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Weekend Walk

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Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk is probably the most popular long-distance walk in the country that isn’t a National Trail.

When renowned walker Alfred Wainwright first devised the route in the early 1970s, the choice of long walks was pretty limited. Rather than the Pennine Way’s long slog through peat bogs along the spine of Britain, the Coast to Coast went “across the grain”, offering a lot more scenic variety.

And while he published a guide, it was always his intention that it should be a suggested route, and that readers should find their own way. As it is, there have been problems with elements of his original route, to the point where updated versions of the guide had to include diversions.

The whole thing is around 190 miles, from St Bees Head on the Cumbrian coast to Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire, passing through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. Wainwright planned it to be walked from west to east, the logic being that you have the prevailing wind at your back, and no setting sun in your eyes. And while most of the guides that followed make the same assumption, there are one or two which cover the route from east to west.

This two-day route takes a couple of shorter sections, about 11 miles each, but they do include footpaths over moorland, and with no official waymarkers on the ground, or route marked on the map (apart from Harvey), you do need to be sure of your ability to navigate.

DAY 1 KIRKBY STEPHEN TO KELD (11 MILES)

Kirkby Stephen is a small market town whose name harks back to the early Viking settlers. Just before Frank’s Bridge, you’ll find a notice board detailing three suggested options, but basically it splits into green, red and blue routes on Hartley Fell, and the one you take depends on the time of year. It’s all down to the fact that erosion here is a big problem. The green route shown here avoids Nine Standards Rigg, and is a lower level option. If you do go for the higher routes, near the summit of Hartley Fell you’ll see the Nine Standards, nine large stone cairns. At over 2,000ft, a clear day gives you fantastic views of the Lakeland fells, the Howgills and Great Shunner Fell.

The routes come together once more in lovely Whitsun Dale, following the beck down to where it joins the River Swale, at which point you have the choice of wandering along either bank. The campsite is on this side of Keld.

DAY 2 KELD TO REETH (11 MILES)

Not just the halfway point of the Coast to Coast, Keld is also where the route crosses the Pennine Way. It might seem a sleepy little hamlet now, but it was once at the heart of lead mining in the area, and at the height of the boom in the late 19th Century, the village population was around 6,000. As you set out this morning, you have a series of waterfalls to enjoy before heading for Swinner Gill, and the ruins of the delightfully named Crackpot Hall. The building is an 18th Century farmhouse, abandoned in the 1950s.

Over the next few miles of moorland walking, you’ll see plenty of evidence of the former lead mining activities in the form of mine entrances, smelting mills, and a scarred landscape in places looking vaguely lunar. Follow the course of Old Gang Beck to where you cross a small roadway at Surrender Bridge. From there you’re on a footpath overlooking fields and pastures leading down into Swaledale and the River Swale. The end of the day’s walk is the lovely village of Reeth, the “capital” of Swaledale, with its attractive central green surrounded by houses, pubs and shops.

FACTFILE

MAPS
Ordnance Survey
OS Explorer OL19, OL30
OS Landranger 91, 92, 98
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Harvey Maps
Coast to Coast 2-map set
www.harveymaps.co.uk

Anquet Maps
Great Britain on DVD
www.anquet.co.uk

TRANSPORT
Kirkby Stephen has rail access, while further away, Penrith has both rail and National Express. At the end of the walk, Catterick is the nearest place for National Express, with Northallerton and Darlington for rail. Further travel information from:
www.nationalrail.co.uk
www.nationalexpress.com
www.traveline.org.uk

CAMPSITES
Takoda Camping
Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
CA17 4AP
017683 72587
www.takodacamping.webs.com

Park House
Keld, North Yorkshire DL11 6DZ
01748 886549
www.keldbunkbarnandyurts.com

Orchard Caravan
and Camping Park
Back Lane, Reeth, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL11 6TT
01748 884475

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.yorkshiredales.org.uk
www.walkingplaces.co.uk/c2c