The Walk - Stage 9 - Keld to Reeth

The joy of Keld is the Swale, a swift-flowing torrent sheltered by white cliffs of limestone, fringed with trees and broken by falls on its fast course from the desolate hills to the soft pastures of the valley. 

Always at Keld, there is the music of the river. 

Between Keld and Reeth, there is a choice of routes. One (described as 7A) climbs high onto the moorland, where it allows a thorough inspection of the remains of the lead-mining industry that once flourished in these parts, the other (7B) is a little longer but with much less height gain, and faithfully follows the River Swale. 7A is described by Wainwright as 'a grim trek amidst the debris of a dead industry'. 

7A also comes with this warning: "the high-level route can be confusing. Miners' tracks and sledgates radiate in all directions, and no matter how precisely the route description is worded, the potential for error is not insignificant. Keep your wits about you."

I think you can probably see where I'm headed with this description and the pic of elevation change above.

Jo Anne says you take the high road, I'll take the low road and we'll meet at the B&B to compare pics. 😄

7B is rightly described as the Royal Road to Reeth, an extravagance of riverside wandering across meadows lush with wild flowers, the whole journey threaded with variety and interest. Personally, I'm quite fond of rivers, variety and interest, so off we go on 7B.

Now, doesn't this plan look better? Although, those climbs at the beginning and end were straight up. 

I forgot to mention how absolutely perfect the weather was yesterday. We kept stopping to just take it in and exclaim over it and thank our Heavenly Father for providing it. 

The sun coming up this morning, view from our bedroom window. 

By now we should have been feeling fitter, but we mainly ached. However, we were suitably revived by an excellent breakfast and knew we didn’t have too far to go. (Famous last words)

Keld hamlet

One of many of the trails today

We were on the wrong trail here. 

This is the same cliff wall from the right path. Oops 

More trails

We spent an insanely pretty morning alongside the Swale river, looking at tumble down stone barns and pretty wild flowers. Every step was another 'oh wow, how gorgeous' moment. 

Acres and acres of tick- bearing ferns (bracken or eagle ferns)

Jo Anne hates these bridges. 

One of many (many, many) squeeze stiles.

European columbine

This little tree has more apples than branches. 

And on it goes - meadows, walls, barns, squeeze-styles, in a seemingly endless succession. 

Diverting off our path, we popped into the village of Muker that used to thrive on lead mining in the local area, but now survives on all things wool from the swaledale sheep that populate the area. We popped into the community run wool shop and checked out the little art gallery there as well. Note the sheep on top of the building. 

We left the pretty village behind us and continued, following the peat coloured water. Sitting on moss-covered rocks we ate our lunch overlooking the Swale river, listening to the song of birds and water. What peace and serenity. 

Tiny hamlet of Ivelet

Walking on through the meadows. The wind has picked up and it’s getting colder. 

Down then up, up and down 

Just popping in for a quick phone call. 

Follow the moss covered wall

That is indeed me on top of the bridge. 

Hmmm. Should we go through the stile or the missing wall?

I’ve revised my statement about 9” stiles. This one couldn’t have been more than 6”. My boot barely fit through it. Makes it quite interesting getting the rest of me through. 

Watching the clouds roll in. 

Can’t get over the rock walls that just go on and on. 

We stopped in Gunnerside for an afternoon treat and met up with some other walkers we’ve been getting to know along the way. There’s a foursome from Oklahoma and Utah and another couple from Massachusetts that we’ve run into numerous times along the way. 

Tea rooms are an excellent excuse to take a break.

We thought we were getting close to Reeth but after checking the maps. Found that we were a good 5 miles away. Little did we know that most of that would be straight uphill. 

Huge stepping stones across the river. 

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you." Isaiah 43:2

Reeth was once the center of great mining activity. It stands perched on a green plateau, with shops, inns and cottages looking out across the vale. It was established in Saxon times as a forest-edge settlement, near the confluence of the River Swale and its most important tributary, Arkle Beck. By the time of the Norman conquest, this traditional market center for the local farms had grown sufficiently to be noted for its old lead mines in the Domesday Book. Surprisingly, it was almost as much the villagers' aptitude for producing hand-knitted gloves, stockings and sailor caps that helped the town to develop. People knitted whenever they could, to increase their family incomes, but the activity died when machinery replaced the traditional needles, and men began to wear long trousers instead of breeches and stockings. 

Reeth is a renowned venue for numerous local fairs, agricultural shows and festivals. Alas, there's nothing going on today.

View from our room across the market square, um triangle?

Our home for tonight is The Kings Arms, which sits in the heart of this picturesque village. It is on the route of the Yorkshire Grande Depart Tour de France cycle route. Dating back to 1734, it is affectionately named the "Middle House" because of its position overlooking the village green. 

Sadly, our room is on the third floor (which in Europe means the 4th floor because ground floor is always zero). So, we get to haul our two, maxed out weight limit bags up four flights of stairs when our legs feel like they can’t take another step. 

We are more than half finished with the C2C.  Sometimes it all seems so surreal that we are really doing this Coast to Coast walk even now. We have dreamed, planned, and prepared for this for months, and now it is really happening. 

Key words for today are stiles (43 today only), sheep (hundreds upon hundreds) and wind (if you stopped walking for a few seconds it would almost blow you over). 

Remember when I said earlier that we didn’t have too far to go?

Our stats for today:

40,405 steps

17.5 miles 

84 floors 

9 hours walking

I can’t walk through all these sheep without thinking of the Shepherd. 

"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?"

Matthew 18:12

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:5-6

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23:1-6

I thought of the words of this psalm so often today:

Shepherd 

Green pastures

Still waters 

Leads me

Restores my soul

With me

Comfort me

Dwell in His house forever

My prayer for you is that you know the Shepherd.