Keld to Reeth

The day promised less gloom than yesterday but not ideal. However, the clouds slowly parted and it was a day smothered in sun with that made the new green grass pop with such vibrancy, it took our breath away. The first section followed the Swale River on the right below a tree-lined bank. To the left stretched an upward sweep of pasture land with ewes with one or two lambs ever-grazing and sometimes looking up briefly to stare at us as we walked by, The “official” Coast to Coast trail headed up the hills to the scrubland and reportedly not so interesting terrain, including the remains of a lead mine. So we, and many of our cohorts heading west to east took the alternate low route. I think we chose the better path- it was so lush and beautiful! After a few miles, the trail sadly left the the river and headed for the higher pastureland. Met more Aussies- Amanda and Tim from Adelaide. We’ve leap-frogged with them over the past few days but this was the first time we walked side by side for a bit and got to know a little about them. We also met 2 older couples in their 70s, walking the Herriot (as in, yes, the James Herriot) path which covers 50 miles in a loop around this area of Yorkshire and we learned that the 1980s TV series of Herriot’s Yorkshire was based/filmed in Reeth. Arrived about 3pm to the village center, a lawn triangle with benches all around it and bordered by a stone church, stone inns, an ice cream shop, some little gift shops. Kids were playing on the lawn in the sun; grandparents eating ice cream cones, couples strolling. The light breeze and spring afternoon sun seemed a balm for everyone. After my shower at our place at the square, Buck Hotel and Pub, I had my moment to sit in the sun in the triangle and sketch some. It felt so good! Had dinner at the Buck pub with Mark, Ruth, Gaye, and Greg. It was an evening full of laughter as we covered such topics as Cricket rules, the differences in hotel bedding between the U.K., U.S. and Australia, and the exploits of Ruth and Mark’s pet feral pig, Nigel (check out his own Facebook page at Nigel ThePig).