L2L Day 45 Hawes to Sedbergh - 12 miles

After walking over 60 miles in 4 days, Sally returned to Arundel today. Despite weather forecasts to the contrary, we've had no rain so Sally has succesfully put her jinx to rest!!!!

It's been great having Sally's company over the last week - we'll next meet up in Inverness in just over 3 weeks time.

The nearest station to Hawes is Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line. We travelled to the station by catching the enterprising Little White Bus that serves Hawes and the local villages connecting with every train heading North or South.

Garsdale also gave us the opportunity to see the sculpture of 'Russup'  - a border collie belonging to Graham Nuttall who'd led the campaign to save the railway when threatened with closure and had even added Russup's pawmark to the petition. 

The sculpture commemorates Russup for having stayed by his owner for weeks following a fatal fall in the mountains near Llandrindod in the winter of 1990.

I went one stop along the line so that I could walk the Dales Way to Sedbergh and left Sally to enjoy the dramatic views of the countryside from the train on the way to Settle.

From the station, there was a long steep descent to Cowgill.

In the churchyard at St.John the Evangelist church, there had been some unmarked graves.

It was only when a local historian started to investigate, it was found that they contained the bodies of 27 "Navvies"  killed in accidents while constructing the Settle to Carlisle railway. 

The men ranged in age from 15 to 77. Even more striking to me was the 50 women, children and babies - some just days old, who died in the camps where the men were billeted. Without any healthcare provision, the conditions high up on the remote moors must have been awful. Their graves are now at least commemorated with a memorial in the churchyard.

Back on the Dales Way, there were all manner of distractions...

and a very vocal Wren.

Dent feels like a film set - a small village with narrow cobbled streets.

In the centre of the town there's a large carved rock commemorating Adam Sedgwick 1785 - 1873. Born in Dent, he went on to carry out a geological survey of the Lake District, became the President of the Geological Society and advised Darwin before he set off on The Beagle.

I called in at The Sun Inn and enjoyed a half of Kirby Lonsdale Brewery's Tiffin Gold. The pub feels VERY original and unchanged and the beer was very nice too.

Dent must be another one of those honeypots, with a striking number of  properties for sale and a large car park and camping ground on the edge of town.

On my way out of Dent, I found a bench to inspect my - by now - sore heels. While doing my nursing bit, I met Debi and Mike from Somerset. 

Debi is an entomologist, botanist, ornithologist and general plant expert. While walking through Dent they'd just spotted a rare beetle and watched a Tawny Owl being mobbed by a crow. It pays to keep your eyes and ears open.

While we were talking, a heron took off from the river, circled overhead and flew off down stream. Wonderful.

Further downstream, I must have disturbed a Sandpiper because it then flew up and down the river giving off distress calls for the next few minutes

Sedbergh was slow in arriving 

.... like an audience at Chichester Theatre
so I was glad to finally climb the hill towards the Red Lion on Finkle St. in the middle of the town.

Sedbergh school, just across the road, has an impressive setting and beautiful grounds.

Certainly a feeling of privilege.

Hearing a choir and before checking in to the pub, I called in to St Andrew's Church and listened to the Friday evening practice. 

Apparently the church was built and rebuilt over the centuries. Intriguingly there are a different number of columns on either side of the nave.

In the Red Lion over supper, I met Bill and Mabel, his 5 year old Welsh Sheepdog from Builth Wells. 

Bill was up from Bristol for the weekend to test drive his new 4 wheel drive VW camper van before heading off on even more exotic travels. We had a good chat before Mabel decided it was time for her evening walk.