Dave walked through here on his marathon Coast to Coast slog, and liked it so much he wanted to take me back to the area to show me some of the sights. Which might have worked really well if the weather had been kind enough to let us see the sights... It started raining the minute we crossed the Yorkshire border, and carried on raining almost without a break until we crossed back over the Cumbrian border on Sunday, coming home. When it wasn't actually raining, it was thick fog or thunderstorms, sometimes all at once.
We never did see much of the scenery, but we had a lovely time anyway. On Saturday morning we sloshed round the quaint old town of Richmond, then in the afternoon it cleared up just long enough to allow a brief walk onto the moors at the back of the village where we were staying. The terrain is fascinating - full of industrial archaeology from centuries of lead mining, as well as even more ancient features including earthworks and hill forts. And grouse. There are lots and lots of grouse, comical birds which flap off into the undergrowth, squawking, at the least sign of danger.
On Saturday evening we ate in a pub in the village of Reeth, unofficial 'capital' of Swaledale, which watching thunderstorms sweep across the hills.
By Sunday it was pouring again, and although we'd hoped to cross over into Wensleydale to have a look at that, there really didn't seem to be much point. We came home early, and arrived with gritted teeth in glorious sunshine. The picture above shows the sort of stunning scenery we might have seen if we could have. We've already decided to go back and have another go some time next year.
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