Vole Explosion

GETTING HOME

From Kirk Yetholm I caught a 9.20am bus to Kelso and then another bus at 11.15am to Berwick-upon-Tweed, from where I caught the train south. The bus rides were very scenic and Kelso is a very attractive town, with a continental-style square, some grand old hotels, a ruined abbey, and many independent shops giving the town centre a distinctive look, not identical to most other town centres.

I had a traditional Scottish breakfast in a cafe called Off the Square, which I can thoroughly recommend as arguably the friendliest place I visited on the whole trip.

MAPS, GUIDES AND NAVIGATION

I used the Trailblazer guide and found it exceptional. The hand-drawn maps are easy to follow and I would have made a few more navigational errors without it. There were some inaccuracies due to places closing down, for which the authors can’t be blamed.

The Harvey’s maps were not needed at any point because the guidebook was so comprehensive, but they are really nice maps to take, especially for checking your progress, and they weigh next to nothing.

I used the compass a few times (fewer than ten) to check I was heading in the right direction, so I would recommend taking one. I don’t use GPS. Parts of the PW were not well sign-posted but the trail is mostly obvious and worn into the ground. Navigation was often intuitive.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?

Take fewer clothes and hand wash more frequently. I had a couple of shirts I didn’t even wear and I carried about a week’s worth of clothes. This is too much. Three or four quick-drying shirts, hand washed every two or three nights, should be enough. Some days you will just have to learn to embrace the stank!

Bring fewer shirts and underpants than you think you’ll need, and more socks. They’re your hardest working items of clothing on a hike and they never dry as fast as you would like them to.

Had I packed fewer shirts I may have got everything into my new 50 litre pack.

ACCOMMODATION

Day One – Wild Camp, Bleaklow Head – free

Day Two – The Old Carriage House Campsite, Standedge – £10

Day Three – YHA Manchester – £49

Day Four – Winterhouse Barn Campsite, Ickornshaw (Summerhouse) – £13

Day Five – Riverside Campsite at Top Head Farm, Malham (Caravan) – £10

Day Six – Holme Farm Campsite, Horton-in-Ribblesdale – £8

Day Seven – Bainbridge Ings Campsite, Hawes – £13

Day Eight – Tan Hill Inn bunkhouse – £45

Day Nine – Daleview Campsite, Middleton-in-Teesdale – £5

Day Ten – Wild Camp, High Cup Nick – free

Day Eleven – Wild Camp, Little Dun Fell – free

Day Twelve – YHA Alston – £45

Day Thirteen – Holmhead Camping Barn – £30

Day Fourteen – Haughtongreen Bothy – free

Day Fifteen – Wild Camp, Whitley Pike – free

Day Sixteen – Lamb Hill Mountain Refuge Hut – free

Day Seventeen – Friends of Nature House, Kirk Yetholm – £24

Total = £252 (coincidently, £1 per mile of the PW)

Daily Average = £14.82

DAILY MILEAGE

Day One – 14 miles; 22.5 km; 7 hours

Day Two – 13 miles; 21 km; 10 hours

Day Three – 14.5 miles; 23.5 km; 7.25 hours

Day Four – 15.5 miles; 25 km; 9 hours

Day Five – 17.5 miles; 28 km; 9.5 hours

Day Six – 14.5 miles; 23.5 km; 8.5 hours

Day Seven – 13.5 miles; 21.5 km; 6 hours

Day Eight – 16 miles; 25.5 km; 9 hours

Day Nine – 16.5 miles; 26.5 km; 9 hours

Day Ten – 16 miles; 25.5 km; 10 hours

Day Eleven – 10.5 miles; 17 km; 9.5 hours

Day Twelve – 13 miles; 21 km; 8 hours

Day Thirteen – 16.5 miles; 26.5 km; 10 hours

Day Fourteen – 10.5 miles; 17 km; 8 hours

Day Fifteen – 17 miles; 27.5 km; 10.5 hours

Day Sixteen – 17.5 miles; 28 km; 10 hours

Day Seventeen – 17 miles; 27.5 km; 9.5 hours

Total = 253 miles; 407 km; 150.75 hours

Daily Average = 14.88 miles; 23.94 km; 8.87 hours

WILDLIFE

Birds

1. Mute Swan

2. Greylag Goose

3. Canada Goose

4. Mallard

5. Teal

6. Tufted Duck

7. Goosander

8. Red Grouse

9. Pheasant

10. Cormorant

11. Little Egret

12. Grey Heron

13. Common Buzzard

14. Kestrel

15. Hobby

16. Moorhen

17. Lapwing

18. Dunlin

19. Snipe

20. Common Gull

21. Lesser Black-backed Gull

22. Feral Pigeon

23. Wood Pigeon

24. Collared Dove

25. Cuckoo

26. Tawny Owl

27. Green Woodpecker

28. Great Spotted Woodpecker

29. Skylark

30. Swallow

31. House Martin

32. Meadow Pipit

33. Pied Wagtail

34. Grey Wagtail

35. Dipper

36. Dunnock

37. Robin

38. Wheatear

39. Stonechat

40. Song Thrush

41. Mistle thrush

42. Blackbird

43. Ring Ouzel

44. Chiffchaff

45. Goldcrest

46. Wren

47. Great Tit

48. Blue Tit

49. Coal Tit

50. Long-tailed Tit

51. Nuthatch

52. Magpie

53. Jay

54. Jackdaw

55. Rook

56. Carrion Crow

57. Raven

58. Starling

59. House Sparrow

60. Chaffinch

61. Linnet

62. Goldfinch

63. Bullfinch

64. Common Crossbill

65. Reed Bunting

Mammals

1. Roe Deer

2. Rabbit

3. Brown Hare

4. Mountain Hare

5. Grey Squirrel

Herps

1. Common Frog

2. Common Toad

No animals were harmed in the making of this diary (except that toad that got squished on day two).

THANKS TO…

Maxine Sharples for giving me the idea for this blog.

Matthew Brooker and Gloria Davies for messages of support.

Everyone along the Pennine Way who helped me, chatted to me, or generally just showed me kindness. There were literally hundreds of you, and I didn’t catch all your names, but THANK YOU.