Day Eleven - Richmond to Danby Wiske - 4 May

Time Departed: 9.30am Time Arrived: 4:30pm Distance: 23.3 kms Cumulative Distance: 215.2kms Percentage Completed: 65% Weather: Overcast, cold Accommodation: Ashfield B&B We agreed to meet at the Obelisk which stands at the centre of the very old Market Place at nine thirty. We were all there earlier running in to each other as we raced around the shops buying lunch supplies and other necessities. The day’s walk was long but mostly flat alongside the Swale River, on minor roads and alongside farmland. A Richmond shopkeeper insisted that the distant-looking rain was sea mist! We descended from Richmond through its laneways taking the Castle Bridge across the Swale and looked back to Richmond Castle which sits high on the edge of the river.

We had our first stop at eleven o’clock when we found a bench at the beginning of the very tiny and sleepy village of Colburn. We didn’t see a soul. It had no shops and the pub looked like it had been closed for quite some time. Chris surprised us with iced buns. “Bless him”, we said! It didn’t take long for us to feel the cold and we moved on and skirted around the edge of Catterick and its racecourse via its very old bridge. The traffic noise grew closer and closer and we crossed under the busy very A1 which is the major motorway on the east coast linking Edinburgh.

We continued following along the banks of the Swale River until we got to the small village of Bolton on Swale where we decided to have lunch. We found the best place to rest was in the grounds of St Mary’s Church as it had benches amongst the grave yard and we could get out of the cold wind. There was a memorial of Henry Jenkins who was born in 1500 and was supposed to have lived for 169 years.

Outside the church an enterprising person at the village had set up a little table of refreshments for “Coast to Coasters”. Henk, Chris and I each bought a thick slab of lemon drizzle cake and duly dropped our pound into the Honesty Box. The remainder of the walk was alongside farmland which at times was very muddy.

We came across another little stall selling chocolate brownies with an honesty box. There was only one brownie left! We were pleased to have arrived at Danby Wiske as it was a long, flat walk and it was getting colder. It was threatening to rain on several occasions but we were lucky. The quiet village was covered in cars and the hall was full. We found it was a wake for a popular local and consequently our B&B ladies were nowhere in site. Neil, Henk and I were met by fellow walkers who were given the run-down on where our rooms were, where to put our boots etc. Chris and Ron were eventually met by the host’s husband who made them a pot of tea and they sat in the lounge. As there is only one pub we had all been booked in for dinner. When we arrived it was heaving as the people at the wake had moved onto the pub, The White Swan. We all agreed that the dinner had been the best on the path so far. The majority of us had chicken breast stuffed with haggis. Tomorrow morning we meet our B&B lady at breakfast.