North of England Way Day 5 Thursday 26 June

Near Thwaite to Stoops Moss
Miles walked 18.5
Miles left 128
Walking 5.45am to 7.34pm

It rained lightly on and off in the night but I was able to pack away after it had stopped. The path was easy to follow south towards Sedbergh. I stopped for a minute or two to watch a heron preening itself on a rock down in the river below.

I went into Sedbergh and found again the shop I'd visited in 2009 on my LEJOG and bought a couple of excellent meat pies to sustain me. The steak and Guinness one I shovelled down mid morning couldn't have tasted better. While I was eating it a Dales Way walker with a dog came by. He couldn't carry a pack due to a shoulder problem and so had made a two wheel carrier that he had strapped to a belt he was wearing. His pack was on it and occasionally the dog was carried as well.  The Way then dropped down into Dentdale, passing through the picture postcard hamlet of Millthrop.

The River Dee was followed along the edge of meadows to Dent where their annual festival was getting under way. There were to be musical events (Midge Ure, for one) and a beer festival. People were arriving with tents and campervans. 

My queasiness from yesterday had returned during the morning. In Dent, I visited a tearoom for a pot of tea and a toasted teacake and a couple of times there I came out in a sweat and felt quite nauseous and, unusually for me, wasn't able to finish the teacake. Leaving Dent, the walking was easy, just switching from one side of the river to the other from time to time. The weather was cloudy all day but dry so ideal really. Approaching the hamlet of Cowgill, I opted to stick to the lane rather than follow the Dales Way at a higher level. There was very little traffic. After Cowgill, the road passed beneath the Dent Head Viaduct which carries the Settle-Carlisle railway. According to my book of the North of England Way, a local farmer was asked why Dent station is 4 1/2 miles from the village. Apparently, he replied that it was because they wanted the station near the railway line! There were three more miles of tarmac before leaving the road to enter the wild moorland of Stoops Moss. I pitched about half a mile in on the first reasonable pitch. It's quite tufty but comfortable enough. The fence and stile I'm next to mark the boundary between Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The weather has turned quite breezy and chilly. The curlews were quite vocal at first but quieter now and there's a lapwing as well. I can see the profile of Penyghent in the distance. I shall be joining the Pennine Way tomorrow. 

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