Sunday 26th April
It was another good morning and we thought we shouldn't waste it, so after doing our chores we set off for Kirkby Stephen. We managed to park along the road and went to the TIC to discuss the disused railways. It turned out we could join the railway at Waitby. We had planned to walk along the road to Crosby Garret, but thought the railway walk would be nicer. We followed the road out of Kirkby Stephen and after about a mile turned off along a byway towards Waitby. We got to the railway and found there was a steep path onto the top. Once there, there was a good path and we followed it, with good views around until it came back down to the road at Smardale. We passed the site of the Kirkby Stephen rail crash which had occured in 1955 and there was a sign saying that the wreckage had finally been removed in 2002!
The wildflowers were wonderful along this section of the route, there were lots of cowslips and bloody cranesbill along the route. At Smardale we walked along the road for a short distance and then entered Smardale gill nature reserve which continued along the railway. This was full of primroses and bluebells.
The railway was high above a valley and we could see lime kilns on the other side. We walked across Smardale Gill viaduct and then continued along the railway until we reached the bridge that we had crossed yesterday.
We left the railway line here and returned to the C2C, walking down the bank to Smardale bridge.
We sat and had our lunch here again, the sun came out and we saw several walkers. After lunch we followed the path up onto Smardale fell. We stopped to see the Giants Graves, (pillow mounds), but could only see one. We did see a heron flying over the beck though.
We continued to climb onto the fell, and then walked across the grassy tracks for about a km until we came to a road, we walked along the road for about 100m and then turned left down a road towards Waitby. We left the road by a stile and headed across the field towards the Settle to Carlisle railway which we walked under and into a field full of cows. They were quite interested in us but not for long. We crossed more hay meadows until we came to Greengriggs farm. The path went through the farm yard but they had posted an alternative route and so we took that. We emerged onto a lane which we followed back to Kirkby Stephen. We had walked 14.8 km. Our original route was 16.7km so the railway route had saved us 2km and was nicer than walking on the road. We have now done 82 miles of the c2c.
It was another good morning and we thought we shouldn't waste it, so after doing our chores we set off for Kirkby Stephen. We managed to park along the road and went to the TIC to discuss the disused railways. It turned out we could join the railway at Waitby. We had planned to walk along the road to Crosby Garret, but thought the railway walk would be nicer. We followed the road out of Kirkby Stephen and after about a mile turned off along a byway towards Waitby. We got to the railway and found there was a steep path onto the top. Once there, there was a good path and we followed it, with good views around until it came back down to the road at Smardale. We passed the site of the Kirkby Stephen rail crash which had occured in 1955 and there was a sign saying that the wreckage had finally been removed in 2002!
The wildflowers were wonderful along this section of the route, there were lots of cowslips and bloody cranesbill along the route. At Smardale we walked along the road for a short distance and then entered Smardale gill nature reserve which continued along the railway. This was full of primroses and bluebells.
The railway was high above a valley and we could see lime kilns on the other side. We walked across Smardale Gill viaduct and then continued along the railway until we reached the bridge that we had crossed yesterday.We left the railway line here and returned to the C2C, walking down the bank to Smardale bridge.
We sat and had our lunch here again, the sun came out and we saw several walkers. After lunch we followed the path up onto Smardale fell. We stopped to see the Giants Graves, (pillow mounds), but could only see one. We did see a heron flying over the beck though.We continued to climb onto the fell, and then walked across the grassy tracks for about a km until we came to a road, we walked along the road for about 100m and then turned left down a road towards Waitby. We left the road by a stile and headed across the field towards the Settle to Carlisle railway which we walked under and into a field full of cows. They were quite interested in us but not for long. We crossed more hay meadows until we came to Greengriggs farm. The path went through the farm yard but they had posted an alternative route and so we took that. We emerged onto a lane which we followed back to Kirkby Stephen. We had walked 14.8 km. Our original route was 16.7km so the railway route had saved us 2km and was nicer than walking on the road. We have now done 82 miles of the c2c.
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