Distance: 13 miles
Weather: Overcast and warm all day, sun put on a show at 5pm
Today was my final day on the Way for this trip so I was going to make the most of it. I was on the path by 9:00 with my packed lunch safely stowed. I walked through Bowes looking at the interesting buildings and I think I located Charles Dicken's inspiration for Dumbledoys School in Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens stayed at the Ancient Unicorn when he visited Bowes. I soon crossed the A66 and started heading back up on to my lovely moors. I walked past Clint House where I stayed on The Pennine Journey which brought back happy memories of pots of strong tea and plates of delicious home made cakes.
It was all a bit nondesecript for a while after that as I toddled past the Ministry of Defence land, which was looking dismal under the overcast skies. I started to remember how wet it was on my last visit here - the becks and gills were all in full spate and we had to leap and bound across them. The ground was wobbly as a wet water bed. It was squishy and muddy and there was lots of bog trotting. By the end of that day we walked into Middleton covered in mud up to our waists - we were knackered but happy and The Teesdale Hotel obligingly put our sodden boots in their boiler room to dry out for the next day. This time it was dry as a bone. There was a trickle of water in Hazel Gill but not much. I had put on my gaiters ready for the worst but I didn't really need them. These are strange times and the moors were illustrating this vividly on this walk.
Crossing the moors I kept meeting up with the Swiss ladies but no sign of the Belgians today. I was soon at Balderhead and Blackton reservoir. It was a lovely spot with lots of wildlife. And then there was Hannah's Meadow which was just as beautiful as last time I saw it with lots of sweet smelling Meadowsweet. It was then a yomp (me yomping - who'd have thought it) across more moorland and again, last visit it was so muddy and wet and this time it was practically a stroll in the park...apart from the hills of course.
I walked through Lunedale between two reservoirs and then steeply uphill to Grassholme Farm, and a right turn past Withy Farm where they had a tuck shop which was brilliant. They had drinks, homemade cake, crisps and chocolate bars but I couldn't buy anything as I didn't have less than a tenner with me - doh! Onwards and upwards through fields with cows, past old quarry workings. I crested the hill and there was Middleton in Teesdale nestling in the valley and it is, in my opinion, one of the best of the North Pennine villages. I could see where the Way continued up Teesdale and I wished I could continue tomorrow instead of having to wait for a year. I did the classic 'Last of the Mohican's' wave before I started my descent into Middleton It was a special moment as I shouted my goodbyes to the Way until next year.
It was a steady descent down into Middleton past Kirkcarrion which always looks interesting but foreboding. I had tea and a scone at the 1618 cafe. All the wonderful shops were still lining the high street; the chemist, butchers, ironmongers, the Co-op - I love this village. I found my Air bnb which was the top floor of a converted mill and it was a gem. My host was away so I had the place to myself. She left me detailed notes about the hot water, heating and food and it was so comfortable and welcoming with books everywhere.
I had dinner at the Teesdale Hotel and was delighted that my Belgian friends joined me for my last evening. I persuaded them to order Sticky Toffee Pudding and they liked it. I also gave them some top tips for the next stage of the walk as I had walked some of the same paths on the Pennine Journey: to try fish and chips in Alston but wash it down with Dandelion and Burdock, to walk along the South Tyne Railway rather than the official trail after Alston, to visit Vindolanda if they get the chance. We said our good byes. They were a lovely couple, gentle souls, and I shall miss seeing them.
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