Lady Anne's Way 2015 Day 5

Wednesday 14^th October 2015

On the advice of Jon and Elaine at the farmhouse B&B in Soulby, I did not walk back to Kirkby Stephen, but took a small lane off eastward to reconnect to the trail.  It was a brisk morning, likely around 5 degrees, with frost-covered fields reminding me of a New Zealand winter.  I was walking alongside a river, when eventually the lane crossed it at a ford.  It was a chilly morning, and I sighed, not realising I would need to ford a river that was deep enough to cover my boots.  I proceeded to remove my boots and socks, then stepped into the river to find that it was indeed very cold.  There was small pebble bank mid-river that I was heading to and, when I got to it, I was silently cursing as my feet were freezing at this point.  I braved myself for a second plunge, then waded the remainder of the river, dried my feet with my socks, put my footwear back on.  Looking up I saw something that made me curse more vehemently.  I was staring at a footbridge that went over the river, that I had not seen from the other side as it had been obscured by some trees.  I shuffled onward, muttering for some time at my needless micro-adventure, until my feet had warmed up again.

A few friends decided to tag along

After rejoining the trail at Winton, I saw numerous rabbits out and about.  Off and on throughout the day the peace and quiet was interrupted by staccato bursts of gunfire, likely from some military training ground hidden over the hills and out of my sight; It reminded me of a section toward the end of the South West Coastal Path the previous week in that respect.  Brough Castle ruins were evocative.

Onward to Appleby.

Unfortunately Appleby castle was closed to the public and, as I had not been able to find reasonably priced accommodation here, I walked on.

Appleby Castle gatehouse

I passed by a pond in and around which were hundreds of ducks.  I carried on to Long Marton, found my B&B (run by Anne Perry - not the famous author, and murderess, though; at least I hope not!) then hit the pub for a 3-course meal for £10.95.  Score!

Day 6