In the space of two hours we’d glimpsed garlic heaven and endured culinary hell. No mean achievement for a Friday night in a small North Yorkshire market town. The landlady proved to be a gem. Her helpfulness and, more importantly, her stylish smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, made our stay at the Old Brewery such a pleasure it assuaged sad memories of Richmond’s missed opportunities and the ‘hold-the-spuds’ Lamb Henry of the night before.
Dec 16, 2021•7 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Walking at a steady pace in the rain promoted a pleasant feeling of detached solitude, a state of mind similar to meditation. The rhythmically paced footfalls became the mantra that freed the observer within to watch the mind at play. The close patter of rain on my hood was wonderfully personal and intimate. In no time, my feet were sloshing about in spongy misshapen boots. The combination of wet grass, pouring rain and the run-off from my leggings had turned each boot into a footbath....
Dec 09, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 20
From Keld, there was little doubt we’d make it to Robin Hood’s Bay provided we avoided accidents or the hailed Rumpsfeltish – unknown unknowns. Keld is the only place where the ‘best’ walk in England (The Coast to Coast Path) and the ‘best known’ walk in the British Isles (The Pennine Way) merged. Like many in competition, their meeting is furtive and brief, with no outright winner evident.
Dec 02, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 19
The cool breeze strengthened to a squall, pressing clothes close and tight. A light drizzle flurried in the air making it a woollen-hat-over-the-ears day. Mother Nature had called to say “hello” and give us a gentle reminder that the Pennine Hills could be a changeable, bleak and dangerous place to be. A cantankerous Texel ram froze Peter and I with a challenging Catalan stare that proclaimed, ‘This is my patch and don’t you forget it’. Not before the ram was sure we’d got the message, did it sa...
Nov 25, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 18
It was easy to visualise a stagecoach and four rounding the corner on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and draw to a halt at the steps of the King’s Arms Hotel. The Cumberland Sausage at the Black Bull was the real thing, an appetising coil, nearly a foot and a half long, that covered the large dinner plate. It appeared the Cumberland Sausage had moved on and forsaken its homeland to take up residence in Yorkshire.
Nov 18, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 17
A nearby cairn marked the final resting place of Robin Hood. What with Robin Hood’s Chair overlooking Ennerdale Water, Robin Hood’s grave at Wicker Street, and our final destination of Robin Hood’s Bay, the names, even if imaginary, lent a sense of place and time to the overall trail. Back at the farm, Sheila sent us off to bed with a cup of tea and a wedge of homemade cake.
Nov 10, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 16
“To come here, I disregarded my doctor’s advice, pooh-poohed my son’s pleas, and didn’t once pray for divine intervention,” stated Bryn with defiant steeliness. “And you know what? I don’t give a Continental!” Occasionally, birdsong brightened the sharp morning air with the magic trills not heard on the mountain tops. The stark beauty of the Lake District National Park gave way to the well-tended patchwork of a tamed landscape.
Nov 04, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Dew Drop, or Bryn as we later learned, was lively and engaging company. It took only a couple of pints to transform the mischievous rapscallion of the mountain tops, into an independently minded nonconformist. Even though he experienced great difficulty walking, Bryn was eager to revisit the Lake District; the playground of his youth. The staggering shuffle across the mountain tops was his first respite in many years.
Oct 27, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 14
At Angle Tarn it was easy to understand the bond that connects mankind with the land. No claim of contracted possession, only the ‘oneness’ that extends back to ‘The Beginning’. Our Land! An extension of ourselves! The land we sprang from, the earth we’re part of, the place where we belong and to which we will return.
Oct 21, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Our farm-stay digs were a foxhunters Mecca. Mounted above the sideboard, in a display cabinet, a fox sat perfectly still amidst a stage-set rural scene. The stuffed animal fixed would-be diners with an unblinking glassy stare. It was madness to overlook Wainwright’s haven whilst distracted by a ‘Test Match’ silly mid-off or long leg. After all, ‘the wise man, when he walks, just walks’.
Oct 14, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Neither birdsong nor creaking trees are heard in that desolate place. A chorus of gushing waterfalls and gurgling streams is the music of the mountaintops. That night, the long forgotten sleep of the innocent came to call. Not a single sound spoiled the silence of the black night. The farmhouse, well-rehearsed over centuries, was up to the task of refreshing guests with the spiritual nourishment of untroubled slumber.
Oct 08, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The air was chilled and humid, the breeze strong and blustery, and the sky dark and low. Unlike the furtive mist that caressed the cheeks, the storm’s calling card was a shotgun blast of icy droplets full in the face. It was when battling the misty storm that Mr Catastrophe whispered, ‘G’day’.
Oct 01, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Ramblers get lost at Greenup Edge! However, just below this confusing ridge is the easiest walking of all the high-level sections from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, and is certainly something not to be missed. The all-round views are amongst the most dramatic in all Lakeland. Below, nestling by a lake is Grasmere – reputed to be one of the prettiest villages in England, and once home to the eighteenth century poet, William Wordsworth.
Sep 22, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 9
‘Good morning’, everywhere to everybody by everyone. Often the path was a stony rivulet with runoff gushing around large boulders that doubled as steppingstones. Gaelic ‘drumlins’, formed during the last Ice Age adorned the landscape.
Sep 16, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Even though the day had been dull, damp and dismal, the walking had been exciting, the weather exhilarating and the landscape spectacular. The Royal Oak Hotel, ‘William Wordsworth slept here’. Minestrone soup, Cumbrian roast ham with the biggest jacket potato I’d ever seen, and to finish off – pear Bakewell tart. Good night!
Sep 08, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 7
What lay ahead wasn’t suburbia in the greenbelt, but untamed mountainous country, made wrinkle-free during the last Ice Age. A ragged ceiling of cloud hung close and dark overhead. All about, exhausted climbers lay scattered on the marshy yellow ground recovering from their exertion.
Sep 03, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The Keeper of the Keys boot fetish, and ‘Thank you for NOT smoking’. A mist shrouded funeral as diversion from Guantanamo Bay style strobe lighting torture.
Aug 26, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Arduous Dent Hill; tough and tiring - ‘If your legs don’t give-up first’. Peaceful Nannycatch Beck, a bogus ‘Stone Circle’, a hoodwinked postdoctoral Eskimo and the welcome prospect of a suntrap beer garden.
Aug 19, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Shrouded in sea mist, Wainwright’s toes ceremony and a tramping Kiwi spiv. Reflections of the Western Front, and Texel rams in lanolin raincoats.
Aug 12, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Our two ‘Don’t let the old man in’ acolytes, ponder upon the ordeal ahead whilst visiting an ancient priory church and recceing the start of Wainwright’s path. In the meantime, our heroes battle British plumbing, were scandalised at the sabotage of a world renowned mystery bag, and outmanoeuvre an ancient bedroom booby-trap. Having deftly sidestepping these obstacles, our adventurers float contentedly into a welcome border counties dreamtime.
Aug 09, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Introduces two retirees about to challenge Wainwright’s internationally renowned Coast to Coast Path. Our ‘grey nomad’ heroes are experienced day walkers, however this 191 mile, three-week adventure is something new and a hint daunting to these plucky novices. Episodes of their bizarre encounters and comical antics along the trail, will unfold over the coming months on this podcast. Happy listening.
Aug 04, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1
