section of the trail we re-joined the Pennine Way which I do not think we had encountered since Tan Hill last year.  It was all going very well for five minutes, then we saw the cows, then we saw the calves and finally we saw the bull.  They were all stood on the path ahead between us and the next stile. 

Now, usually bulls in fields with cows and calves do not take an interest in walkers.  This one was very interested.  He stood on the path and turned to look at us with his mean, beady eyes and his nose ring glinting.  Mrs C and I had the same thought - we looked at each other, looked at the bull and decided that this bull would not let us pass without a fight.  There was not a way round - this was a very large field.  We turned about and headed purposefully back to the last stile - let us call it a dignified retreat.  At a safe distance we consulted the map.  There did not seem to be any paths or routes to take us round this field so we decided to head back towards Greenhead to the hamlet of Bankhope and follow the minor roads to Kellah.  This was an interesting walk along a neglected, little used path.  There was a steep decent into Bankhope via negoiating a fallen tree across the path.  We were looking for the minor road to Kellah and asked two very kind gentlemen who were happy to help and gave us clear instructions whilst saying, "You're walking!  All the way to Kellah?".  We paused at Bleckinsop Castle which is a ruined castle and, by the way, is up for sale for £1.75m.  We then found the road and yomped along it for 2 1/2 miles to our next B&B at Kellah.  Obviously my  2p offering to the god Mithras, The Bull God, was not enough.  It should have been at least a goat sacrifice to make sure the path was clear of bulls across Bleckinsop Common.

We arrived at  Kellah B&B at 6:00pm and had tea and biscuits in the lounge with our landlady and two other guests, a farmer and his wife from Cork, Ireland. We had dinner at the Greenhead Hotel - lovely meal and friendly staff.