3. The Settle-Carlisle Way (1993)

Length : 150 miles

Started : 30 August 1992

Completed : 4 June 1993

Companions : None

Guide : Settle-Carlisle Country - Colin Speakman and John Morrison (Leading Edge P &P , 1990)

You will have spotted that there's quite a time lag to account for since the last walk's "official" completion in 1980. Those of you who've been walking awhile will also know that the period missing is precisely that in which the number of LDMP's, both official and unofficial, mushroomed, plenty of them on my doorstep too, so what on earth was I doing ?

Well, here's the back story. Certainly back in 1980, Michael and I didn't wish to rest on our laurels after the towpath walk. We began planning the next one almost straightaway and our choice was The Dales Way. This would be done as a whole walk during the Wakes fortnight (Wimbledon fortnight for those not in the north west). I bought the guidebook (also by Colin Speakman incidentally) that Easter and we soon had a plan worked out but it came to grief when the bunk barn at Cam Houses couldn't accommodate us on the right day. As an alternative I suggested going to the Lake District and walking some of the mountains in Wainwright's "The Eastern Fells" instead. We did that with another lad and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go there again so that became the big project for 1981 and The Dales Way was forgotten.

At the end of the second Lakes holiday in July 1981 (just after my O levels) I bought a copy of "The Cumbria Way" in Windermere and we may have tentatively discussed it as a project but it was not to be. Michael started work the following Monday and our friendship (and therefore the Travelling Society) quickly unravelled after that. Looking back I think that process had started earlier in the year and the prospect of the Lakes holiday had held things together. It's not really the place to analyse in further detail. Michael announced he was resigning from the Travelling Society (and how much easier to say that than I don't want to be friends with you anymore) at a meeting on Nov 14 1981.

I knew that was the end of the Travelling Society there and then but we'd picked up some younger lads and my sister along the way and they were for continuing so for another six months we carried on in a limited way even talking about launching our own LMDP the Lake to Lake Way (Hollingworth to Bassenthwaite) but by June 1982 further petty arguments caused the club to shut up shop for good.

Happily once I'd left school one of those younger lads , Sean, effected a reconciliation between me and Michael to the extent that we arranged a weekend in the Lakes to walk up Scafell Pike. The week before, Michael hurt his ankle at work which my mother always believed he faked, having had second thoughts about the trip. I decided to go alone and that was when I decided to do all the Wainwrights - partly to prove my worth to Michael if my mother happened to be right. That became my premier walking project from that point (at the time of writing I'm still making slow progress on it ) and LMDP's went on the back burner.

In October 1983 I went to Leeds University and should have been able to find some new companions for walking projects. I joined the Hostellling and Hiking Club in the first year but never actually went on any event. This was partly because I had a new passion, watching Rochdale FC on a Saturday and it was more convenient to stay over and walk with the Civic Trust on the sunday when the HHC held their events. In truth also I was intimidated by the size of the Club and thought my chances of having a big influence in it were small. Even though I was now back in touch with him Michael's desertion cast a long shadow and confidence in my ability to form new friendships was low.

After university I returned home and eventually found work nearby. In the summer of 1987 I did some long walks on my own but they were self-contained not linked to LDMPs. Later that year I started playing football with Sean and his mates and that alternated with the Civic Trust walks on sundays. However I was starting to buy LDMP guides in this period so the idea wasn't totally dead; it was just that the Civic Trust's tried and tested format couldn't accommodate it.

However it was the Civic Trust that ultimately led to this entry in an indirect fashion. At our AGM in April 1988 a local bookseller approached me about doing a book on walks around Littleborough. Myself and four other members worked on this project and it was finally published in May 1991. To promote it I offered to do a slideshow and talk for the local historical society and was booked in for January 1992. I enjoyed the experience and got another booking for a local ladies club but I thought the subject had limited appeal and I needed another talk if I was going to get on the circuit.

And that's what led me to load my camera and set off for Leeds in September. The Settle-Carlisle Way was perfect for purpose ; it had spectacular scenery, a running theme with much historical interest and name recognition from the attempt to close the railway in the eighties.

The Way begins with a long towpath walk along the Leeds-Liverpool canal as far as Gargrave. Given the underlying purpose I really dawdled this stretch frequently wandering off route to visit and snap things nearby. Although only 30 miles I did it in five stages right through the autumn of 1992. Beyond Kildwick,  I started to get a bit bored of the canal and would nominate the approach to Skipton as the worst bit of the whole route. On the next stage I was due to walk over to Settle but got so wet on a really lousy day that I quit at Gargrave deciding to resume in the new year.

I re-commenced the walk in the early spring of 1993 using the leave days I always had stored up by the end of March. The Way instantly improved as it left behind the canal and followed a green lane over to Settle. From Settle onwards I could make full use of the trains so what I normally did was drive over to Keighley and buy a return to the station at the end of the walk from there. The next few stages ending at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Garsdale Head (where the doors didn't open and the driver had to reverse to let me off) and Kirkby Stephen were just glorious, scenery and weather in perfect combination. I normally ended up on the same train coming back and twice, driving back through Mytholmroyd on a Thursday (not sure now why I chose Thursdays to have off) I picked up the same hitch-hiking girl and gave her a lift up Cragg Vale. I must confess the following week when I wasn't walking, I drove the same route again looking for her but to no avail, lesson being that you must seize the moment when it arrives.

Things became a little more difficult from Kirkby Stephen as the window in which to walk between trains shrunk the further north I got. Kirkby Stephen to Appleby was a long 15 miles with one or two navigation problems and I was pretty shattered by the end of that day. The next stage started with a disaster when my car broke down less than a mile from home - it was on its last wheels and should have been replaced by this time. The RAC got me going again but I had missed the train at Keighley and they were two-hourly. The full 13 miles to Langwathby were no longer feasible so I had to call it a day at Long Marton.

That used up the last of my leave so it was back to sundays. The first available sunday I set off despite a terrible weather forecast and conditions were just awful as I set off from Long Marton. Almost immediately a woman in a passing car stopped to offer me a lift. I explained what I was doing and politely declined . She was very concerned for my welfare and I had some difficulty getting away. Shortly after this I came to a point where a wobbly wooden stile through some barbed wire would have dropped me into a narrow riverside pasture full of cattle that looked knee deep in fresh manure. Already wet I balked at this. The surrounding fence was very new and unclimbable at any other point so I got the map out and there was a bridleway across the Eden a little further up. This turned out to be OK for horses but the ford was far too deep for walkers so after contemplating the stile again decided I would have to use the A66 instead as far as Kirkby Thore. This was an unpleasant trudge and then a car stopped . It was the same woman wondering if I had changed my mind ! I have to put on record that while the Eden Valley section didn't quite compare with the Dales in scenic terms all the people I met there were extremely nice and helpful. No wonder Bill Bryson chose to settle there. Having finally shaken her off,  the rest of the walk was uneventful though very wet. Back on the train I realised I had left my flask on a bench outside the Sportsman Inn in Langwathby . I rang the pub when I got home to see if anyone had handed it in and the guy who answered told me to hold on and he'd see if it was still there. That turned out to be the case and I was able to pick it up at the start of the next stage in a fortnight.

This penultimate stage to Armathwaite was a scorching day in May which I had to do at a fair pace to get back for a pub quiz fixture. The only thing worthy of comment was that I was served a cold pot of coffee at the Lacy's Caves tea rooms that I should really have complained about. The final stage into Carlisle was done on a Friday so that the city shops and cafes would still be open when I arrived. Armathwaite is a tiny place and from there it's a continuous path through the riverside woodland for eight miles until Wetheral. Being summer it was buzzing with insects amid the new growth. Absolutely beautiful but after a while it became eerie and oppressive:  the only people I saw on the whole length being farm workers on the other side of the river about half way along. I was glad to get back to civilisation at Wetheral. From there it was mostly a road walk to the outskirts of Carlisle where the Way follows the river behind the football ground, the only hazards being the surly fishermen and their equally unfriendly dogs on the riverbank.

I bought some tea in Carlisle feeling pleased with myself but also a bit deflated. Finishing an LMDP on your own is a slightly depressing experience amid the complete indifference of those around you particularly in an urban centre like Carlisle. Never mind , I was back in the saddle and the next one would begin almost straight away.