Walking across England -- the Irish Sea to the North Sea
Nearly 200 miles later, I am weary and more accepting of my aging bones and joints. All in all, the June walk was a celebration of nature’s beauty in northern England. We started on the west coast at the St. Bees, Cumbria cliffs. There we gazed down at the razor bills, murres, and guillemots who nested high above the sea, their eggs precariously positioned on a dip in the rock. We ended on the east coast at Robin Hood’s Bay, an old fishing village, perhaps named for the legendary English hero.
The Coast to Coast (C2C) trek was outlined in the 1970s by hiking enthusiast Alfred Wainwright when he was in his 60s. It is an athletic endeavor, and I missed the rich history and spiritual nature of the Camino pilgrimage in Spain that Reed and I walked eight years ago. In 2021, fanatics ran the 192-mile C2C route in 39 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. A photo of a group of four women, who completed it in 4 1/2 days, hung at a Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. It sounds like they took the time to sleep.
Our goals were less ambitious, as Reed nursed a knee injury, and I had finished physical therapy for a hip issue. We tried to be realistic about our aging bodies but still confronted disappointment when we weren’t up to the physical and mental challenge or accomplished less than other hikers. At seventy, we had nothing to prove to anyone. However, most of the hikers were gray haired. Many came from Australia. As with our experience hiking the Camino in Spain, we often play hop-scotched with hikers, seeing them along the trail or at pubs and got to know them a bit. We particularly enjoyed a former cop and nurse. He was tall and with long legs. She was short but fast and the two of them always passed us on the trail.
We were warned about the rainy and windy Lake District, so we prepared with breathable rain pants, gaiters to keep the water out of our boots, raincoats, and multiple layers for warmth. In fact, the week before we left, the weather forecast was in the 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 10 days of rain. Reed and I promised each other that we would not walk in the rain for 8 hours. Argh! In hindsight, we over packed and were plagued by keeping our bags under the weight limit for the van-sherpa service, which meant we carried more in our day packs. Argh again!
We were not prepared for the elevation change in the Lake District, the first third of the trip, or the fact that England didn’t do switch backs – rather straight up or straight down -- and rock trails are unstable when wet.
Overall, the weather was kind, and the joy of the walk was experiencing the changing details of the landscape from west to east in rural England. The UK has the “Right to Roam” which guarantees the legal right to walk on much of the land, including through fields with crops and grazing animals. We opened and closed many gates and met cows and sheep curious about what we were doing. The mountains of the Lake District that descended into valleys with large lakes yielded to the Yorkshire Dales. If you are a PBS All Creatures Great and Small fan, you are familiar with the landscape: Rolling green fels (hills) carved by becks (streams) and divided by dry stone walls (stones piled much higher than what we see in New England and made without mortar or cement). Fields are dotted with stone building or byres (barns). A green chess board of sorts. The fields were filled with sheep — ewes and lambs who provided constant entertainment, calling to each other. The lambs gathered in “play groups” and raced or head butted each other. Pink foxglove and yellow buttercups bloomed everywhere. The dales included peat bogs and gave way to the moors where the purple heather was beginning to bloom.
We stayed in villages and towns; the largest town was Richmond with a population of 9000. The villages usually consisted of a pub, church, houses and often a coop, where you could purchase supplies if it was open. Nevertheless, the areas are struggling much like the US, with abandon buildings on the main streets and shops with erratic hours: a rail museum open for an afternoon once a month, restaurants closed during the week. Fortunately, the bed and breakfasts would pack us sandwiches for about 8 pounds or $10. The C2C brought tourism to these small and dying villages. The NHS has cardiac initiative, “The Circuit” to improve cardiac survival rates and every village had a defibrillator, often kept in the old red phone booths.
We treasured the graciousness and quirks of our hosts and lodging. There was Margaret, aged 82, who served us warm scones and tea shortly after we arrived on fine China with embroidered linen napkins. Josephine who ran her B+B in a regimented fashion - feeding us breakfast at 8 am as she fed her 10-year-old son in the next room, then turned our breakfast room over for the B+B check-in that occurred at 4 pm as soon as we walked out the door. She made the most delicious lunch we encountered: whole wheat bread with chutney and cheese or beef or humus and grated carrots with raisins. As well as a piece of fruit, a tiny box of raisins, and a slice of cake with plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins. The inn in the middle of the Yorkshire moors that specialized in German food and beer.
Parish associations appeared to provide the organizational backbone in many villages, often responsible for maintaining a public bathroom and playground. The associations posted their minutes publicly in the center of town. Some provided camping and refreshment facilities for the hikers. We often walked into the back of the church and helped ourselves to cold drinks, or snacks, paying with the honor system.
Hiking hour upon hour quiets the mind. One must get past boredom or focusing only one’s aches and pains. Traveling light, I didn’t carry a book with me and read the Center for Action and Contemplation’s daily contemplation online each morning (when the internet functioned). I spent much of the walk reflecting on two entries about joy written by Barbara Holmes. “Joy as embodied presence is an abiding awareness of the gift given to each and every one of us, no matter our circumstances in life.”
“True joy is not circumstantial. It doesn’t require that things be going well. You can have joy during imprisonment as Nelson Mandela did, or while impoverished, as many do in Haiti. Joy is even available in war-torn parts of the globe today.” Toward the end of her career, Dr. Barbara Holmes served as President of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. I was unaware of her when I lived in MN.
May you find joy this summer.
Reed posted photos from our trek. HERE