MusicGo, lowly Swale: go headlong down, Down through your stony-faced meadows, Your scowling hills, your crouching towns. Go, little Swale, and I follow. A more solitary day today, but that felt good after lots of time in company yesterday. I started by rewriting the blog for yesterday, as the tech had failed me and half of it was missing. Good to think again about the day though. Today it was properly wet for the first time. I walked initially with Steve and Elaine, whom I’d chatted to yesterday. They are early retirees who’ve done a lot of travelling abroad since stopping work, but because Covid has put a temporary stop on travelling further afield they decided to do the C2C. They’d never done any long distance walking, but thought it couldn’t be that hard. This experience is making them think it’s a bit harder than that…. But they are cheerfully cracking on each day, and really enjoying the experience. They pointed out that I walk faster than them (a fact that will come of no surprise to my family) so I left them behind and plodded on into the rain on my own, following the Swale as it gallivanted down the hill. Today involved a choice of routes. Wainwright suggests going up onto the fell again, where it is scarred by the lead mining that used to take place there. I’m told it has resulted in a strange almost lunar landscape. But he also says that if it’s wet then the alternative route is the better option. This involves following the river Swale much more closely at a lower altitude. I fancied the change, so went with that one. It also touches on part of the Pennine Way, something I was going to have done in the big walk. Last night I used the pub’s WiFi to download some Jake Thackray songs. These are a sound of my youth. He was mainly famous for performing comedic songs at the end of programmes such as ‘That’s Life’. But he also wrote beautiful observant lines about this part of the world, as a fervent Yorkshireman. I listened to Go Little Swale as I watched the river, and then became very moved listening to North Country Song. I was living it as he was singing it. The rain is on the mountainside, The beast is in the silent meadow, The north countryside is patiently waiting again. For a musician, I don’t listen to much music. I generally prefer quiet. But having started with Jake, somehow Bill didn’t do it for me today with his body facts. So instead I turned to a playlist a friend and I put together once. I pressed shuffle, and got Come and Get your Love by Redbone. I love this song, and in the middle of a field by a river in the pouring rain, wearing a luminescent rucksack and waterproof everything, I did a bit of a dance, filled with joy. I’ll not forget that moment, and no doubt nor will anyone else observing. Looking forward to the next song, I was surprised to get Come and Get your Love again. It wasn’t quite as good the second time. I then realised it was the only one of the playlist that I’d actually downloaded, and in this part of Swaledale there is no signal. So then it was a selection of whatever was actually on my phone, ranging from Bach to 20s swing, Motown to Stormzy. It was a very happy couple of hours. To be honest, one of the reasons that I chose the lower route was that it was going through the village of Gunnerside, about which the guidebook spoke of cafes with cups of tea and cake. Indeed as I approached, there was a very encouraging sign indicating that. But everything was closed, so instead it was a damp flapjack from the bottom of my rucksack and a scrabble for a 20p piece for the public loos. But seeing the dove fly from the dovecots above the sheepfold was worth the trip. The pinch stiles which punctuate the dry stone wall here are well named. I would imagine I might have lost a bit of weight this trip, but I’m still sturdy when combined with a daybag. Getting through these narrow apertures is a tight squeeze. Unexpectedly, the path led from grass onto the top of a dry stone wall. It was a flagstone wide, so actually plenty of room to walk. But there was a 6 to 8 foot drop on either side, and it went on for a couple of hundred yards. Of course once up on the top, all I could think about was of the danger of falling, and the possibility that I would unexpectedly and wilfully take a jump to the side and fall to the ground. The fact that I’m writing this now has obviously removed any sense of jeopardy for you, the reader. I traversed it safely, and didn’t negligently fall off. Not such a good story when it has no dramatic ending, sorry! I’d be no good at writing a thriller screenplay…. I went back to Bill B in the afternoon, this time talking about the process of walking. This made me hyper aware of how I was walking for a while, and the marvel of how we are biped animals. Fortunately, I then had decisions to make about the route, so I could stop overthinking how to walk. My body thankfully went back to doing what it does well without any extra input from me, and my brain successfully negotiated us into Reeth, an attractive village with a big market green surrounded by stone houses, pubs and shops. I’m the only person in my bed and breakfast tonight. It’s not the first time that I’ve been somewhere so quiet. The hospitality industry has been hit very hard by the lack of visitors from abroad coming to our beauty spots. The whole village seems a little subdued, but then it was wet again this evening. It didn’t stop me and fellow walkers Simon and Andy from having a drink outside, we laughed in the face of rain. Or at least we did until there was a table free inside the pub. It was a very convivial way to spend the early evening, though an unconventional way for Simon to celebrate his wedding anniversary…. Hopefully we might spend a bit more time together tomorrow. nStats
Distance: 12.5 miles Ascent: a lowly 350 feet Calories burned: an equally lowly 1500 Annoying ear worm until I filled my head with Jake Thackray: Lay all your love on me - ABBA. Number of fortunately unobserved tumbles due to not watching my feet - 1 Hearty post walk meal with local tipple: Whitby scampi with chips and mushy peas. Treacle sponge and custard! Video of the day: https://www.relive.cc/view/v1Ow3MjXoEO
4 Comments
Janna
30/7/2021 20:23:22
Even in the rain it looks like you've walked through some beautiful scenery. I do love a waterfall or just being near water, one thing SG lacks (unless Chalfont Rd floods ;) ) Thanks for sharing your days on here xx
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Jane
1/8/2021 09:38:11
Thanks for reading! X
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Carly
2/8/2021 18:02:24
Wish I'd been there to critique the dance! xx
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Jane
2/8/2021 21:48:54
You’d have been overwhelmed…. ?
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