COAST to COAST WALK - DAY 1 St Bees to ENNERDALE BRIDGE: 14miles |
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| We were up for breakfast
at 07:30hrs; the big group were already finishing as they
had a big 20 miles day in front of them to get to Shap.
The weather didn't look promising when we got into the
van (we were the only passengers) for our 2 hour trip to
St Bees; the van returns from St Bees picking up all the
baggage transfers. At St Bees we went straight into the
cafe by the sea front for a warming cup of tea as the
rain came down outside. There were at least another 6-8
walkers about all getting ready for the off. Some of them
were going right down to the shoreline to dip their feet
in the Irish Sea; we were content just to pick up a
pebble that will be dropped sometime in the future in the
North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay. (click on any picture to get an enlargement)
Its time to put the overtrousers on; we kept our jackets and overtrousers on all day. It was 10:30hrs when we finally got going up onto the cliff side towards St Bees Head and it's lighthouse. It was quite hard going with the wind whipping in off the sea. We just put our hoods up and our heads down occasionally glancing up to take in the views as below.............
Looking back down to St Bees after the initial climb up onto the cliffs
Dropping down to Fleswick Bay before climbing out again
Looking back over Fleswick Bay After passing the lighthouse further on there were some seats where you could sit and admire the view out to sea or if you really wanted northwards to Whitehaven. Sitting down was not an option in this windy wet weather so we just carried on hoping that we might come across somewhere where we could shelter and have a snack. At the small hamlet of Sandwith after about 5 miles we came across the best option available........
A standing up lunch stop shared with Neil & Maddie who we met up with a few times over the days. After Sandwith we were away from the strong winds and following lanes and field paths for about 4 miles to Cleator. The path differed from our Wainwright Book in one place but it was all easy enough to follow; there were quite a number of signs about. There was a small PO/store at Moor Row but no cafe which we were secretly hoping to find; there was a pub at Cleator but it didn't look to serve food so we couldn't expect to get a coffee there so we had a late lunch break by the bridge on the way out. The mist was well down on Dent Fell but up there we had to go............
On the climb towards misty Dent Fell at 1131 ft It was an easy 1+mile climb up to Dent Fell and the path over was easy to follow and then there was a sign on the other side directing us down through the forest to the lovely Nannycatch Beck valley.......
Getting to the end of Nanycatch Valley - a lovely mile even in this weather The road was joined for the final mile into Ennerdale Bridge which at the time of day we met it was very busy for a country road; we found out later that it is used as a 'rat-run' for traffic going to and from Cockermouth and beyond. Luckily there was a permissive footpath in the nearby field to keep us away from the traffic. Our accommodation at The Cloggers B & B was at the other end of the village (it would be wouldn't after a long first day). There are two pubs in the village: The Shepherd's Arms Hotel and the newly re-opened Fox & Hounds where we went, even though it was at the other end of the village (we fancied a walk?).The food was fine but it lacked a lot of atmosphere partly because it was nearly empty and partly because they have some pretty naff wooden chairs - anyway the beer was good and that's what really mattered. We found later that most people went to the other place. |
