Day 7: Keld to Richmond

We started out early from our cosy Yurt knowing the weather would be kind in the morning but less so as the day wore on.

We had planned for the low route to enjoy more of the villages and riverside of Swaledale (Herriot country of All Creatures Great and Small fame) than the high route’s ancient mines.

We were delighted by the gentle stroll under dappled sunlight through woods and wildflowers. After reaching Gunnerside and finding the tea room closed we opted to continue along the alternate riverside route and were not disappointed.  More wildflowers, surprised ducklings, cool breezes and a few stumbles as we looked for the elusive otters rumoured to be around these parts.

The theme of today was Alice in Wonderland’s Drink Me potion. Every stone wall gate we encountered seemed smaller than the last. We could not imagine how some of the walkers less tiny than us could pass through them.

We found ourselves in Reeth just in time for lunch but sadly missed out on visiting the Swaledale Museum which had a note on the door: “Sorry, we are closed today” accompanied by a sign that listed opening hours “by chance” so we consoled ourselves with a treat from the ice cream parlour.

While our luck was out for the museum it was in for a pint at the George and Dragon in Hudswell on the way in to Richmond. We were thankful to avoid the rain at 2016’s best pub in Britain and the first community owned pub in Yorkshire after 200 good townsfolk rescued it from closure in 2010.

We then trudged into Richmond yearning for a hot shower and grateful for our well earned rest day tomorrow.

Managed to schlep out for a tapas dinner at La Cocina and are now safely sequestered back in our lodgings with bags of frozen vegetables on our sore knees and some cold(ish) cans of beer within grasp. We are very much looking forward to a lie in tomorrow morning.