Henrikdoc

‘The Bells. The Bells!’

The famous phrase “The bells! The bells!” is a famous misattribution most commonly linked to Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, though it never actually appears in Victor Hugo’s original novel or the famous 1939 film adaptation…Users on Litersture Stack Exchange agree that the line actually originates from The Bells, an 1871 English-language play adapted by Leopold David Lewis from a Polish work by Erckmann-Chatrian…(ref literature.stackexchange.com)

Why am I telling you this ?

St Andrews church in Grinton

(Wikipedia) “Often called “The Cathedral of the Dales”, Grinton church is dedicated to St Andrew and was for centuries the main church for the whole of upper Swaledale, with many burials coming from miles away.The bodies were carried as much as 16 miles down the valley along the footpath from Keld, now known as the Corpse Way or corpse road , in wicker coffins. Several long stones, located at intervals along the path, traditionally called “coffin stones”, are said to be where the coffin would have been set down while the pallbearers rested.”

…So yesterday we walked along corpse road from Reeth 🤭🤦‍♂️

Anyway- The Bells of St Andrews ring every 15 minutes ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Just outside the front door and our bedroom window of the Bridge Inn – where we stayed last night 😱😱😱

A bit of an interrupted sleep I have to say – for me BUT not for Carol 😠 who slept really well. None the less I still feel rested as, I seemed to hear the Bells then fall asleep again … I think I counted midnight, 1 am, 3 am, 3:15,3:30,4,4;30,5,6,6:30 🤪

Happy days 👍

Maybe that’s why most hikers stay in Reeth which is a real shame as The Bridge Inn is very comfortable and dinner and breakfast were excellent … as were the staff who were very friendly, especially the guy running the bar and restaurant last night.

Coffee was really good this morning- smooth but of a good strength . Note to self to buy

Enough of this ‘wittering’… on to today’s walk .

… but first into the aforementioned church

Leaving Grinton there then follows a section of the C2C that “is so abundantly endowed with variety and beauty and interest that it would be unforgivable to rush it in half a day “(Ref awainwright, A Coast to Coast walk , pub. Frances Lincoln 2003, p97)

So true.

Past some ‘staring’ sheep

Past a farm equipment ‘graveyard’ on the side of road

and then very early on reaching Marrick Priory

where sheep immunisation against Blue Tongue was being carried out under the watchful eyes of some beautiful sheepdogs

Before climbing the nun’s steps (375 allegedly but we didn’t count them) through Nun’s wood

Through Marrick village

The beautiful idiosyncrasies (THAT’s a big word!) of the countryside were also laid bare

Old railway carriages coming in useful ?

before reaching Nun Cote farm

… teas and scones 👍…. …😢unfortunately closed because the lady had to go and help someone out in Richmond who had locked herself out of her home and was a bit frail (totally understandable as a priority👏)

… so onward we went

Sheep are such escape artists!

The village of Marske provided a good place to have a drink and snack

… before seeing another aspect of local care for sheep … they bolted at the sound of a car driving past

Along Applegarth scar

Over Paddy’s Bridge

… and signs of Autumn

On to Richmond

Through Whitcliffe woods – I love woods

Looking back and leaving the Dales behind

… and looking forward to the Yorkshire Moors ahead

Richmond coming into view

.. then onward for some nourishment after 4.5 hrs of walking

… had broth and a cheese scone instead

and then a bit of faffing with the accommodation as our bags were dropped at 66 Frenchgate rather than 59 Frenchgate – both being Guesthouses/Hotels/BnB’s … confusion on our part more than anyone else’s as we hadn’t realised this fact. Sherpavan were excellent sorting this out saying it’s not an unusual occurrence 🤪

Treated ourselves to Italian for supper … the best Calzone since Rojano’s stopped doing them in Padstow!

Lovely end to a day