Day 8: Reeth to Richmond

Everyone got up feeling a bit delicate, but we were all in good moods. Naomi had brought up two smaller rucksacks with her so that instead of sharing Dave's rucksack as our day-sack, Dave and I could each have our own. We transferred everything into our new bags, and then set off, leaving ours and Naomi's big rucksacks for the sherpa van. As Dave and I were sick of bacon sandwiches (and because we'd probably run out of bacon as well), we decided to buy breakfast in the village shop. I bought some Crawford's Custard Creams for my breakfast as they're the nicest biscuits ever.

Dave bought a cheeseburger for his breakfast. I think it was cold. Rank.

As we now had two fresh pairs of feet amongst us, we set off at a quick pace. Dave's knees seemed to be feeling better after a couple of short days with his walking poles, and my feet were feeling fine with my Compeed/bandage treatment. We walked past quite a few groups who were obviously doing their Duke of Edinburgh's awards, and in fact when we stopped in Marske for a quick break, there was a group that were just finishing their expedition and were being played in by someone on the bagpipes. I did wonder whether or not this was actually a reward.

Click on the picture for a closer look

 

We arrived in Richmond in less than 4 hours, but as there wasn't a campsite there and the next day was quite a long one, we'd already arranged to stay at a campsite a bit further along the route, near Brompton-on-Swale. We stopped in a park next to the River Swale for lunch and ended up running into Alison who was just setting off having already eaten. It turned out that she was staying in the same campsite as us that night.

Day 8 - Solar Eclipse Marker, Richmond

 

As part of my lunch, I'd bought a 'Climax' flapjack with "dark chocolate fudge and a creamy white chocolate topping". The dark chocolate fudge made me feel sick, and the white chocolate was tasteless. All in all, it tasted like poo.

We arrived at our campsite, St. Giles Farm, after another hour's walking, and were greeted by a very well-spoken lady who asked if we were Naomi's group. Jane, as she introduced herself, showed us to the campsite, which was a patch of long grass next to the house, and told us she'd be bringing some tea out for us in a few minutes. We said hello to Alison who had already arrived, and as promised, a few minutes later a tray of tea and cakes (two different types!) arrived. Our campsite from the first day, Low Cock How Farm, had competition for the title of "best campsite of the walk". So far, Low Cock How had won the state-of-camping-pitch category (short grass beats long grass), but St. Giles had run away with the point for initial greeting (tea and cakes beat scary dog).

Low Cock How  1 - 1  St. Giles

Unfortunately, whereas my rucksack had been dropped off by the sherpa van, Naomi's hadn't. After a few phonecalls, it turned out that somehow they'd just not picked Naomi's bag up from the last campsite (despite mine being next to it). Half an hour later though, the van appeared with Naomi's rucksack so it was all sorted. I went to use the shower and found that not only was it an indoor bathroom, but it was ever so slightly nicer than Low Cock How's (carpet beats tiled floor, but only just).

Low Cock How  1 - 1.5  St. Giles

Dave and Adam's friend, also called Dave (I'll refer to him as Dave II), was on holiday near Robin Hood's Bay and so had arranged to come and join us for the night. While we waited for him to arrive, we arranged what we were going to do for the evening. Low Cock How's evening entertainment had been in the form of a couple of free beers, so that was going to take some beating. But if anywhere could outdo that, it was going to be St. Giles: as the nearest pub was over a mile away, Jane said that if Dave II would drive us to the pub for dinner, we could leave his car there so he could drink, and that if we rang heranytime before midnight she'd come and pick us up. Then, in the morning, she'd give Dave II a lift back to his car. Now that is hospitality. We did point out that there'd be five of us to pick up, and that we'd be quite happy to get taxis, but she said we could just squeeze in and it wouldn't be a problem. Legend!

Low Cock How  1 - 100  St. Giles

St. Giles was the clear winner.

Dave II arrived soon after, arranged to stay in their B&B, and then we drove to the pub. The food was very good, although Dave II said his steak was too small. We were all pretty tired, so we arranged to be picked up at 10.45pm. Dave and Adam played some pool, while I tried not to watch Love Island on the big screen TV, then at 10.45pm, Jane's husband turned up to take us home. We decided that we couldn't fit four of us in the back seat at once, so Adam went in the boot.

We sat in the tent for a while and chatted before everyone headed off to their respective beds. Dave II said that he had a spare bed in his room if anyone wanted it, but apparently he snores like a machine so no-one took him up on the offer. It was a cold night, so I put some extra layers on and fell asleep.

Day 8 Stats:
Distance: 14 miles
Total Ascent: 414m
Total Descent: 487m
Time taken: 5 hours
SMR (Stile-to-Mile Ratio): 2.86