11 The Cumbria Coastal Way (2009)

Length : 190 miles approx



Started : 9th July 2005



Finished : 4th October 2009



Companions* : (*did full walk, not necessarily in my company) Mark Billington, Helen Smith, Jon Bates, Chris Cooper, Andy Roughley, Wendy Guest, Richard Hindley (in part) too many to mention, I’ll forget someone. Alan and Joyce Robinson provided logistical support on some sections



Guide : The Cumbria Coastal Way - John and Krystle Brodie (Ciccerone)



This is the big one and a whole new chapter in the story. It’s also the hardest tale to tell in a coherent way because there are disparate strands to pull together and there is also a need for some discretion as it concerns current friends and in a couple of cases, foes.



I think the best starting point is a relatively well-attended B.O.G. walk setting off from Rivington in December 2002 almost a year after Susan’s departure. When we met at the car park there was the lady herself with some other walkers. One of our members went over for a chat and discovered that she was leading a walk for an entirely different group, the Lancashire Young People’s Walking Group for 20s and 30s. I thought no more of it until a few months later when Rob also revealed that he was walking with them despite being 39 (which really surprised me). I don’t know if Susan invited him in but probably suspected it at the time. As told in the Pendle Way entry , the B.O.G. situation deteriorated in the course of 2003 and I was relying on my new employment to bring in a few new members or we were finished. By April 2004 I had got half a dozen or so new names on paper but none had shown up to anything so I swallowed my pride and emailed Susan for contact details.



Even though I was now 39 myself and, in truth, slightly resentful of this new group for “poaching” a valuable member like Rob, I figured it was better than finding ourselves alone as B.O.G. expired. Besides which, Julie and I were moving up the list for IVF treatment so it probably wouldn’t be a long term involvement anyway. Susan was helpful though she explained she now walked with the Cheshire equivalent with her new fiancé. I made contact and went along to a new member’s night in Whalley. It wasn’t well attended but the chairman, Mark, seemed like a good bloke, a Preston fan who remembered past games against Rochdale so I felt reasonably welcome.



At exactly the same time,the new members started turning up in B.O.G. and our fortunes steadily improved throughout the year. As a result, my involvement with the Lancashire Group in 2004 was sporadic and peripheral on spare weekends. I was very self-conscious about my age despite the fact there were older people than me besides Rob, one of them on the committee. Later that year there was a bit of strife on the Group’s messageboard about the age limit and Mark had to step in and say categorically that no one would be pushed out when they turned 40. Once he’d said that I thought I should make a contribution and offered to lead a couple of walks early in 2005.



These were reasonably attended and well received so I came up with a couple more suggestions for the summer , one of which was a short linear walk along the first part of the Cumbria Coastal Way from Silverdale to Arnside. This had first come to my attention towards the end of the Lancashire Coastal Way when we’d had to buy a map for the bit beyond Morecambe because we couldn’t find a leaflet that covered it. The CCW looked very enticing both on the map and as a vista across Morecambe Bay but I reluctantly discounted it as impractical for Julie and I. I submitted it purely as a one off easy walk with no intention of taking it any further partly because of the very negative (and plain wrong ) response from Carlisle Tourist Information Centre when I asked about a guide -



The Cumbria Coastal Way was a waymarked route covering 124 miles between Barrow in Furness and Carlisle and a leaflet was produced many years ago by the Planning Dept of Cumbria County Council. It did include sections of the route which were not public rights of way and has never been reproduced.

Whether or not these waymarks still exist and if the paths are accessible is unknown to us I'm afraid. Maybe some one like the Ramblers Assn may be able to help with a book


Fortunately by the time the walk came round I’d found a guidebook for it in Bolton Library. The adventure started on a roasting Saturday afternoon in July 2005. Despite the lovely day there were just five takers and I only knew one of them. Two of the others, Matt and Helen, would go on to be mainstays of the Group but they were newcomers then. The walk went well, the tide being in improving the view, and everyone seemed appreciative. On the next walk I attended, Helen told me how much she’d enjoyed it so that encouraged me to submit a Part Two for the autumn programme.



This was a supposedly fourteen mile walk around the Kent estuary to Grange-over-Sands. I was a bit worried about the amount of tarmac road on this stretch but thought the scenery would compensate. The weather was not as good that day but I was blown away by the turnout, 26 if I remember correctly but certainly the highest for a walk I’d led with any group. It was a bit of a marathon, all agreeing that it was least three miles longer than advertised and I won an end of year award for the most misleading walk description. It was enjoyable despite a real soaking on the most exposed part of the route and a mid-walk mutiny where two pacesetters became detached from the rest of the Group. Mark in particular became enthused about continuing the trail though the lack of a Sunday train service beyond Barrow would cause problems.



That walk was a bit of a watershed vis-à-vis the balance between the two groups in my life. Going back to B.O.G for a moment, we had boosted numbers in 2004 and with that extra security I pursued a strategy of more adventurous events the following summer. The primary purpose was to entice particular people namely Rob and Mike, because more than anything I wanted those who’d dropped out to come back and admire what I’d done in resurrecting the Group, and two girls in their twenties who’d recently joined, because, well, they were very attractive ! In that respect the adventure programme was an utter failure although well-subscribed and enjoyed by those who did turn up. With B.O.G I now had an appreciative audience of predominantly middle-aged women which was starting to make Julie feel uneasy. My disappointment at this "failure" and the unexpected enthusiasm generated on the Grange walk shifted the tectonic plates and the opportunity cost of each Sunday spent with B.O.G. started to seem much higher.



Then TQ (as mentioned in The Pendle Way entry) threw a hand grenade into the mix by inviting along a friend she’d met through another outdoor interest. I’ll have to be careful what I say here but her friend’s “enthusiasm” (not everyone would put it that way) ruffled a few feathers and I twice had to step in when she was in danger of treading on toes. At the same time Julie’s relationship with TQ was steadily deteriorating which was causing me problems.



Against this backdrop Part 3 of the CCW from Grange-over-Sands to Cark with a time-filling detour to Humphrey Head came and went smoothly with about 12 attending in February 2006.



Shortly after this TQ politely informed me that she and her friend were going camping in Snowdonia over the May Bank Holiday and would be inviting other members along despite the fact that I had a walk down on the programme for the Sunday. Of course it was moveable but that would be conceding my event was second rate; on the other hand leaving it there now meant a real risk that my only taker would be an old pompous buffoon who I couldn’t stand (and who they definitely wouldn’t be inviting to their event) and a full day walk with just him for company was unthinkable. Faced with this Hobson’s Choice I fired off an intemperate email to TQ who responded in kind resigning on the spot.



Any remaining enthusiasm for B.O.G. evaporated there and then. I was hoping enough people would follow her example, the Group would collapse and leave me free to devote myself to the LYPWG . Unfortunately nobody did – her friend had never actually joined – but they didn’t (Julie apart) give me much support either, they just sat on their hands and rather sullenly waited for me to repair the damage. This would have been difficult anyway since our main advertising outlet had ceased but I had no interest any more. The very last new member we got, Jo, I advised to join the LYPWG instead and she came on a couple of the later CCW walks. I’m very loath to compare TQ to Michael Smithson but it did feel very similar to the last days of the Travelling Society after he left. I just kept things ticking over hoping people would fall away and they gradually did. Then in March 2007 Julie finally became pregnant and everyone knew the game was up. We tried to arrange a merger with another YHA group but they weren’t having it so we put forward a motion to dissolve the Group at the next AGM , the last walk taking place in September 2007 (ironically Mike turned up for that one). Just one member opposed this saying he would get in touch with some former members to try and save it. Julie immediately guessed what I didn’t, that he meant TQ and her friend and it soon became clear that he’d kept in touch with them all along. Julie was livid since it was the same guy who’d originally precipitated the fall out with Susan but I was actually quite happy as it now meant I could make a total break with them , finally achieved in February 2008. They continue under a different name but they’re not getting any free publicity here.



So much for B.O.G. The next CCW stage to Ulverston looked quite tricky as it was forced into the hills by a lack of access through the Holker Hall estate so I decided to do a “reccie” in advance. It was a very pleasant walk as far as Greenodd (this is the bit of the Furness Way I’d done before) where a complete lack of paths on the other side of the Leven estuary forces you to walk along the main road for miles into Ulverston. The book deceitfully says the Way is “under development here “. I thought a bus from Greenodd would cover this bit but there were none on a Sunday so I had to do this unpleasant and not entirely safe stretch after all. The reccie turned out to be a very good idea since my car broke down on the way up to the actual walk in September and I never made it. I was reduced to phoning in hints from afar while they struggled on with a map but apparently had a great time.



The next stage, a long walk to the end of the Furness Peninsula at Roa Island was in November, probably a little too late in the year. There was another problem, Roa Island was some distance from a station so I appealed for someone to meet me an hour early in Ulverston so we could park a car at the end of the walk. At this point we acquired a Good Samaritan. Earlier in the year a blind guy John had started walking with us occasionally; he wanted to come on this walk and what’s more his dad Alan , a keen walker himself, volunteered to do the driver ferry at the end for us. I immediately took him up on this and also gave John a lift to the start of the walk. It was a very windy day and despite some very good views a bit of a slog along the shingly beaches. By the time we had to go up to the Coast Road (quiet as the grave at that time of year) for the final stretch the light was fading. Nevertheless there was a welcoming pub in Rampside and Alan proved as good as his word.

Not only that he offered the same service for future sections of the walk which at a stroke made continuing the trail beyond Barrow a much easier prospect. It was clear now that Helen, Mark and another bloke, Jon, were as committed to the walk as I was although the latter two still had to catch up Part One. Another girl, Wendy, also became an ever-present though she had more catching up to do having only joined the Group in the summer.

Stage Five took us around the bottom of the peninsula, through Barrow itself (the source of much jokey apprehension) and up to the sandy beach at Roan Head at the bottom of the Leven estuary. It took place in March 2007 and due to a clash with a member's birthday only drew seven, the five diehards, John and a girl called Catherine. It was a very windy day and I had to wade into the sea to rescue Catherine's over trousers before we'd even started out. Then we were hit by a ferocious hailstorm and got into Barrow very bedraggled. We recharged our batteries with a brew in Barrow's impressive dockside museum before a struggle against the gale on the new Cinder Path (which had the useful side effect of drying us out completely). We had lunch at the foot of a slag heap because it was the only place that was out of the wind. From that point the scenry improved markedly with stunning views across to Black Combe. It was a triumph over adversity.

Stage Six from Roan Head to Broughton-in-Furness in June threw up the mileage question again. Not trusting the book after Stage Two I'd bought one of those little metal wheels to measure the mileage on the map and that seemed to work well enough for the previous sections . I got 12 miles but on the ground it was obviously nowhere near that. Helen had to miss this one , catching up later that year with her dad and so did John but Alan was still willing to help. This was an easy section apart from one bit where we retreated to the railway to avoid a marsh (strangely, Helen and her dad avoided doing this; they must have spotted a way that I missed) and had a perfectly-timed lunch stop at Kirkby-in-Furness where we sat out a heavy shower in the station waiting area. By 2pm we had almost finished and whiled away our time in two pubs until Alan arrived on schedule at 4.

I assumed I'd misread the wheel and used it again for Stage Seven from Broughton to Haverigg in September giving a length. of 16 miles , another serious over-estimate. I later tested the wheel on a known length of road and found it was adding an extra 50% to the real mileage. I don't know how I'd managed to break it but it was consigned to the bin after that. That was another unsettled day where we got a soaking and finished up running into the pub at Haverigg where a guy at the bar started hitting on the least likely female in our party but was politely rebuffed. I also injured my finger when the door of a bird hide slammed on it in the wind but Wendy, a former nurse, patched me up.

Haverigg was a major turning point. We were about to hit the Irish Sea proper and head north after meandering up and down the estuaries. We had also reached the limit in terms of how far we could expect members to drive for a day's walk. Mark now suggested we covered the next two stages during a weekend away. This was a very good idea but posed a problem for me in that Julie was six months pregnant and I would be a dad by the time the next stage came round. But with some grovelling I got a pass out and started looking for a place to stay, the Duddon Valley youth hostel having inconveniently just announced its closure.

By this time enthusiasm for completing the whole route had spread beyond the "hardcore" four. Chris, a long standing member of the Group came for the first time on Stage Seven but wanted to catch up with the ones he'd missed and offered to do a series of catch up walks for those in the same boat. Mark and Jon had already walked their missing section earlier that year.

On the weekend at the end of February 2008 the intention was to take the walk up as far as St Bees. We stayed at Brockwood Hall near Millom in three self-catering lodges. There were 17 of us in total following two late withdrawals and an even later addition. Alan and his wife also went up but stayed at a B & B in Ravenglass. I started coming down with a heavy cold on the Friday but couldn't back out so went up with a packetful of Paracetomols. Four of us arrived a few hours before anyone else when the weather was still reasonable and it was quite exciting waiting for the others to get through a storm.

On the Saturday morning we drove to Haverigg where another member, Graham , joined us for the day. I was still feeling ill and wondered if I could do the 17 mile walk to Ravenglass. However the bracing three mile walk along the beach to Silecroft cleared my head and I was fine for the rest of the weekend. At one point we found a football and kicked that around which caused one of our party to drop out at Bootle having done himself a mischief. John survived falling off a bridge due to his inattentive guide. When we got to Waberthwaite the high tide meant we couldn't use the ford route to Ravenglass but had to take the walk around the bottom of the Esk estuary which added a further few miles to the route and meant we couldn't get the intended train. As we got increasingly tired it became doubtful that we would make the one after which caused a problem as most of us had a meal booked at the Hall for 8. I was trying to think of a way in which Alan could help us but fortunately the train was a bit late and Mark managed to keep the driver talking while the rest of the party made a mad dash across the bridge to get on. This incident is still talked about to this day !

We did get back to the Hall with an hour or so to spare and some of us made use of the pool and sauna. The meal was fine although there were one or two sarky locals in the bar downstairs who bravely made their comments when a female member went to get a drink.

The next day, everyone was feeling the previous day's marathon so I changed the destination to Nethertown to shorten the walk. Nevertheless two members decided to opt out of it and Graham remained at home. We had the unusual experience of being monitored by a police car as we went past the nuclear tip at Drigg but we weren't actually questioned. When we got to Sellafield station there was a diversion notice and this put another couple of miles on the route, pretty much negating the shortening I'd agreed. When Alan caught up with us at Braystones one girl opted out of the last mile to Nethertown and got a lift with him instead.

It had been a great success and we started planning for the next one straight away while Chris started his catch up series. This time Julie didn't want to be left behind so I had to consider hers and Simon's needs too. We alighted on a holiday park on the outskirts of the Lakes called Skiddaw View which had a mix of up to date lodges and traditional caravans but unlike Brockwood Hall, no central facilities other than a laundry. For a long time it looked like there were only going to be 12 of us but a late surge of interest added another 6 , three of whom had to go into a cottage owned by the same company a mile away in Bothel. Then Graham again made a last minute decision to join us and booked himself into a nearby B & B.

There was one big problem when we got there - the pub in Bothel had shut just a month previously. For any food on the Saturday evening we would have to drive. This inconvenience unfortunately encouraged the forming of two factions in the party, the other reasons for which I'm still not entirely clear about. If you've read this blog (or even this post ) from the beginning you'll understand why I was loath to pick a side and for that reason it was a boon to have Julie and Simon there. I just spent the evening with them and a takeaway and left the others to it.

The walking side of the weekend was great helped by excellent weather for the end of September. We drove to Nethertown where one girl raised eyebrows by exclaiming "oh are we walking by the sea ?" (the clue's in the title love !). Here we again fell victim to the tide which was high, leaving us only a thin strip of land to walk on and this was regularly blocked by huge piles of concrete sea defence boulders over which we had to clamber. This was difficult for everyone but especially those guiding John. After the second patch, progress was becoming so slow that I led John - who was game for continuing - to the road above and walked along that until things got better below.

Eventually they did and we arrived at St Bees. The next few miles were familiar to some members of the party who'd done them as part of the Coast to Coast Walk. They were also the scenic highlight of the whole trail and we found a wonderful lunch spot in a beachside cove. From there we descended into Whitehaven where we enjoyed an ice cream on the restored quayside. Beyond Whitehaven the scenery rather deteriorated as we reached the industrial part of the coastline. At Parton I offered the opportunity to end the walk for the day as some members were obviously flagging but the majority voted to continue to Harrington, the original destination. A fair proportion of this was a road walk where we were plagued by the local knobheads shouting abuse from passing cars and later we were accused of being "Keswick bums ". It was a relief to get out of there.

The Sunday began with a long stretch beside an old railway works on the outskirts of Workington then to the summit of a reclaimed slag heap. Whatever its origins the view from the top was gobsmacking , the Lakes, the Solway Firth, the Isle of Man and the Galloway coastline, and we spent a while up there while people took photographs. That lit up what otherwise was probably the least inspiring day's walk on the whole trail. The afternoon was very easy walking and we arrived in Maryport with time to spare, some choosing to look round the aquarium.

Julie, Simon and I stayed over until Monday morning when we went on to Silloth to check out potential accommodation for the next weekend. The best we could find was a large holiday camp but we weren't allowed to look in the actual lodges. Julie had her doubts but didn't try to veto it. It came round in March and again there were 18 of us including two longstanding members who hadn't been on a CCW walk since the very early stages.

We arrived first as we had stayed in Ambleside the previous night after winning a free night's stay in a quiz the previous summer. We checked in and went to our lodge. Julie was unimpressed to say the least. I left her and Simon there to do some shopping in Silloth noting a B & B on the front. I checked availability with them then offered Julie the option of staying there instead; otherwise the potential for conflict with the other people in the rather small lodge was too great. She accepted straightaway and we decamped there. I then spent the next couple of hours at the camp directing the others to their lodges as they arrived. Later in the evening we found an undistinguished but friendly pub which was a relief.

The next day we went down to Maryport by bus, a suggestion by Andy which made sense. There appeared to be another discrepancy in the book, the distance in there was down as 11 miles but the road signs said 13. The walk itself was straightforward, the snag

being that we had seen it all on the bus journey so there was nothing surprising. We diverted slightly off route to a village at lunchtime where I asked the landlady in the pub if we could eat our sandwiches there if we bought drinks. She said yes but when we'd all sat down she came out with a pad to take an order. I thought I'd been clear enough but obviously not ! After this embarrassing episode the walk into Silloth was uneventful. Once we reached the holiday camp a number of members less committed to the trail dropped out and went to the pool but we diehards carried on up to Grune Point and back to reduce the length of the following day's walk.

The following morning we had to check out of the B & B so Julie and Simon had to spend the day at the holiday camp. The less committed went home that morning so it was a small party that set out for Kirkbride. The first seven or so miles took us across the vast wastes of Skinburness Marsh with intermittent waymarks that would have been useless in mist. We had a number of creeks to jump across which made leading John interesting and most of us managed to slip in the mud at one point. Finally we got off it, had lunch and went into Abbeytown. From there it was mainly a roadwalk though there was little traffic on the minor lanes and the views were excellent. After a slight navigational hiccup we arrived in Kirkbride where we met up with Alan.

That meant we could finish the trail on the next weekend which took place in October. By this time Chris, Andy, Wendy and Richard had caught up their missing stretches so there were 8 of us on 100 %. We stayed at Green View Lodges a small site south of Carlisle where we took up three of the four lodges. It was very pleasant so Julie was happy. On the Saturday we returned to Kirkbride for the nineteen mile walk into Carlisle. We set off in torrential rain and the first mile or so was horrendous with a fierce wind to contend with as well. It then cleared up and the day was quite bright when we arrived at the Hadrian's Wall path at Drumburgh. From there to Burgh-by-Sands was a tedious four mile road walk but things got better when we arrived at the Eden. From there it was simply a long riverside walk into the centre of Carlisle from where we caught the bus back to Kirkbride. People pursued different meal options that night then we re-congregated in the friendly pub next door to the site later in the evening. I was overwhelmed to be presented with a specially designed and signed card and a number of presents, an engraved tankard, a Rochdale FC shirt and 2 DVDs as a thank you for organising the whole enterprise.

The final day dawned and we set off for Carlisle. After paying the extortionate parking fee we set off up the opposite river bank to yesterday as far as Rockcliffe where we had lunch. From there it was just a short walk to Metal Bridge where the trail formally ends. With hindsight we should have ended the walk there (especially given the menacing dark cloud above us ) and gone back to the lodges for a pool party in the leisure suite but the book suggests walking on over the border into Gretna and it was always our intention to do this.

But it was easier said than done. The road layout had been changed since the book was published and the footbridge over the Esk referred to had vanished. It took us a while to work out that we had to use the road bridge, where there was precious little provision for pedestrians, instead. There then followed what seemed like an eternity of uncomfortable , potentially dangerous walking on roadside verges, half of it in heavy rain before we finally reached the border on the edge of Gretna. It had been the worst ending to any of the LMDPs but there was still some elation - and a few tears- at crossing the finishing line.

Having done a short stretch of the South West Coast Path , the Cumbria Coastal Way doesn't scenically compare but it was still an interesting journey through parts of the country that you'd never otherwise visit. As a shared adventure it was the best.

10 The Furness Way (2009)

Length : 75 miles

Started : 9th August 2009

Finished : 14th August 2009

Companions : (first mile only) Julie Farrell, Simon Farrell

Guide : The Furness Way - Paul Hannon (Hillside Publications)

We jump five years to this one but the back story is better told in the next entry. Suffice to say that by this time I was feeling the need to do an LMDP in one go but there was now an obstacle to such a plan in the lovely shape of our son Simon (born Nov 2007).



I squared the circle by choosing The Furness Way which mainly keeps within reasonable distance of the train line back to the starting point at Arnside. We would set up base camp there by renting out a flat for a week and Julie’s mum and brother would keep her and Simon company while I (and possibly others ) did the walk in return for the free holiday. We rented out Bay House on Arnside’s main street for a week and I booked the accommodation for myself at the appropriate points apart from the end of Day Two where the proximity to a train station made it easy to return to Arnside for the night. Then at more or less the last minute Julie’s family pulled out; I’m not going to discuss this further on a blog but let’s just say I wasn’t impressed.



Julie said it was OK, she’d be able to cope so we went with the original plan. Bay House turned out to be very nice indeed so that was one less worry. We went up Saturday afternoon. The next day I was setting out to do the 16 mile first stretch (I was following the plan in the book exactly) to Crosthwaite. I thought there was no point getting there too early so I delayed the start until 10.30 and spent a bit more time with Julie and Simon.

A problem immediately presented itself. I couldn’t fit everything into my haversack even though I was staying only one night away initially. I had brought the big framed rucksack (for days 3 to 6 ) I’d originally bought from Michael Smithson which hadn’t been used since 1987 but now found one of the pins that allowed you to fasten the pack to the frame had disappeared, perhaps rotted away. We eventually managed to use the waist belt to secure it after much trial and error to stop it being too lopsided. Even so it was far from comfortable.



The first mile is on a tarmac road out of Arnside so Julie and Simon (in his pram) came with me on the first mile to Black Dyke until they could go no further. They were my only companions, earlier interest from others having melted away. Having waved them goodbye I headed north. I arrived at Milnthorpe around lunchtime and had a breakfast barm and cup of tea there. From there it was mainly a road walk as far as Sizergh Castle which became tedious on a humid day with the pack straps chafing my collar bone. I had a decent though over-priced salad at the tea room there and the walk got better from there passing Helsington church and by-passing Brigsteer. Even so I was pretty exhausted by the time I got to my B & B at Crosthwaite House (very nice though the room was tiny) and crashed out on the bed for a couple of hours. The B & B didn’t do evening meals so I had to go to the nearby pub/restaurant The Punch Bowl where I had an even more pricey, though good quality, dinner.



The next day it was raining steadily and the landlord, a nice bloke who was the only person I met who’d heard of the Furness Way, gave me a depressing but entirely accurate weather forecast. Nevertheless I set out with just water and a couple of Mars Bars to get me through until Lindale some miles on. I made good progress as far as Whitbarrow Scar , first visited on an early walk with Julie in 1996, where I got the reception to speak to her on the phone but there were no views at all. I then made very slow progress down the steep limestone path to Witherslack where I had to take the pack off and drag it behind me because it was upsetting my balance and getting caught in the trees. I had what passed for lunch near Witherslack supplemented by some fallen apples I found on the path.



Although the rain had stopped things got much worse after that. I had just passed a farm in the Winster Valley when a bloke with three dogs (large black whippets I think) was heading towards me. They all ran towards me none of them very friendly seeming and one bit me just behind the knee. Fortunately I was somewhat protected by wearing over trousers but it still hurt. The bloke was apologetic to a point even offering to have the dog put down but the problem was they all looked identical and neither of us could identify the guilty party. I asked him to look at the damage and he said it hadn’t quite broken the skin so we shook hands and left it at that. My trials were not yet over. A little further on there were free range pigs in the fields I passed through though they didn’t come near me. Once past them I had to cross Newton Fell where the path was utterly concealed by thick bracken at its summer height. This was a really desperate struggle where at one point I nearly went face first into a rock. I was therefore utterly exhausted by the time I got to Lindale where the pub was shut during the day. This meant a steep descent off route to the post office and consequent re-ascent to continue.



The rest of the route over Hampsfell to Cartmel was actually pleasant. Cartmel too looked attractive but the bus to Grange-over-Sands left almost immediately so I got on that and caught the train back to Arnside. That wasn’t the end of my trials. Julie looked at my wound and said it had been bleeding and I needed to get a tetanus as well as castigating me for not nailing the owner’s backside to the wall. I didn’t know whether the nearest A & E was Kendal or Lancaster but I thought if I went to the latter I could call on my friends Chris and Helen who lived nearby and perhaps borrow a better rucksack from them. Unfortunately I couldn’t reach either of them by phone – it later transpired Chris was in Majorca- so on the advice of a woman in the pub next door I went to Kendal instead. It turned out to be bad advice; Kendal didn’t have an A & E at all so it was back down the M6 to Lancaster and a testing wait for a shot and a telling off for not washing the wound earlier. It was nearly ten o clock by the time I got back to Arnside.



Having picked up some bus timetables I decided to revise my plans. I hadn’t paid any deposit on the next place I was due to stay at, in Lowick where I was going to stay two nights because it was connected by bus to the following day’s terminus, Coniston. However the same bus went on into Ulverston another station on the line so it was actually feasible to return to Arnside for the next two nights. I got Julie to cancel the bookings on the grounds I had swine flu (a bit naughty I know). This had three advantages, one, it was a bit cheaper, two, it gave me a bit more time with the family and three, I only needed the small haversack for the next two days walking. Then I would be able to buy a new larger one, for the last two days walking – staying in Eskdale was unavoidable- in Coniston.



Next day I took the train to Grange then the bus into Cartmel where I bought my sandwiches from a delicatessen there. It was a much nicer day and it felt heavenly to be free of the big pack. Most of the route was familiar as it coincided with an early stage of the next LMDP we’ll be discussing and I got to Greenodd in very good time after lunching at Bigland Tarn. The onward walk up the Crake valley was very easy and I ended up killing some time at a nice pub, the Royal Oak which was still open despite a power cut and in the church porch during a heavy shower. I got the bus back to Ulverston and the train from there to Arnside.



Day Four took me to Coniston through hillier territory. I had to get up much earlier to take the 8.00 train to Ulverston to connect with the bus to Lowick. When I first got up around 7 am I noticed a girl sitting on Arnside Pier looking out across the bay which struck me as unusual. Then she got on the same train and I saw her yet again in the bakers at Ulverston but where she went on to after that I’ve no idea. That was an enjoyable days walk with superb views over the lake to the mountains, tasty bilberries and one of Wainwright’s Outlying Fells, Top O’ Selside being conquered. Also notable were a farmer’s concern that I might get sprayed with weedkiller (I wasn’t heading for the danger zone) and a little kid bawling me out for exploring the outside of the holiday cottage where he was staying. I got to Coniston in plenty of time to get myself a new rucksack and something to eat before the bus back to Ulverston.



Day Five started the same way without the mystery girl but now I had the new pack for I was staying overnight at The Woolpack Inn in Eskdale. I knew this would be a tougher proposition as it involved crossing the intermediate Duddon Valley and. Therefore, a second ascent. It was the nicest day of the six and the ascent of Walna Scar straight off the bus was tough. When I got to the top I met a couple who had cycled up from the other side (the girl was very fetching) and they reassured me that the Newfield Head pub would be open when I got down to the valley bottom. They were right and I had a couple of drinks there before the climb out on the other side of the valley. Near the river I picked up a thick branch and took it with me as far as the isolated farm of Grassguards where I’d heard the dogs were a bit aggressive; I wasn’t taking any chances. While they did seem fierce they stayed behind their fence so I didn’t have to use it. From there the climb across the shoulder of Harter Fell was quite hard going through marshy de-forested ground but the view from the top across to the Scafells was fantastic.



I arrived at The Woolpack around five and checked in. It was a strange place, totally given over to promoting real ale with the accommodation side seeming almost an afterthought. The girl who checked me in was insistent that I be in the dining room for 7. I obeyed and then found that I appeared to be the only guest that night. The food wasn’t bad but incongruously elaborate and expensive for such a place. They were so bloody purist they didn’t do shandies except those cod-Victorian bottled ones. Afterwards I went for a short walk up the valley past the youth hostel then in the very spartan bar where the landlord was talking with some climbing bores so I didn’t linger.



After a serviceable breakfast I was happy to check out and get started on the final day to Ravenglass. It was a straight reversal of the first day’s walk on the second youth hostelling holiday with the school back in 1978. It was a lovely morning the walking being quite easy so I made the recommended detour to see the impressive Taylorgill Force. A bit further on, reaching Eskdale Green station on the steam railway I had the chance to go to a shop but it looked a mile off route so I decided to press on over Muncaster Fell. I duly reached the top and could see Ravenglass down below; this was also the point where the mobile signal returned and I could ring Julie. I then went on the long descent to Muncaster Castle where I went in the tea shop.



There were just a couple of miles left. I went into the toilets and put some swimming trunks on under my trousers, the plan being to strip off and run into the sea at Ravenglass hoping someone would be around to take a funny picture. Unfortunately it now began to rain heavily. Just outside the estate there is a long pasture where I went slightly astray before finding the stile and dropping down to the Roman remains of Walls Castle. When I finally got to the coast there was no one around at all so my celebration took the form of a meal in The Ratty Arms instead, the best, and most reasonably priced, of the walk . There was just the train ride back to Arnside with a change at Barrow left and a (very hot) Indian takeaway from Milnthorpe that evening with Julie.



Despite the dog and rucksack mishaps it had been a very enjoyable experience.

9. The Pendle Way (2004)

Length : 45 miles

Started : 17th May 2003

Finished : summer 2004

Companions : ( in part) Mike Bethel, Rob Harrison, Linda Mehta, Debbie Farnworth, Joshna Patel, TQ (see below) , Julie Farrell. Anup Mehta provided some logistical support

Guide : Pack of leaflets produced by Pendle Borough Council

Strangely enough this one began almost as an afterthought while Julie and I were still in the middle of The Wyre Way.



To explain we need to go back to Bolton Outdoor Group. By the time of the AGM in February 2003 I was beginning to see my post as a poisoned chalice. We hadn’t picked up any new members in 2002 and the resolve of the existing members to continue was perceptibly weakening. One couple had just had their first child, another were about to split up and another became preoccupied with moving house. With due regard to the libel laws the Chairman didn’t inspire any confidence. There was also Susan to contend with; she was still in touch with many of the remaining members and inviting them to both private events and a new walking group she’d joined (of them more later). I’m not sure now (back then I, perhaps inevitably, saw it as a re-run of the New Life scenario) that she was deliberately trying to undermine us but it was having that effect.



It was mainly to combat her that I decided to arrange a youth hostelling weekend at Earby in May 2003. The Group had actually started life as Bolton YHA Group but been pressured into changing the name when the national organisation got insurance-related jitters about events going on in their name over which they had no control. The Group hadn’t done any weekends since Susan’s departure so I hoped to re-enthuse some of the waverers by proving that we could still do them without her. Earby was chosen because it was relatively close by and small; there was a good chance we’d have it to ourselves, an important consideration since Julie was ambivalent about the hostelling experience to say the least. I myself hadn’t stayed at one for almost 19 years preferring B & B’s once I was earning.



As The Pendle Way went right past the door it was a good candidate for the walking part of the weekend so it became BOG’s next (and, as it turned out, final) LMDP project by default. I had bought the guide back in 1991 and actually worked the first few miles into a circular walk I did for the Civic Trust that year but it seems wrong to cite that as the starting date particularly as I don’t recall exactly who else was with me that day.



As a weekend it was a qualified success drawing four others besides Julie and myself. Though hardly bursting at the seams there were other people staying there including a middle aged couple who were walking the Pennine Way. The woman apparently decided to dry her socks in the women’s dormitory. The supposed smell (Linda, the other female in our party suggested it was exaggerated) gave Julie the excuse she needed to demand to go home on Saturday morning. As luck would have it, Linda’s husband Anup had a bad knee so wasn’t able to do the walk and he dropped her off at Colne railway station for the train home.



So four of us started the first stage from Barrowford back to Earby on a very unsettled day. Although I had trailed the idea of having lunch at The Moorcock Inn, Blacko (my favourite pub for food) extensively, Rob, our most hardcore member , obviously hadn’t been listening and grumbled that he had brought sandwiches along. Nevertheless he seemed to tuck into his ploughman’s lunch enthusiastically enough and everyone else ( including Anup who joined us there) enjoyed their meal. We went sluggishly onwards as the weather declined making a longer than planned visit to the Bancroft Mill Steam Engine (which Rob, a big Fred Dibnah fan was enthusiastic about) as it sheeted down outside. A mile or so on I felt obliged to point out that there was a direct route back through the fields to Earby cutting out at least 3 miles where the Way went north to Thornton-in-Craven before turning south. Linda decided to take the opportunity and Mike, I’m sure more out of chivalry than exhaustion, decided to go with her. I gave them my back up guide and did the last bit with just Rob so we were already down to two before the first stage was finished. To our chagrin Mike and Linda got back to the hostel just before another cloudburst which drenched us.



We had a good night at the hostel making ourselves a communal meal with the chicken which Julie had brought along and left behind. In the morning the weather was a bit better although my boots were a bit sodden and a much shorter Part Two to Wycoller went without a hitch, finishing around lunchtime. I gave Rob who lived near us a lift home where he revealed he was shortly to see Susan at some event. That suggested the weekend hadn’t achieved its purpose and that turned out to be the case. Rob never came on a weekend event again though we remained friends and he sometimes turned up on our evening walks.



Part Three was just a day walk, Wycoller to Brierfield for which Linda and I were joined by a new girl, Debbie. Unfortunately she was quite obviously disappointed in the turnout and openly critical of my stopping at the tea shops despite the baking hot day. She and Linda didn’t have much chemistry either and the latter miles were walked in stony silence. It was no surprise we never saw her again and the malaise in the Group continued through the rest of 2003 although we did manage to hold on to the next new member to come along, Joshna. There seemed little point in continuing with The Pendle Way now there was only me who was on for 100% of it.



That November I was trying to put the winter programme together . Rob and Mike (both of whom had now joined other groups) and the couple who’d moved house all declined to offer anything - despite a pleading letter warning that the Group could fold - and I (correctly) judged weren’t likely to attend anyone else’s events either . That should have been it but I had one last chip in my hand – I was going to start work in Bolton itself in the new year and could advertise more effectively once there. It’s hard to think now why I was so keen to preserve this Group as I’d not been around when it was set up and was completely untainted by the incident which had derailed it. Just a bloody minded determination not to be bested by Susan (who I’ve no doubt would be bemused to read this since we never fell out) I guess and the feeling that I had raised one group from the dead so I could do it again.



So we muddled through that winter and once I’d started the new job - about which I can’t be too specific given subsequent events- in February a trickle of new enquiries were duly received. Nothing spectacular but enough to instil some optimism for the spring programme which included Part Four of The Pendle Way Brierfield to Barley (the stage that includes Pendle Hill itself) for want of any better idea . At the start of that programme the newcomers began to appear . The first of them, TQ, who I won’t name because we’ve since fallen out, and Joshna made up the attendance for Part Four. Thankfully they got on well , the weather was great and it was probably the most enjoyable stage. Once we’d finished that there was only a three mile stretch back to Barrowford left for me to complete. I decided there was no point trying to work it into a circular and other members might think we’d been to Pendle enough times so I just finished it with Julie one Sunday afternoon that summer.

The walk itself is interesting and attractive, the one urban bit near Brierfield being quickly passed. Although it was completed in the most disjointed manner of all my LMDP's that shouldn't detract from one of the better municipal trails.

8. The Wyre Way (2003)

Length : 41 miles

Started : 19 April 2003

Finished : June 2003

Companions : (in full) Julie Farrell

Guide: Leaflets produced by Wyre Borough Council

Well as you can see this one was started less than a week after finishing the previous one and completed within a couple of months although I'm not sure of the exact date for the final stage.

Fresh from completing the Coastal Way we decided to get straight on with the next one. The Wyre Way is a strangely shaped trail which starts with a two-pronged fork and ends with a loop. The first 16 miles (the fork) are presented in the Coastal Way leaflet as an alternative route to using the ferry from Fleetwood to Knott End so it seemed a logical choice for the next trail.

The first stage from Fleetwood to Shard Bridge (the apex of the fork) was walked on Easter Saturday. The first 2 or 3 miles are actually the same as the Coastal Way heading south from Fleetwood as far as Rossall School. That weekend there was a big women's hockey tournament on and a burger van was in place just outside the pitch. I suggested we bought a drink there and settled to watch a bit of one of the games. When I finally ran out of excuses to keep watching the attractive young ladies doing their stuff we moved on across to the banks of the Wyre by a chemical works on the outskirts of Fleetwood. This wasn't the most attractive section but it soon improved and we enjoyed looking at all the boats at Skippool Creek before the final marshy section to Shard Bridge and the bus back to Fleetwood.

We did the next section the following day up the other side of the estuary to Knott End a very easy and attractive walk. It was nice to visit Knott End again in happier circumstances. We resumed a fortnight later for the 10 mile stretch away from the coast from Shard Bridge to Garstang. This was completely new territory to me. The transport arrangements were more complicated because there was no direct bus service between the end points. Eventually we parked in Preston and caught the bus to Singleton from where we followed a footpath to Shard Bridge. This path went through a salt marsh where we had to jump across some creeks. Julie fell short and got covered in mud. She managed to clean up a bit because there was a Portaloo at a big car boot sale on the other side of the bridge.

That was quite a challenging walk through what was intensively farmed countryside. The route often led away from the riverside but it was very well-waymarked so credit to Wyre BC for that. There was a bad moment when a herd of cows became quite aggressive but we got by unscathed. At the last farm before Garstang we had to go through a yard where a herd was actually penned in to reach the gate out onto the main road. It took some time to persuade Julie to go through but these ones were docile enough and we made it into town. Garstang was a pleasant surprise after never having heard its praises sung.

The following week we were back again . This time we had to choose carefully where to finish the walk because it was heading into the sparsely inhabited Forset of Bowland where no buses ran on a sunday. In the end we terminated at Forton from where we had to walk an extra mile across to the A6 to catch the bus back to Garstang.

Our last stage then took place on a weekday in order to use the bus from Abbeystead. It was a scorching hot day. We parked by the A6 then re-traced our steps back to Forton. I made a miscalculation that we would be able to restock with drink at Dolphinholme but I hadn't been there before and didn't realise the post office was there in the upper part of the village which wasn't en route.

We reached Abbeystead in the early afternoon. It's here that the Way does a loop taking in the two feeder rivers the Tarnbrook Wyre and the Marshaw Wyre before coming back to Abbeystead. Despite feeling dehydrated we decided to press on in the hope there would be a snack van by the river on the popular road through the Trough of Bowland. There wasn't but there was a family playing outside the farm cottage they'd rented. I asked the mother if she'd fill up our empty pop bottles from the tap but more than that she gave us a big plastic container of mineral water straight from the fridge.

If it wasn't for her we'd have had to turn back but we carried on. The last couple of miles I really had to push Julie to make the last bus but we did it with about 10 minutes to spare and celebrated with a meal in Lancaster.

7. The Lancashire Coastal Way (2003)

Length: 137 miles

Started : 13 September 1997

Finished : 13 April 2003

Companions : (in full) Julie Farrell (first stage was as Julie Hall)

Guide : Leaflets produced by Lancashire County Council

This one is a different, more personal story.

The idea of doing the Lancashire Coastal Way formulated in 1996-7 when Julie and I were courting. We made quite a few visits to the Lancashire coastal resorts and I kept noticing the signs for this path in various places. Eventually we picked up the series of leaflets that serve as the guide.

On 13th September 1997 we had to visit the Dunkenhalgh Hotel near Accrington with my parents to finalise arrangements for our wedding reception (which unfortunately my dad never made ; this turned out to be his last outing before his final hospital stay) and I had the idea of sending them home by train and going for a walk into the evening.

That was the starting point for this LMDP. It was a very nice day. We parked at Freckleton and decided to just walk on until we got tired. I found this initial stretch along the northern side of the Ribble estuary quite eerie where a high bank on the landward side cut off all view of civilisation and unsettling when the perimeter fence of Warton Aerodrome replaced it. We called it a day where the route joined the A584 and caught the bus back to Freckleton. It was barely four miles but had seemed much longer.

A lot happened before the next stage. As hinted above my father died barely a month later and we got married six weeks after that. For the next few months we tended to visit my mum every sunday and walked mainly with the Civic Trust. Eventually she told us it wasn't necessary but by that time we'd got the Irwell Valley Way started.

So it wasn't until the 30th August 1998 that we returned to Warton to resume the trail.

That was another lovely day and we dawdled, visiting the Lifeboat Museum and the Windmill at Lytham terminating the walk there. Shortly after that Julie got a job at an off licence requiring her to work on Sunday evenings so we had less time available for walking. Then I got the notion to write a new guide to Lancashire following the itinerary of an old tourist leaflet I had and that soaked up most of our days off for the next couple of years.

I think we eventually came back to it in 2001 doing very short stretches between Lytham and Fleetwood and using the trams to get back. I remember the walk between Cleveleys and Fleetwood being on a really bad day and having to buy Julie a cheap caguole in Cleveleys.

I think that would have been early in 2002 because the next stage, on the Spring bank holiday delayed for a week to coincide with the queen's Golden Jubilee, was walked under very sad circumstances. My mother had died the previous Friday and we just went for a walk because there was nothing more useful we could do while everyone else was celebrating. I recall almost losing it with the less than helpful girl at the tourist information centre at Fleetwood over bus times. That day we walked from Knott End to Pilling which was a nice stretch but I felt at least 10 years older than on the last one.

The next stage to Cockerham took place after the funeral and was disappointing being mainly on tarmac roads. I remember we spent much of the time arguing over taking in mum's cat. We missed the bus back to Pilling but Julie managed to wrangle a lift from a guy in the pub.

Cockerham to Lancaster was by far the longest stretch we'd done, this time on a weekday. We enjoyed a cafe stop at Glasson Dock then found a short stretch of the path was closed for repairs. We had a look at getting round the obstruction because there was no one working on the site but concluded it was too dangerous and followed the recommended diversion. Towards the end of the long straight path (an old railway line) into Lancaster Julie was so tired she was swaying but a good meal revived her.

The next stage was on a sunday in September, an easy straight walk along another old railway line into Morecambe (the route strangely choosing to bypass Sunderland Point and Heysham). This was when the papers were full of talk about the imminent invasion of Iraq. There was an air show based at Morecambe that day and at one point an old WWII bomber flew ahead. Julie said in all seriousness "looks like it's already started !" What can you say ?

We had a break for the winter then did the next stage on a saturday in February which took us as far as Carnforth. Finishing it was delayed by having to have my appendix removed in March but we finally completed it in April. That last stage was a bit disappointing being mainly a road walk and the Way just finishes at a gate outside Silverdale with no marker at all. We went for some tea at the Wolf House gallery where we bumped into the "girlfriend" of an old flatmate at university. Julie had already clocked her as a lesbian which answered a lot of questions (about her, not Julie !!).

It has to be said that long stretches of this one are quite dull but it was good to have it as a joint achievement. It was also something of a prelude to a bigger adventure but that's jumping the gun.

6. The Tameside Trail (2002)

Length : 40 miles

Started : 14 April 2002

Finished : September 2002

Companions : (in full) Mike Bethel (in part) Linda Mehta

Guide : Tameside MBC

So now we're into the new millennium and another four year gap to explain.

After the disappointing turnouts for the Irwell Valley Way I decided not to try and organise another for the Group in 1999. That September there was a fraught planning meeting where members clashed over the group subscription and accountability within the Group and once again personal jealousies played a part. Although it just about remained civilised and a compromise of sorts was reached the main result was that people started drifting away from the Group. After a run of poor turnouts I decided to retire from putting any more events on the programme and mentioned this to Barry in 2000. He talked me out of it but it was clear that some effort was needed to revive the Group so I set up a modest little website to advertise it. In the meantime the guy who'd replaced me as leader stepped down and the one who replaced him went berserk when he found out about the website. This isn't the place to speculate on his motives but it was obvious I would have to lock horns with him to make any progress. I decided to call it quits and Julie and I left the Group in November. I believe from Barry and others that the Group dwindled away to nothing over the next couple of years so that's a vindication of sorts.

A week or so later I spotted an advert in the window of Campcraft in Bolton for a group called Bolton Outdoor Group. This offered a good range of events probably more suited to our taste than a lot of the Christian events plus it was more local so we quickly signed up. We received a good welcome and I made some modest contributions to their programme in the summer of 2001 albeit constrained by the foot and mouth epidemic. The fulcrum of the Group was a girl called Susan and in September she asked me if I would take over as Secretary as the current one was standing down. I agreed but what I didn't know was that she was already involved in a fierce row behind the scenes with two other members about incidents that occurred on a trip to the Edinburgh festival. The matter escalated when the other committee members proved reluctant to take sides and by the time I took up the post in February 2002 she had decided to quit the Group altogether and took some of her acolytes with her.

Although Susan's departure left a big hole there seemed at the time to be a good resolve to carry on without her and it also meant there was plenty of space for my ideas on the Programme. I duly moved on to another LMDP, the Tameside Trail which had interested me from when I used to work for Tameside prior to 1994.

The transport arrangements for this one were very difficult and took a while to sort out. Stage One was the 12 mile stretch from Broadbottom to Gorton. I had two takers, Mike and Linda, and we met up at Godley station for the train to Broadbottom. It was a reasonable day and contained a good mix of scenery from moorland edge to river valley as far as Reddish Vale. Then we hit the border with Manchester and it was gritted teeth for the last couple of miles along urban roads through a dense residential area. Just for good measure it started raining heavily then it was two buses and a further mile's road walk back to the car.

That was the end of Linda's involvement with this one but Mike turned up again for Stage 2 the 14 mile stretch to Bardsley which took place on the same day that the Soham girls disappeared. Thankfully the urban area was soon left behind and much of the walk followed the course of the river Medlock.

Mike was again the only taker for the final stage which was by far the best scenically, running up to the monument at Hartshead Pike then skirting the Dark Peak before the final descent back into Broadbottom. I shook Mike's hand at the end of the walk, the first person to walk the whole length of an LMDP with me since that other Michael so many years ago.