May 27, 2008
Richmond to Danby Wiske
(21.6 km; 6 hrs 37 min; 216 m ascent; 282 m descent)
Google Map
The eating area of the Old Brewery was in their main house (our room was two doors up the street) and was a lovely room with an outside sitting area in the garden. This morning it was quite cloudy and it looked as if it might have rained a little bit overnight. We hoped this was not going to be today’s weather. The room was crowded and we took the last two seats. After our usual porridge and toast we went back to our room to finish packing.
Neil and Christine arrived about 9 am and we paid our bill and set out. It was indeed raining slightly outside, so we dressed accordingly. The path took us over the bridge and onto a path alongside the Swale River. The rain wasn’t heavy and at this point we were walking under trees for the most part. Before long it stopped completely. Our route followed pathways and roads for most of the day, with today scheduled to have the longest stretch of road-walking on the whole Coast to Coast.
At lunch time we stopped in Bolton-on-Swale, hoping for a pub or a tea shop, but alas, none was to be found here. So we sat in the porch of St Mary’s Church to eat our lunch. In this churchyard was the grave of Henry Jenkins, who was reputed to be 169 years old when he died.
While we had been eating lunch it had been raining, but it stopped before we left. From Bolton-on-Swale we followed roads, through fields of grain rather than sheep or cattle. There wasn’t much to see here, so we just kept putting one foot in front of the other until just before 4 pm we came into Danby Wiske and our resting spot, the White Swan Inn, a very lovely old pub. Neil and Christine were staying elsewhere, but they had put their list into the bag that was being transported for them and they didn’t quite remember where. But Danby Wiske is a small place, so that was easily remedied by asking around a bit.
Our room was up at the top of the stairs under the roof. We rinsed out some clothes and had showers and generally tidied up. Then we went downstairs to sit in the pub. Christine and Neil returned at about 7 pm and we ordered our dinners. It took quite a while for the food to arrive but once it did, we all thought it worth the wait. Paul had beef hotpot and Rosemary had chicken and mushroom casserole, with extra vegetables. The latter turned out to be a huge plate of good quality vegetables, so we shared it among us. After that meal we were stuffed.
Then back to our room, to bed at 10 pm.Elevation profile:
