A stroll along the Swale

After a "romantic" night in the most remote of our B&Bs, that involved beef chilli, rhubarb trifle and log fires we had a bumpy lift up the drive in the owner's Landrover so we could start our day at Keld. Elizabeth was still with us and we met Auntie Anne & John by the pub before we headed off.

It was a beautiful misty morning when we left, that slowly burned off, giving us some great views along the river. The Swale is such a colour, the peat and iron deposits making it take on an almost pink colour in the sun and that of a fine Yorkshire Ale when the sun pops behind a cloud.

We stopped at Gunnerside for lunch. We were hopping to get a nice drink in the pub, but sadly like so many country establishments it has closed. The main challenge of the day was the number of stone wall styles we had to cross, we decided that Yorkshire walking is not for people larger than a size 6!

We stopped my Isles Bridge for a bit of a feet dip in the river. Elizabeth cunningly produced a small bottle of fizz from her bag so that we could have a little toast to my mum, dad and step-dad.

We turned up in Reeth about 5.30ish having done 14 miles. Anne's longest walk to date.  The Dales Bike centre were very welcome and we got a little excited that we had wi-fi signal. We had a grand dinner in the Grinton Bridge, where we learnt some great Cumbrian definitions. All in all a great morale boost for me and Urs.