The Kimbers Walk The Dales Way

Day 5 required the longest mileage—19–because there are very few lodging establishments on this stretch. Chuck and Susy got creative and opted to spend the morning in and around Sedbergh and walked to a historic and very interesting Quaker meeting house. They then got a ride to the town of Burneside and hiked the remaining scenic miles to our inn in Staveley. John and I felt well rested and took off as early as we could to conquer the entire 19 miles. We’ve been at the mercy of the places where we’ve stayed, which all provide breakfast, but in most cases not until 8:00, so it’s not possible to leave till at least 8:30. And it’s not as if we could leave earlier and grab breakfast along the way. There are no options, and a good breakfast is essential. The scenery was fantastic all along the route. We had to remind ourselves to stop and take it in, as we didn’t know exactly what terrain lay ahead and were concerned about making it to Staveley before sunset. Also, on this kind of hike, we ...

I woke up early this morning after a fitful night of sleep where I’d found it hard to settle down after yesterday’s intense hike. I told John I wanted to take a rest day with Chuck and Susy, and he agreed it was a good idea but hoped to walk the next leg himself anyway.  Our thought was to take a train to the little town of Dent, not too far from our destination, and enjoy the town a bit before finding our way to our lodging in Sedbergh via taxi or bus. We were at the  station waiting for the train to Dent when one of the people working there pointed out that the Dent train station is four miles outside of town, with no way to get to town other than on foot. More importantly, there was no easy way to proceed on to Sedbergh, as the bus going there runs only once a week (yesterday, of course). How about a taxi? “Oh, you won’t be getting a taxi in Yorkshire,” he said. According to him, folks are very reluctant to part with their money—“A Yorkshireman is just a Scotsman deprived o...

Our guidebooks indicated this would be the most challenging of our six days of hiking, with quite a bit of elevation to conquer. Chuck and Susy felt refreshed after their afternoon off on Day 2 and decided to go all in on Day 3. It was an all-or-nothing kind of day, as we were getting quite remote, were outside of cell service, and had no taxi services available even if our phones had worked. It’s surprising to us how much of England remains remote and undeveloped. As we’d been told, the first leg of the day’s route was relatively flat, and then we began climbing—nothing too steep, but long stretches of “up.” We carried extra water in our packs, knowing it might be tough to find places to refill. Along the way, uphill stretches alternated with very boggy, deeply muddy sections where all we could do was try to keep our balance (with varying degrees of success). It was something like walking through sand, but much more hazardous. More and more uphill until we finally reached the highest ...

We said goodbye to our hosts at the delightful Osborne House after a hearty breakfast, hoping to visit Ilkley again someday. The weather was perfect, with sunshine and comfortable temperatures in the low 60s. The trail led us out of town, and our first stop, 6 miles in, was the town of Bolton Abbey. The magnificent ruins of Bolton Priory did not disappoint, and we lingered and had lunch. The trail followed the River Wharfe, with lovely views every direction. We stopped at the Fairfield Quaker Meeting House, which was built in 1689 and no longer functions as a place of worship but just a well-maintained piece of history. We arrived in Burnsall and checked into the Red Lion (not to be confused with the US hotel chain). We were ready for a good night of rest after our 16-mile hike. A few observations about the delightful local people: —They’re friendly. Almost without fail, they greeted us as we met them along the path. This contrasted with our experience back home, where most people are ...

What a fun side trip we had! We took a couple of trains and ended up a mile outside the town of Thirsk. We are becoming familiar with and really appreciating the UK’s train system. Thirsk itself was larger than I had imagined. There is a large horse racing track right in town, and we happened to be there the day of the racing season finale. We were able to see horses flying by as we walked past the course.  Our main goal was to visit the James Herriot museum, of course. The museum is in the building where Herriot actually lived and practiced, and many of the rooms have the original furnishings and other pieces appropriate to the time period. It was interesting to see how efficiently they used space, with rooms fulfilling multiple and diverse functions. We had a nice lunch at a tea house and then headed back on the train to Ilkley.

A good night of sleep energized us, and we set off on Day 2. Chuck and Susy took a wrong turn and ended up visiting the town of Hebden and getting a nice panoramic view of the area before arriving in Grassington and meeting John and me. Grassington is a very appealing town, touristy but in a good way. The town square is the filming location for the most recent “All Creatures Great and Small” series, so we recognized various storefronts. Although the filming must create many inconveniences for the locals, the town seems to have really capitalized on the link to the books and the TV series, as many businesses have names related to Herriot’s characters.  Chuck and Susy decided to linger in Grassington and take the bus to our lodging in Buckden rather than walk the distance. John and I started the upward trek into Yorkshire’s version of big sky country. The views were more vast and spectacular the higher we got. The weather was again gorgeous, and numerous locals reminded us of how luc...