Gary's Coast to Coast Walk 2012: Day 8

Monday 13 August 2012

Day 8

Day 8 - the start of the home straight!. After a night under canvas and his now customary bowl of porridge, Gary began walking slightly later this morning at 8.45am. Day 8 saw Gary follow the River Swale on route to Reeth 12 miles away.

Keld Park House Campsite

A misty Keld Valley at dawn

Today was a shorter day which provided a choice of route, high or low. Gary took the low option and stuck to the valley. When the sun came out it was beautiful. The River Swale that Gary's following has been getting wider all day.

The paths were all good but the main difficulty today were the stiles which are very narrow gaps in the wall wide enough for a leg to squeeze through but not wide enough for a sheep to get thru. "A challenge for a man of my girth" said Gary.
The Yorkshire Dales are lovely. And in Gary's opinion are nicer than The Lakes. The landscape is more rolling and rural, less mountainous and wild. Proper James Herriot country!

A long forgotten tractor

Gary made on brief stop today at Ghyll Foot tea room in Gunnerside, where they serve tea in pints. Yes, you read that correctly, pints! Gary decided he wasn't quite that thirsty.
Gary had a good, steady 12 mile walk today arriving in Reeth at 2.15pm


A waterfall near Keld

Another waterfall near Keld!

Last nights ukulele tune "Happiness Pie", in honour of the Steak & Ale pie Gary enjoyed at the pub last night!
Tonight's watering hole was The Black Bull at Reeth where a pint of Old Peculiar was the tipple of the day. Gary received a donation from Ian the Bar Man there! Many thanks. This together with a second donation from our sons godmother, (in honour of Gary making it half way), sees the Total Donation so far stand at £1,222!!! HAPPY DAYS. Huge thanks to everyone of those who've donated. Your support means so much to us both x x
Special message from Lachlan to Daddy "Only 5 more sleeps Daddy. I love you x x x x x x"

2 comments:

Anonymous14/08/2012, 13:05
Love the photographs, thinking of you Carole & bruce
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Ian15/08/2012, 08:56
Countdown now on......finishing line nearly in sight! Only five more sleeps to go!
Love Jackie, Arthur, Ian, Becky, AJ and Isabella xxxxx
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C2C20124MA

Thanks for taking the time to visit my website.

So why am I raising money for the Miscarriage Association?

Someone has to. They need a relatively small amount of money to keep going every year, and the work they do is really essential.

In 2009 and 2010, Helen and I lost 2 babies in the space of 5 months. The loss we felt was immense and still is.

So, in 2012 I will be completing Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk, from St Bee's Head on the Cumbrian coast, to Robin Hoods Bay on the North East coast, a walk of approximately 200 miles.

It should take about two weeks and I will be camping whenever possible to keep the costs down.

You can donate by jumping to my JustGiving page

Don't feel you have to give lots -

every penny really does help.

Send the website address to everyone you know - all I need is for 1000 people to give £1 each and I've made my target.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you so much.

So Who's the Fat Bloke?

Hi. I am a 38 year old primary school teacher who lives in Cropston, just north west of Leicester with my wife, Helen and 5 year old son, Lachlan. I've been walking in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, the Lake District, Cornwall, Derbyshire and the Malvern Hills, and love being outdoors. I've been camping in most of these places and in Norfolk and Devon. I enjoy playing the Ukulele as often as I can, singing, darts, golf and growing my own veg.

I'm looking forward to completing the walk, blisters and all, and being able to say that even while enjoying a great outdoor experience, I can raise money to help others who have been through the same experience as Helen and I. And yes - I will be taking my Ukulele with me and I'm hoping someone might sponsor me for a song played at each stop along the way!

What is Wainwright's Coast to Coast?

The Wainwright Society says this about the Coast to Coast:

'A Coast to Coast Walk was devised by Wainwright himself, and set out in his 1973 guidebook to the route.

The route is a 192-mile (although according to a recent re-measuring the real distance is almost 220 miles) unofficial, long distance footpath in Northern England. It passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park.

Wainwright suggested a way of breaking the walk miles into stages, each of which to be completed in a day. With one or two rest days, this makes the route fit into a two-week holiday. However, Wainwright explicitly stated that he did not intend people to necessarily stick to these stages or even to his route: for example, by reducing day-lengths to 10 or 12 miles, the walk becomes a much easier three-week trip with time to 'stand and stare'.

In 2004 the walk was named as the second best walk in the world according to a survey of experts.'

I'll be breaking the walk into 14 stages, walking an average of 14 miles a day. However, this varies a lot - my shortest day is only 8 miles and my longest day will be 20 miles.

Whichever way you cut it this walk is one of the best long distance walks in the world and I'm very lucky (as well as a bit bonkers?) to be attempting it this August. Let's hope I enjoy walking it as much as I've enjoyed organising it!