SOMETHING VERY STRANGE HAS HAPPENED
Some 24 hrs have passed since I last wrote. Torrential rain and gusty winds made our Saturday morning less than enjoyable to say the least. It took several hours after arriving in Reeth for the rains to stop and the sun appear.
Our accommodation for this stop along the coast to coast was the Black Bull Hotel. Built in 1640, the Black Bull is a grade 2 listed building and therefore must be kept in or as close to its original condition as possible. The National Parks service enforces these rules according to the hotel's gruff yet more than affable landlord. Upon entering the hotel's pub we were greeted by a roaring coal fire and a wonderful Labrador dog who quickly changed my focus away from sore feet.
Jensen ( the dog ) is named after Jensen Button the F1 race car driver. Once again the British humour (irony) reigns supreme as Jensen is about as pokey and slow as they come. Regardless of his pace, Jensen is a well mannered loving dog who sat with us by the fire for ages.
As the locals began to filter in they brought more dogs. Mostly all of these were gun dog breeds. The locals were clearly there for the match on the télé. Manchester United play Liverpool FC on Sky Sports and as a lifelong Newcastle United supporter I would have rather watched paint dry.
The locals kept the afternoon's barmaid gainfully employed throughout the match. She never stopped pulling pints to quench not only their thirst for footy but their thirst for copious pints of Stella (or as the local constabulary calls it, ASBO beer). At half time Dale saw a break in the weather so we ventured out to recce the village. First stop was the village shop to get post cards for me and a pork pie and a bottle of full fat creamy milk for Dale.
I think it would be fair to say if Dale was to loose all his senses he would sell his soul to regain his sense of taste. Much of this journey has been predicated on savouring his childhood memories of pork pies and full fat milk.
We took a seat on a park bench in the village green to scribble on postcards and scoff childhood snacks. The green is situated on a high spot in the village and all of the hotels, churches, shops and most homes surround it. You have a perfect view of the hills that also stand both to the north and south. After a few minutes of gazing off into the distance we walked into the Reeth museum. This wonderful local museum chronicles village life as well as the lead mining that kept locals employed for many years.
The exhibits were interesting and the curator was extremely helpful. After moving on from the museum we further explore the village until we got tired and hungry so we returned to the Black Bull for dinner followed unfortunately by Simon Cowell and the rest of his no name panel judges on ITV's X-Factor.
Sadly but completely expected, the best part of that rubbish were the commercials. Off to sleep now and early to rise. We are off to Richmond in the morning. Richmond is the biggest town on our journey. Lots to see and do and about 5 hours rambling from here.
Cheerio!
Mark
