DAY EIGHT

DAY EIGHT

I woke about 6am realising I was no longer warm in my sleeping bag. After checking the time, and seeing if Ash was still sleeping, I pulled the hood of my sleeping bag tighter and slept for another few hours on the hard cold ground, before deciding enough was enough and it was time to get up.

On the way to a hot shower, Heather offered me a big mug of tea, and later brought us each a massive bacon and egg baguette. This was just the thing to motivate us to take the tent down. Good job too as no sooner had I pulled the draw string on the rucksack and Brigantes arrived to collect our bags. 

We set off shortly before 10am with a very steep road climb out of the village followed by another long hill up and over the top. I say top but actually there was another top beyond that top and indeed another and another after that one. After walking over countless false summits we saw Tan Inn in the distance and strode out to be there at twelve when I had planned on meeting my Mum and Dad

We had been spotted from within the Inn, and my dad was stood outside paparazzi style waiting to capture us arriving. The inside of Tan Inn was an odd place, but all the better for being so. A roaring fire was burning in the hearth, (a blessed relief from the ferotious wind outside), the walls were covered with all kinds or curios and half a farmyard wandered around both inside and outside the bar.

My mum welcomed me with a warm embrace from the base camp of a table she had secured in the corner. There was a limited menu on offer as a wedding was taking place, this didn't however stop the jolly bar man from making a huge anouncement when the menu did arrive and exclaiming we should all have the bog pudding!

We all tucked into a hearty bowl of homemade chicken soup while filling in the Pennine Way visitors book and sharing stories. We looked through the book and found Trevor's entry.

After about an hour we said our farewells and went outside to laden up with ibuprofen, plasters and chocolate my mum had kindly brought for us. We set off over the peat bogs. 

On an especially tricky part Ash told me to "just jump over them!" I continued to carefully dodge the bogs and use the grass for support while Ash took to a spot of bog hopping. Famous last words from Ash, as on what must only have been his second jump he went in up to his knees. I have to admit it was hard not to laugh out loud and in fairness Ash was giggling and holding out his muddy phone.  He hopelessly tried to free himself. I came to lend a hand and after three attempts we managed to free Ash and his boot from the bog. Looks like Ash really wanted that bog pudding!

We continued on thinking it really wasn't too much further to Bowes and the end of the day. We soon arrived at a sign saying 'Bowes Circular' and we knew we were heading there so took this path rather than the other Pennine Way signed route. Little did we know that our bed and breakfast wasn't actually in Bowes but six miles out of it. As a result we took a six mile detor we didn't really need to take!

On a plus point it means we did follow the official Pennine Way route and got a chance to see the ruin of Bowes castle, which whilest not very exciting provided a great place to stop for our big sandwiches Heather had made for us. 

After lunch we set off on our journey to Clove Lodge. We didn't actually have a map for this part of the route as it was safely packed in my bag I didn't have with me. We therefore had to use our homeing pigeon instinct to try and find the B&B in the middle of knowhere. 

We headed up a long Tarmac, dead end road of doom, despare and deserted abandonment through a second world war toxic and explosive site. On and on it went and the number or Pennine Way signs dwindled to a point where we were guessing which way to go. At one point we had to consider 'if Wainwrite was here, which way would he have gone?'. Finally we reached the reservoir and walked for about half an hour till we arrived at the end of the road. A well appointed cottage stood before us and a small faded sign read 'Clove Lodge'. Salvation! I was so happy to arrive. We headed round the back and were met at the back door by the owner. 

We were delighted to find out dinner was due to be served shortly as we didn't have anything and had planned on surviving on all the snacks we had with us. Geoff and Anna the Australian couple we had bumped into yesterday were also staying the night so we joined them for dinner. 

What a feast. A tasty tomato based soup followed by a chicken dinner and then a delicious apple crumble. We talked to the couple for hours and as a result all our blogs ended up days late. After dinner we retired to the lounge for coffee (half cups for Geoff) and chatted more about their five year trip exploring the world before heading to bed.

On returning to our room it was so cold  I jumped straight into my bed and snuggled down. Before long I fell into a deep warm sleep.