Well on our way...

Day 1 didn’t disappoint. After scaling the cliff at St. Bees beach, we had a lovely couple of hours following the coastline northward before turning inland and making towards Lakeland proper.

We were able to quickly identify our fellow coast-to-coasters. There aren’t many of us but we do keep encountering each other, each time any of us rests.

We also bumped into Wainwright himself en route, a somewhat serious looking statue of the man and his dog pointing us in the direction of Robin Hood Bay. Which was rather handy as other signposts along the path seem rather few and far between!

The weather was kind and the scenery impressive, although I became very focused on Dent Fell, the big hill that I knew we had to summit at the end of the day and which loomed large in the distance.

We successfully tackled it after a lovely break in the woods, eating quiche bought in Cleator’s village shop. We had been expecting to find a pub there but apparently it closed a few years ago. There is a definite gap in the market around here for establishments to feed and water weary walkers!

After a steep descent, we had a long stretch through a rocky valley. As Mark rightly said, a dinosaur wouldn’t have looked out of place there.

T-Rex avoided, we made it into Ennerdale Bridge about 7.5 hours after leaving St. Bees, tired but still cheerful.

My foot, however, was less happy which it decided to make very clear after half an hour of sitting in the pub’s beer garden when I tried to get up again to return to my room. After a lot of rest and a bit of hobbling around, it seems to have loosened up enough for me to at least be prepared to give today’s walk a go. Let’s see how I get on!

Day.1:

Walked: 39,452 steps (15 miles)

Stayed and ate: The Shepherd’s Arms, Ennerdale Bridge