C2C once more 2
- england long-walks yorkshire
My train is running late, and I almost get off one stop too soon, because there have been no announcements about any delays.
But not to worry. I meet Ashley at McDonalds. I had no idea what she looked like, but she’s the only outdoorsy-looking person who’s smiling at me. Kat and Alan materialise as well, and we contemplate our options for getting to Shap, our starting point of the walk, while also getting the car to Orton, tonight’s finish line. We agree on the most complicated and expensive (and probably only) option: Kat and I take a taxi to Orton, with A&A following us in their car which they leave at the hotel in Orton, then join us in the taxi to backtrack a bit to Shap.
Outside the George Hotel in Orton, A&A faff around a bit with their gear and their car, and a woman comes out to ask if we want to check in. On noticing us, her cleaner got worried because she hasn’t yet cleaned the place. We tell her we’ll be back in a few hours. She says her cleaner is quite slow and we should take our time.
Day 1
In Shap, we finally start walking. Shap was our finish line when we did the first part of the C2C, five long years ago. I still remember the pain in my feet after a very long walk which also went over Kidsty Pike, the highest point of the whole C2C. The word “Erschoepfungsbruch” comes to mind - bone fracture due to exhaustion. Arriving at the ruins of Shap Abbey, we were feeling like ruins ourselves, and I didn’t appreciate the long walk to the supposedly best pub of the town.
But today, I’m still fresh, fairly fit, and well rested. Also, the Lakes are said to be the hardest part of the C2C, so it should be easy from here on. The weather is pleasant, we walk past a farm where a woman is rebuilding a dry stone wall. She tells us that they have to tear it down and rebuild it every year to get the tractor through.
We meet a few excitable Americans who are looking for prehistoric sites. There will be many more to come: excitable Americans as well as prehistoric sites.
After a leisurely first day, we arrive in Orton and stop at Kennedy’s, a chocolate factory. The showers and pub. We’re enjoying our pints when suddenly a minibus-load of young farmers storms the bar and the loos. It’s a boogie bus. A&A explain the concept. In the countryside, the young people go out this way: a minibus takes them from pub to pub, where they have a wee and buy a bottle of beer, which they then have in the bus on their way to the next village. It’s a spectacle, and over as suddenl;y as it started. 15 minutes later no trace of the young farmers is left - although I’m not going to have a closer look at the loos.
We get sleepy, but take a wander around town before bed, visiting a dark church and an ancient graveyard, and watching the stars.
But not to worry. I meet Ashley at McDonalds. I had no idea what she looked like, but she’s the only outdoorsy-looking person who’s smiling at me. Kat and Alan materialise as well, and we contemplate our options for getting to Shap, our starting point of the walk, while also getting the car to Orton, tonight’s finish line. We agree on the most complicated and expensive (and probably only) option: Kat and I take a taxi to Orton, with A&A following us in their car which they leave at the hotel in Orton, then join us in the taxi to backtrack a bit to Shap.
Outside the George Hotel in Orton, A&A faff around a bit with their gear and their car, and a woman comes out to ask if we want to check in. On noticing us, her cleaner got worried because she hasn’t yet cleaned the place. We tell her we’ll be back in a few hours. She says her cleaner is quite slow and we should take our time.
Day 1
In Shap, we finally start walking. Shap was our finish line when we did the first part of the C2C, five long years ago. I still remember the pain in my feet after a very long walk which also went over Kidsty Pike, the highest point of the whole C2C. The word “Erschoepfungsbruch” comes to mind - bone fracture due to exhaustion. Arriving at the ruins of Shap Abbey, we were feeling like ruins ourselves, and I didn’t appreciate the long walk to the supposedly best pub of the town.
But today, I’m still fresh, fairly fit, and well rested. Also, the Lakes are said to be the hardest part of the C2C, so it should be easy from here on. The weather is pleasant, we walk past a farm where a woman is rebuilding a dry stone wall. She tells us that they have to tear it down and rebuild it every year to get the tractor through.
We meet a few excitable Americans who are looking for prehistoric sites. There will be many more to come: excitable Americans as well as prehistoric sites.
After a leisurely first day, we arrive in Orton and stop at Kennedy’s, a chocolate factory. The showers and pub. We’re enjoying our pints when suddenly a minibus-load of young farmers storms the bar and the loos. It’s a boogie bus. A&A explain the concept. In the countryside, the young people go out this way: a minibus takes them from pub to pub, where they have a wee and buy a bottle of beer, which they then have in the bus on their way to the next village. It’s a spectacle, and over as suddenl;y as it started. 15 minutes later no trace of the young farmers is left - although I’m not going to have a closer look at the loos.
We get sleepy, but take a wander around town before bed, visiting a dark church and an ancient graveyard, and watching the stars.
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| I can only guess what this means. |
