Day 11: From Baldersdale YHA to Langdon Beck YHA - 14 miles

I had slept on three chairs bunched together to form an uncomfortable bed. I did not sleep well and I woke early. I was grumpy but gratified to find that Bob had abandoned his bunk too, due to other loud snorers. I might have survived the night after all.

We got of to a flying start after breakfast. It was raining of course and saturated underfoot after the overnight deluge. After admiring Hannah Hauxwell’s old farm and meadow, we climbed up to the lane where we found a checkpoint for the Roof of England Walk, a challenge walk. We were in luck. Route finding would be easy. Their walk coincided with our complicated route to Teesdale. It was clearly marked throughout.

We passed a mother and daughter team whilst paddling over to Lunedale. They were making hard going of crossing a swollen stream. They’d stayed at the Hostel and were heading for the Langdon Beck Hotel. It would be a long journey at their rate of progress.

Much of the way to Middleton was an uneventful plod in the rain. The countryside was agreeable, but unspectacular, whilst the ground conditions were atrocious. The descent to the Tees coincided with an improvement in the weather and visibility: Teesdale was to be a revelation. It is a super walk along the river, enlivened by a succession of ever more impressive waterfalls. The sun was out, the Teesdale meadows were in their full glory and, Bank Holiday trippers apart, all was now well with the world.

I had been to High Force before. Even so, the first view of the waterfall from the southern bank, particularly after all the recent rain, was tremendous: one of the set pieces of the walk. Above High Force, beyond the quarry, the crowds dispersed and the valley takes on a remote, glen-like atmosphere. At Cronkley Bridge, the bloated corpse of a cow was stuck under the bridge.

We were at the hostel early and had a fair wait before the doors opened. To pass the time we rang ahead for tomorrow’s accommodation at Dufton: surely not a difficult proposition, with the Bank Holiday now over and the sizable town of Appleby only a short taxi ride away. That, of course, reckoned without Appleby’s Horse Fair. We were stuck again. There was no accommodation to be had this side of Keswick. Forward booking does have some advantages.

“You are a selfish old sod,” I chided Bob. “I bet you never thought to ask Kath over for a night’s break in the Lakes. She’d love it”

I secured my personal dormitory, “I’m afraid I have a problem…etc” and settled into hostel routine until pub time.

Despite there being no cask beers, the Langdon Beck Hotel is an excellent spot with fine Guinness. There was an outrageously drunken old Scottish woman in the bar indulging in some ancient feud with a local farmer.

“It is better than Emmerdale,” I was authoritatively informed.

“She reminds me of my Mum,” he added. “Not the behaviour, but the accent.”

I was not convinced.

Then we had a stroke of luck. We were explaining our lodgings predicament to the barman: he had a couple of walking guests staying with him an extra night. They’d cancelled their digs at Dufton because of injuries. Our mother and daughter team duly appeared in the bar, tired and battered, with blisters making further serious progress on foot impossible.

“Would you try and get my deposit back,” asked mother.

Details ascertained I booked their abandoned lodgings: it would appear we were sharing a room, though. Oh well, better that than a hedge bottom; we would toss a coin to determine who slept in the lounge.

Accommodation: Langdon Beck YHA (01833 622228)

£10.50

This is a modern hostel, offering good solid value.