So it continues. The stiffness of the legs at the end of the day, the bliss of the first sip of the pint, the ooziness of the blister / Compeed combination where you’re never too sure where one ends and the other starts. Sorry, should have posted a graphic content warning before that last.
A very pleasant stay at Ponden Guest House, and yet another place I wish we had more time to stay.
It was to be a rude awakening as soon as we left the reservoir and Ponden Hall (supposedly what Thrushcross Grange in Wuthering Heights was based upon) behind. We climbed away from the valley at what, certainly I, and many others would consider an alarmingly brisk gradient.
After a brief bit of dog avoiding and road walking, we climbed onto Oakworth Moor. It was a beautiful morning – blue sky, bright sunshine, very warm. All of the things you really don’t want when you’re walking with a full rucksack on your back, so several water stops were necessary.
After the Moor, the Way makes its way down into the outskirts of Cowling. Here we met a very pleasant gentleman who asked after our water supply situation. As it turned out this was indeed with a view to refilling our water bottles for us if it was necessary, as it was.
After Cowling, the Way then somewhat cruelly climbs the side of the valley before dumping you back down into the valley of Lothersdale. It’s a very pleasant little place though – we took advantage of The Hare & Hounds public house for a non-alcoholic pit stop. Regrettably we had to wait fifteen minutes until it was open, but sitting on the benches outside was no real hardship.
Then came the final climb of the day out of Lothersdale. After being refreshed at the pub, this went pretty well, for the first few hundred yards at least. It was also when it clouded over, so as to allow us to cool down somewhat. There was a brief breeze, but as we climbed to Pinhaw, it became quite close and humid.
Pinhaw provided wonderful views around the whole of the area – 360 degrees of views around the Southern Pennines. Marvellous. For those with time to fully appreciate said views at least. After eating an apple and chugging more water, we started on the final stretch down to Thornton. This was very much “get the job done” walking. Although, as it transpired, we’d only done 11.5 miles, for some reason it felt a lot more.
Thanks to lifts from Adam’s parents, Malham is going to be our base for the next few nights. We’ve had a lovely meal in the pub next door, during which a) I discovered that their wi-fi doesn’t like my website, and b) I was educated in the meaning of the various hollerings, groans and grunts coming from around the corner, which I believe were something to do with a sporting event of some kind.
Tomorrow, after being dropped back at Thornton, we’ll walk into Malham.
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