Tuesday May 9 Baldersdale YH to Langdon Beck YH
This morning, I passed up the cooked breakfast for
porridge, croissants, yoghurt and fruit. There was
surprisingly good organic instant coffee.
A clear day, I started out by 8:45 with Oliver and
Ruth. Its a nice, green scenic walk past pastures,
valleys and trees. My shins are hurting again, so
Oliver and I go into Middleton for supplies as Ruth
continues on to Langdon Beck. I bought a phone card
at the post office, then medicated patches for my
shins at a pharmacy. Oliver found a cash machine and
a grocery to stock up on food. He is cooking all his
own meals. I found a bakery for carrot cake, one of
my favorite indulgences. This is really a nice town,
old buildings, interesting shops, all very clean.
But we did have an unpleasant experience as we
approached town and stopped to regroup on a grassy
area next to a house. A cranky man leaned out the
second story window and told us to get off his grass
and move on. What, no camping allowed?
Oliver and I set off along the River Tees straight
north, past lots of trees, rapids full of rocks,
small falls, a beautiful walk. We stopped for lunch
and passed the time with a couple of octogenarians
reliving a walk decades earlier. Then we passed the
mighty Low Force, turned away from the river briefly
through a nature preserve, returned to the river
bank and met High Force, that magnificent waterfall
bursting between hugh rock cliffs and plunging 70
feet.
We finally crossed the Tees and could see Langdon
Beck YH ahead. This hostel is an environmental
showplace with solar hot water, wind power,
composting, water recycling, organic gardening and
more. Quite impressive!
No evening meal was available at the hostel tonight,
so Ruth and I conspired to find someone with a car
to take us to the Langdon Beck Hotel for dinner. We
made friends with Brian, a retiree on a birding
trip, and piled in his car for the two mile trip. In
appreciation, I bought Brian a pint and had a
Theakston for myself. We all ordered our meals at
the bar. I ordered lamb curry with rice and a salad,
but the bartender was a perfect blunderer. He had a
terrible time getting our orders straight and a
worse time with the bill and change. After we were
seated, the cook came to our table to find out what
we really wanted. I thought it must have been the
bartender’s first day, but Ruth, a health care
worker, said “I recognize that type, he is a classic
drunk”
Back at the hostel, the warden was lamenting the
closing of so many hostels in the next year, mostly
in isolated locations like Baldersdale. The
medicated patches have helped relieve my shin
problem, so I gave one to Ruth who is still having
trouble with her ankles. She has found direct paths
to Garrigill from Langdon Beck which will be easier
on her than trying to go by way of Dufton and Cross
Fell, certainly a faster way to get to JOG. I think
she has about a month to go.