St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

West Top, Dent Hill

Friday 5 September 2008
(Walking Distance: 10.5 miles)

Breakfast at the Tomlin was good. A kipper set me up for the day.

There were two couples in the dining room. I’d already met the Aussies, Peter and Christine, on the landing between the bathroom and my bedroom, whilst clad in a rather fetching damp towel. The sight had, surprisingly, failed to put them off their food. Another couple, from the Kirby Stephen area, were heading for the Gillerthwaite YHA, but were taking a more direct route than the one suggested by Wainwright.

Whilst walking the few yards to the seafront bus stop it began to rain. The rain eased for half an hour the following day, but didn’t entirely stop for the next 34 hours or more.

I was deposited at Sandwith for the soggy and intricate 5 mile walk across already saturated ground to Cleator. In fair weather the outline of the western fells adds a sense of anticipation to the walk across the old industrial belt, but today the views were limited and grey. Staying with the cycle track along the abandoned railway delays the short acquaintance with Moor Row, a somewhat sad relic of a more prosperous time.

Cleator, not by any measure a pretty spot, has an optimistic, friendly feel, typified by the Three Tuns and a village shop selling everything from delicious pies (bugger the diet) to the combe that I’d forgotten to pack. The pub was hard to leave. I was the first customer of the day and the coffee and chat were good. On such a mucky day it was easy to believe that some C2C expeditions got no further than the front bar.

Despite having climbed it before Dent Hill was a bit of a shock. Its 1155 foot summit might be modest, but it is a sharp, unrelenting thousand foot climb. It marks the entry to the Lakes and the more demanding terrain of the next few days.

Even in the murk the views from Dent were extensive, although the tops to the east were covered in mist. Recent tree felling has made it a doddle to find the overly steep path down to bonny Nannycatch; a total contrast to the country on the other side of Dent.

I meet my first walkers along Coast to Coast path in Nannycatch: a couple from Chicago who, like me, were just beyond the first flush of youth. They were labouring under immense packs, which they’d dragged from their overnight camp at Moor Row and were heading for the former, but now closed, campsite at Ennerdale Bridge. It appeared that they’d made the classic error of anticipating the “walk” to be a rather more sedate affair than “trail” with which they were presented. Following a damp night in the garden of the Fox and Hounds at Ennerdale Bridge they headed for the nearest station to catch a train south.

After several visits to the area on this occasion I actually found the Kinniside Stone Circle, a modern(ish) sham monument. In truth it wasn’t really worth the search.

I got to Ennerdale Bridge a bit too early to go directly to my digs, so stopped off at the Fox and Hounds for a snack and to allow some of the water to drain from my waterproofs. I was met in the bar by Dawn and Lesley, a couple of feisty and entertaining ladies from British Columbia. They’d made short shrift of the first day and were organising accommodation for the middle section of the walk, whilst harassing Air Canada for the delivery of a lost bag.

I’d booked into the B&B by 15:30hrs and luxuriated in a hot shower and a snooze before venturing out in the evening to the Ennerdale Bridge fleshpots. I had a fair meal at the Sheppard’s Arms and a chat with a couple of retired chaps from Cheltenham in the Fox and Hounds. One of the men somehow reminded me of Arthur Lowe; despite being not at all pompous I couldn’t help but think of him as Captain Mainwaring.

Accommodation:

The Cloggers
Tom Butt
Ennerdale Bridge
CA23 3AP
01946 862487

The Cloggers is a grand, good value, little cottage run by a pleasant elderly couple. The bedrooms are a good size. Although there is a shared bathroom there was no undue competition for the facilities during my stay.