DAY ONE and TWO

I have been unable to post anything for the last couple of days due to a lack of internet. But I have not fallen down a hole - well not any real big ones anyway - here is my blog from Day one and two I post more tomorrow all being well.

Charlie Walduck

DAY ONE – St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge
On Sunday afternoon we set off to St Bee’s to start our Coast to Coast walk. It was a lovely trip up and it didn’t seem right being so near to home (Barrow) and not actually going home- sorry mum. We settled down in our accommodation at the Queens Hotel and I must add I had a lovely Cumberland sausage dinner. We then met up with our support team of Pam and Brain (Mark’s mum and step-dad). Pam is going to be travelling around with us and Brian who is 70 has actually joined the team and will be doing the whole walk with us. So we went to bed on Sunday night feeling excited and nervous about what the next day held. Would it rain? Would we be fit enough? Would my feet be OK? Would be pie shop in Cleator be open?

We set at 9am in the morning to start the first leg of the journey, most books show the coast to coast over 12 legs and that’s what we are doing. I know a mate of mine was shocked when I said it was over 12 days claiming he could do it in 4 but then we are here and he’s sat at home! As we set off we took the obligatory photos in front of the St Bee’s coast to coast sign. I was struck by how friendly people were here maybe living in a big city like Manchester I’d forgotten what that was like but I suppose life is at a different pace here although we weren’t sticking around to find out as we set off along a very windy St Bee’s head to begin the walk made famous by the late Alfred Wainwright. After 5 minutes walking I began to question why I was doing this and how I would find it hard to ever show my face again if I failed – I’d have to go to the football in a disguise especially after the send off the boys and girls on the Supporters coach gave me on Saturday night.
After 4 and half miles along the coast we reached the village of Sandwith which was small and pleasant - we continued to walk and got lost a couple of times before finally finding the path again. We Pasted through Cleator and Mark, Brian, Chris and Graham had a pie - I wanted 10 so decided not to have any, “we are going up there” said Chris as he pointed towards a big hill; well I’d say more a mountain to be honest. At this point I was full of enthusiasm and excitement so I just said no problem. Dent Fell was tough it was steep in parts and luckily it was not raining otherwise I might have found myself slipping all over the place. We reached the top and the views were amazing you could see for miles and miles. You could even see Barrow and I was proud to tell my walking buddies there’s my home. Some people say going down is easy – well it’s not It was very tough and at this point my toes started to really hurt the wind was also getting stronger and a couple of sheep even blew past at one point. Thinking about it it might have been easier to slide down on a piece of cardboard like we used to do up near the abbey when I was a kid. We eventually dropped down to Ennerdale Bridge with Chris showing us where we would be going on Day 2 but for now I’ll reflect on today – get some plasters on my feet and start looking forward to a nice dinner and a gin and tonic at the pub.
 

My mum always says rain before 7 fine before 11 and after a night of heavy rain it cleared up just before we left our accommodation for the second day of our 192 mile coast to coast challenge. The waterproof clothing was packed and carried in our day bags in just in case. We set off just as the clouds started to clear and the sun even shone as if it had come out just for us. With 14 miles due to be walked we set up with nervous excitement of what the day may hold. Today’s walk would take us from Ennerdale to Rosthwaite via the final resting place of Alfred Wainwright. The walk past the lake at Ennerdale was stunning it was hard at times and certainly no place for unsuitable shoes. I was amazed by the number of people setting off on the challenge today and met people from all over the world taking on the challenge for variety of different reasons. When we eventually reached the Black Sail Youth Hostel and half way to the finish all was fine – Mark even told us that he wanted a bit of a challenging hill to walk over next. And Boy did his wish come true. The Youth Hostel was a place where many people stopped off for lunch and it was almost like the condemned men ate a healthy lunch as we set off on what I can only describe as a climb. Imagine walking up 5000 stairs and then imagine the steps are uneven and a variety of sizes and then add into the equation a waterfall running through it and a strong wind and you might just have it. At the top the hill the views were amazing and we all stood there I must admit it was emotional I stood and reflected upon life- I think we all did. It was the time to take pictures and imagine the thousands of people that had trod the same path and to think about the people that would miss out on seeing such sights. As we started the decent to the bottom Chris said they was a café at the bottom, I must admit it put a spring in my step looking forward to a nice cup of tea. At honistan slate works we had cup of tea and the sun was shining, the company was great and the views were just fantastic despite sore feet we all came to the conclusion that life was great. But there was no time to indulge in such thoughts we still had 4 miles to walk and we set off for the final leg of todays section with our bellies full of tea. Arriving at the Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite just after 5pm. Waiting for us in the car park was Marks mum Pam with a smile and a lacquer coffee. Tomorrow is suppose to be the toughest day yet – that Chris said that about today.