14/04/16 - Day 4 Yorkshire Dales Inn Way - Reeth to West Burton

Previous days on the Inn Way - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
Distance - 11.6 Miles
Geocaches - 2
Pubs - 4

"Everybody has to believe in something.....I believe I'll have another drink - W C Fields"

Getting Going

Breakfast is the biggest of the week yet.  Each day has added a new ingredient.  We started with your classic F.E.B - Day 2 added Fried Bread - Day 3 added Black Pudding and here we are on day 4 with the daddy of them all.  We have all the previous - and Hash Browns.  Breakfast can only go downhill from here.

Chester the dog's owners are also in the breakfast room, but they soon tire of the hits of the seventies played instrumentally on pan pipes that is coming through the speakers.  We also nearly have to abandon the behemoth of a breakfast for the same reason.

A look around Reeth in the daylight and saddle up and head out for the days walking.

The Walk

Double good news today - on the weather front, its not raining - in fact, its warm enough to walk like Phil Collins with No Jacket Required.  Secondly, the author - fearing mid point weariness might be kicking in - has made day 4 the shortest mileage.

Back of the net.

So we head off, with the river Swale guiding us out of Reeth.  We are following Chester the dog.  His owner is walking in a very stooped way - not another UDI as suffered by a member of our party - he slipped badly on a wet rock yesterday.  We say our goodbyes at Grinton Bridge and watch him gamefully hobble off in a different direction.  We can only hope they manage to finish their Coast to Coast.

Say Goodbye to the River Swale at Grinton

With only a mile of walking completed, we always knew we would have been far too early for the first pub of the day, the Bridge at Grinton.  Even so, we cannot help but suffer from despair at this initial disappointment.

Morning Blues

The climb up the road onto Grinton Moor focuses the mind.  It's a slog, but we can look behind us to see how much height we have gained and to say goodbye to Reeth.  I make more farewells than Neil.

I can also achieve distraction from the incline by finding an early geocache, leaving my walking partner to befriend the locals.

Looking back on Reeth

Ewe've either got it, or ewe haven't

The climbing is over for the day.  We have sunshine and a gradual descent to a place that I have been looking forward since plotting the route - Castle Bolton.   Like something out of Game of Thrones.  And it only disappoints by not having a pub.

Smile if the climbing is done for the Day

Castle Bolton Poking through the Trees

Magnificent since 1379

We spend a while on a bench in it's shadow before heading off again and grabbing the 2nd and final cache of the day in the castle grounds.

It's not too long until our first liquid stop of the day.  The Wheatsheaf at Carperby is famous as the honeymoon stop for James Herriot in the 1930s.  We have the place to ourselves.  Neil uses the time to peruse the map and optimistically declare that we can easily add another pub to the day by tacking on an extra mile.  Every Trip needs a Neil - boundless enthusiasm and a passion for overcoming tragedy.

First Stop of the Day

It's not as if we don't have the time this afternoon.  We turn into rambling tourists, with it only being another mile to the honeypot of Asygarth Falls.  They are splendid.  And before we know it, we are degaitering for the 2nd pub of the day - the Asygarth Falls Hotel.

Middle Force

Higher Force

Aysgarth Falls Hotel

Further refreshed, it's only a slight detour along the road to Neil's bonus pub - The George and Dragon.

We can't quite understand why this most excellent of venues was omitted from the guide.  It may well be our pub of the week.  3pm and we are greeted by the most wonderful roaring fire, the smell of 1000 hotpots and drink under a canopy of knick-knacks to some top banter with the Landlady.  Another couple (for clarity, we are a pair - not a couple) come in and join the conversation.

This is what the English pub is all about.

Petitioning for its inclusion in future revisions off the Inn Way

Because of this

It's tough to leave, but we need to find home - the Fox and Hounds in West Burton.  Less than 45 minutes later, we have checked out the sixth largest village green in England and are settling in to our fourth different room of the week.

West Burton Village Green

Fox and Hounds - Our room in the Courtyard to the left

We fall for the place big time - the back of the menus have a list of all the stupid things that customers have asked the bar staff.  To show that its not all one sided, the management have obliged by posting several and apparently meaningless notice signs off their own around the place.  Our favourites, in no particular order;

"This curtain rail is not load bearing.  Do not hang things off it"

"It has been noticed that a dog has been chewing the legs on the bar stools.  Please ensure your dog does not chew the furniture"

and one just out of the public view for the staff

"White cloths are not for Brasso.  Someone has been using the white cloths for Brasso"

It's the only pub in West Burton and a fulcrum for the community.  Whereas in days gone by, people would have gathered around the fire to talk, they now congregate here for the broadband.  It's not quite strong enough to stream video, which is a shame, as Neil wants to watch the Liverpool game.

And its a belter of a game - some are listening to it on Internet Streamed Radio, some on betting apps and some through Twitter.  The only problem is that the goals are reported at different times.  A man with a green head band leaps off his chair - he has  earlier placed a 5-3 bet on when Liverpool were 2-0 down and Liverpool have just got it back to 4-3.  30 Seconds later, the radio reports the goal and the rest of the pub cheer.

Although Liverpool go through in the most dramatic of fashion, he never quite gets his 5-3 prediction.  He cheers himself up by putting another bet on a women's football game finishing with more than 7 goals that is currently being played in Russia.

Having had a fine evening - we retire to our room to watch the highlights on ITV.

Attempting to watch the football on a phone