The Pennine Way, part 5

Wednesday 15th April 2009 

 

Sleightholme/Bowes Moor and Teesdale 

 

I had to really push myself for this walk, even though I had no big hills to climb, since I had over twenty-five miles to cover and after starting from Tan Hill Inn at 9.30 am, I arrived at the Langdon Beck Youth Hostel 8½ hours later. This was an exercise in sheer determination and stamina as I pushed myself into maintaining a constant speed of 3 miles an hour throughout the day. All through the walk I somehow managed to keep this up, constantly keeping my eyes on the GPS device in my hand, checking the time, speed and distance as I travelled. To make things a little more interesting the weather, particularly in the morning, was abysmal. There was a drenching mist and zero visibility as I set off from Tan Hill Inn across the wet, inhospitable heathland of Sleightholme Moor blindly following a faint path through the bog. Navigation was tricky and the scenery was non-existent, nevertheless I pushed on utilizing all my experience in walking in these conditions to stay on the Pennine Way. 

 

The bog underfoot eased slightly after a while, and then the path improved significantly as I joined a wide track, Sleightholme Moor Road, where I was able to put on a sprint and demolish the miles. At Sleightholme Farm my pace slowed as I crossed farm land and the Sleightholme Beck before descending to the busy A66 trunk road. Just before reaching the road I crossed over an intriguing spectacle that made me stop my haste: God’s Bridge. This is a natural rock bridge over the River Greta and is not an uncommon sight in the limestone districts of the northern counties, but is still a fascinating and welcome sight of rock on an otherwise uninteresting, boggy walk. Moving away from this natural curiosity I could no longer ignore the noise coming from the A66; this intrusion of civilization into the eerie silence and bleakness of the open moor was an unwelcome shock and I had no desire to stay near it any longer than necessary. 

 

After going through the underpass I quickly pulled away from the road crossing yet more bleak heather-clad moorland where no one would dream of walking in this weather unless completing the Pennine Way. There is nothing of any interest in Bowes Moor, just a wide, featureless moor as I passed over various dull, low hills and crossed Deepdale. If I never have to walk across this moor again I will be very happy and even though the weather had eased slightly, becoming drier and with wider views, it didn’t make the moorland crossing any more enjoyable. I simple kept my head down and kept going, eventually starting to descend towards a series of reservoirs and some semblance of civilization in Baldersdale. There was still little of interest besides a nature reserve around the reservoirs so I climbed back out of the valley over the headland where I found yet another series of reservoirs, in Lunedale. Once again I had to descend to the bottom of the valley before climbing back up the hill and somehow dragged myself up Harter Fell, the biggest hill on the walk, where there is a distinctive circle of trees at the eastern end, Kirkcarrion (in fact, the highest point on the walk was at the start, at Tan Hill Inn). After passing over the top of the hill I quickly descended the open grassy hillside of Crossthwaite Common into the final valley of the day, the awesome Teesdale, where I quickly nipped into the town of Middleton to a newsagents for something to eat.

I now had just eight miles of easy walking ahead of me and all of them beside the River Tees along a stretch of river that must rank as one of the finest in the country. The walk was made a delight by the sheer beauty of the river and the many waterfalls that populate it, not least the awesome High Force, possibly the biggest waterfall in the country, certainly the most impressive. After paying recently to see some of the waterfalls it was quite satisfying to be able to see this one for free even though the crowds on other bank had paid for the pleasure. Despite my rush I lingered at High Force and at a number of places beside the river recalling an afternoon I spent here in 2004 in better weather, and at a more leisurely pace. With this highlight of the day's walking over I rushed on to try and keep to my schedule, eventually arriving at the youth hostel at exactly six o'clock, precisely the time I had been aiming for.

 

Unfortunately all my effort was in vain as I was soon told that the hostel was in fact closed, despite the fact that I had paid for bed and breakfast that night. Thankfully the volunteer who had been working there let me stay the night and even let me accompany him to the local pub for dinner. With hindsight I wish I’d got the message that the YHA said they thought they had been given me back in January as it would have easier for me to have to spend the night in a B&B in Middleton, and not need to rush throughout the day. I could have taken my time, however in the poor weather I had, particularly in the morning, and the dull landscape, there wasn’t much to linger over. Still it would have been better to have been able to have taken my time over the riverside walk. It was a tragedy to have hurried at that stage for it is quite simply one of the loveliest sections of the whole Pennine Way.