Walking The Pennine Way When I Was Eleven - Stage 10: (Hawes to Tan Hill)


Start:  Hawes

Finish:  Tan Hill Inn

Distance: 17 miles

Total Distance Walked: 120 miles

At this point I stopped writing up my diary while I was doing the walk so my recollections are purely from my memories.

We left Hawes and crossed fields for a mile until we reached the village of Hardraw.  There we took a short diversion off the Pennine Way to visit Hardraw Force, the highest waterfall in England at a height of 96 feet.  To reach it we had to go through the Green Dragon Inn, where we paid a small entrance fee, and walked along a path to the Force.  This was one of those rare spots on the route where other people were around and it was quite busy along the path.

The waterfall itself was quite impressive in altitude, although not so much in volume.  We had been very lucky with the weather in the week or so we had been walking.  There had been some low cloud on Black Hill and it had been very windy at times but I can't recall having any rain of note the whole way.  The weather has a great effect on how much you enjoy a walk and perhaps if it had been miserable we wouldn't have completed the Way.  Our good fortune with the weather had reduced the cascade to little more than a trickle.  We walked behind the Force and then returned to the Pennine Way.

The Way continued on the long, steady climb over Great Shunner Fell, reaching 2340 feet - the highest point yet, with more tales taking our minds off the effort.  We descended to the attractive surroundings of Swaledale and the village of Thwaite.

We were now well acclimatised to walking and our increased levels of fitness meant that we were coping with longer milage.  Our original plan was to stop in the village of Keld after walking a little over twelve miles.  On reaching Keld there didn't seem many options where we could stay.  It was early evening and we decided we had time to push on for another four miles to the Tan Hill Inn.  The scenery changed as we moved up from grassy valleys and fields to heather and moorland as we approached the Inn.

The Tan Hill Inn is the highest in England and is at the top of a flat moor.  There was a campsite next to the Inn and we pitched our tent before settling in for the evening in the pub.  We had a meal there and were reacquainted with "Skinless" the man we had met near Thornton-in-Craven on Day 6.  I was a little surprised, and quite pleased, that we had kept pace with him.

We went to several pubs during our time on the Way and even though I was only eleven and my sister nine I don't think we were refused entry to any.  We were careful to stay away from the bar and not draw attention to ourselves and our custom was apparently welcomed.



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