LEJOG day 34: Cowling to Malham

Today's walk honestly could not have been more different from the two days before: we've swapped peat bog and bleakness for the rolling green Yorkshire Dales and I could not be more thankful, however brief the intermission may turn out to be.

We had a day off in Cowling, and on the advice of our hosts spent as little of it as possible actually in Cowling, instead having a minor adventure on a series of rural buses to get to Haworth, home of the Brontës - who we think of as very short-lived and tragic but who actually all exceeded average life expectancy for Haworth in the mid-19th century- and had a proper geek-fest at the really well done Brontë Parsonage Museum, as well as eating a lot, enjoying the sunshine with an ice cream, and going a little overboard on snack purchases on our way home such that my backpack was too full for my lunch today. (Happily Sarah has more self-control and thus enough room in hers for both our lunches.)

Today we walked a long way but it felt much easier, on account of both the weather and the landscape. We gladly swapped mist, wind and driving rain for slightly cloudy sunshine and some slight mugginess and moors and peat bogs and paths made of knee-high boulders for slightly worn grass across fields full of sheep. Today we bounded along! We helped Sarah partially overcome her bovine anxiety and had multiple stops for snacks and tea sitting by rivers and in a tearoom in Gargrave and generally felt very much like we were on holiday- and, in my case, like I was back in Devon, possibly so far my favourite bit of the whole journey. We arrived earlier than we expected to at the so far very nice youth hostel in Malham and have had a lovely dinner at the coach Inn next door, and things are altogether pleasant.

Distance walked: 17.19 miles
Time taken: 6h28
Percentage completed: 47.1%
Miles per £1 of boot: 4.37
Lunch: two tuna and cucumber rolls, a packet of crisps and a real Penguin bar; snacks included a banana, a square of chocolate, a hunk of malt loaf, an apple and a chocolate flapjack
Last night's B&B: Woodland House, Cowling: absolutely lovely hosts and a nice place to stay. We were greeted with tea and cake which remains my marker of a stellar B&B.

 Everything must be connected to the Brontës!



 If one arch is good...




Comments

  1. Nell - Gardening in Wales2 June 2017 at 09:05

    What a great bridge .... and some wonderful scenery. Let's hope you have a lot more good days like this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Latti2 June 2017 at 19:11

    Louise. We also have been in Woodland House. So lovely people. Good that you had a great day at thge pennine way . We really likedcit so much. But it is demanding. I once read it is the king way of the national long distance ways and no one should miss it...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Latti2 June 2017 at 19:11

    Lovely pics. We remember it well...

    ReplyDelete

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