An august August

 After my night on a small site in Dent I moved up to the station further up the valley at Dent Head where rail users are allowed to park and began to prepare for cycling the Pennine Bridleway that runs from Cromford in Derbyshire to Ravenstonedale near Kirkby Stephen. Thus next morning I was on the platform waiting for an early train north to KS and was pleased to find adequate cycle storage and plenty of space as bikes cannot be booked on.

 

So by 08.30 I was pedalling south towards the northern start point passing numerous traveller families heading for the delayed Appleby Horse Fair. South Lakeland District Council had provided numerous facilities by the roadside with water bowsers, portable toilets and bins or skips but disappointingly some of the stop over sites were strewn with rubbish. I stopped to talk to one family and they said it is (as always) a minority who spoil things but it irritated me that officialdom often pursue individual van dwellers like myself, but won't address the issues caused by the larger groups.

Anyway they were a lovely couple and I continued to the start of the PBW and climbed beside Wild Boar Fell before a good descent in to Mallerstang and then picked up the well surfaced track to Garsdale Head passing an interesting piece of sculpture. It was a sunny breezy day with the Dales looking at their best as I passed under Dandrymire Viaduct before arriving at the pretty and well kept station. Having made good time I lingered on the platform as a variety of freight and passenger trains passed through and workmen repaired the steps up to the manned signal box. Finally the old coal road took me swooping back to Dent station for a quiet night with good TV reception but no mobile signal.

The early southbound train soon had me in Settle after passing over Ribblehead viaduct and I began a stunning day climbing high above Settle, dropping down to Stainforth, heading across to Helwith Bridge with its memories of caving trips to the area perhaps 20 years ago or more and then reaching Feizor where the excellent Elaine's Tea Rooms did a good bacon sandwich.

 

The track around the east side of Ingleborough offered great views of the limestone scenery and dropped in to Selside where a gathering of photographers indicated something was afoot and indeed shortly afterwards the Dalesman steam train puffed in to view - awesome. The climb over Cam Fell had superb views back over my route and across to Ribblehead before I arrived once more for a quiet night at Dent. I spoke with a family staying in the old station building and took a leaflet for the Dent Snow Huts which lie a little further down the track.

 

A heavily laden timber train headed past along with stopping and through passenger trains but I had another peaceful night before dropping down to Barnoldswick where the Rolls Royce Social Club allow vans to overnight for £7. Water was available but as the club only opens at weekends I had the place to myself. RR designed their main jet engines there hence the prefix RB in the numbering of aero engines as in RB211....

I followed the PBW back up to Settle where 3 Peaks Cycles have a good cafe and then took a different route back to Barnoldswick with Pendle Hill looming in the distance. The following day this lump was almost always visible as I headed south to Wycoller Hall east of Colne and then dropped in to the town to return along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal including a stop at Foulridge wharf by the tunnel for refreshments.The trail was by and large well signposted and rideable with a good variety of road, track, trail and bridleway - a quirky sculpture above Wycoller was of interest and the old hall ruins down by the river enchanting.

Moving on to a pub, The Shepherd's Rest above Todmorden that allows overnight stops (another park4night app recommendation) started me on the route back to Wycoller with a return passing the numerous reservoirs around Widdop and a return along quiet roads and through Hebden Bridge before a good meal in the pub.

I picked Mandy up in Sheffield and we spent a quiet night in Derbyshire near the High Peak trail before joining the friends at Dethick to treat them to a 3 course meal in Topaz luxury. We discovered a perfect puffball in the long grass  and decided it would make an amusing contribution to our gathering in Wales the following day.

So on Monday we headed across to Newtown for a good shop and arrived at Llangurig to find Sue had given us a private spot in the far field where the others began to arrive shortly afterwards. It was cool and grey but with Bill's BBQ and a fire pit under Kate and Malcolm's gazebo we were all very comfortable and said puffball was cooked in a variety of ways.

Tuesday saw some decide to walk down at the Elan Valley whilst the rest of us cycled down to Rhayader, around the dams and then against a stiff headwind returned via Cwmystwyth and the welcome shelter of Nant Rhys bothy where all was well. After the fast return to the site we were grateful for hot showers and another night around the fire.

Wednesday saw the girls walk locally whilst the guys took to the saddle again and rode through the wind farm over to Nant Syddion bothy for lunch and a return via The Arch and Cwmystwyth's melancholy mines - the tough hills had taken their toll so we opted out of a futher loop towards Rhayader and were back onsite by early evening.

 A group walk the following day was wet at times but we found shelter for lunch and after the friends had departed for the Bristol area we moved on to a pitch with EHU as the grey cloud had limited our solar gain.

Friday and Saturday saw us joining friends at Sennybridge and Brecon before a return to Llangurig for one night to top up with water and deal with the loo before on the Monday heading to Llandrindod Wells where we had booked the bikes on to the midday train to Knighton. This allowed us to tackle 40 odd miles of the excellent but hilly Radnor Ring, largely National Cycle Route 825, with a coffee break in lovely Presteigne, some stunning valleys around Glascwm and a return to the car park at LW for an overnight with a good curry at Zeeras spoilt initially by my mistaking a hot green chilli for a tasty runner bean.

 

 

Day two of the RR involved the same train to Knighton and then a return via Abbeycwmhir and Rhayader - we missed a sign so climbed high to Bwlchysarnau unnecessarily and that combined with a late departing train meant a late finish at Llandod which justified a chip supper.

As we had a timed entry to the Blist's Hill Victorian town at Ironbridge the following day we decided to do half the journey that night, breaking it with an overnight in the Clun Castle car park down by the river. The ready availability of both loo and shower in this van has opened up so many more opportunities whilst the 6m length even with the bikes on means narrow lanes and tight turns are a breeze.

 

 

Right on the Severn at Ironbridge the Half Moon Inn also allows overnights but first we parked up at Blist's Hill for a fascinating day enjoying all the relocated shops, businesses and trades on this extensive site. We'd each bought an Annual Pass to all attractions for £29 so will return again soon as not all attractions were open yet. The whole set up was very well done with friendly knowledgeable staff, a good atmosphere and lots going on. Many old buildings are still awaiting restoration which will add to the experience but it already needs a full day to see everything.

Despite a rather steep car park the pub overnight was fine and the meal excellent and the handy location meant we could easily walk along the Severn to the famous and now fully restored Ironbridge itself - a spectacular site. We had a timed entry for Enginuity but as this is largely aimed at families with children keen to discover the mysteries of science we didn't stay too long but walked up to the Darby houses where the founders of the industrial revolution in Britain lived above their works, workers and foundries. Both properties were quiet and peaceful with simple furnishings in line with the family's Quaker beliefs and provided good background information on the rise and fall of their fortunes.

 

After looking at the original old furnace where Abraham Darby first perfected the smelting of iron using coke instead of charcoal we had an excellent lunch in the Furnace Kitchen before returning along the Gorge to browse in the small shops and back lanes.

 

 

Back at the Half Moon service was a little slow but the staff worked hard and we fully appreciated the difficulties of staff recruitment in hospitality at this moment and the food was as good as ever. 

So on the Bank Holiday Friday we visited the Jackfield Tile Museum where thousands of beautiful tiles were displayed along with reconstructions of whole scenarios from butchers, public loos and stations - we reflected on the beautiful scenes displayed at the old station near Marvao in Portugal that should also be preserved. 

 

 

 

 

Then before traffic built up we scooted across to the small simple site near Rugeley I had used in May for four nights far from the crowds. Tap and waste tank met our needs and we cycled out to the Trent and Mersey Canal for 40 miles of peace and quiet including a short detour on the Coventry Canal. The National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas looked busy so we had lunch at the Bank Cafe (excellent) in the nearby village before returning through an area of Staffordshire soon to be dominated by HS2, dropping briefly in to Lichfield to see its stunning cathedral, busy though thanks to a food festival.

 

On Sunday Pete and Nina joined us for the day for a super al fresco lunch and a walk on the canal - amazing that Nina can now do up to 5 miles which has given them the confidence to order a new van for travel and adventures next year : good on you guys.

On the Monday we enjoyed exploring a surprisingly empty Cannock Chase with miles of traffic free tracks and trails and had a peaceful final night.

The farm is the location for the Just Crisps company which uses their own spuds and rapeseed oil to produce a delicious range of quality snacks so after a quick look round we came away with a good stash of their products before stopping at the National Trust's Shugborough Hall former home of Patrick Lichfield the royal photographer. The estate had passed to the NT in lieu of death duties and is being slowly restored to good order with extensive walled gardens and grounds. We felt it lacked organisation and could have been better signed but I guess it's early days yet and they too have been profoundly affected by staff recruitment issues and funding challenges.

 

We arrived at a newly opened Certificated Site at Millmeece near Stone to meet the owners who rear Boer goats for meat and are converting an old RAF building in to what will be a substantial property so we had much to discuss with them. The site is close to the busy Midland Main Line so a variety of trains shot past including a large number of freight trains, Avanti West Coast high speed trains and the rather rare Royal Mail specials that shift letters and parcels from London to Scotland.

On Wednesday we had planned to visit the Gladstone Pottery Museum but it had just closed for a refit so we carried on up the Trent and Mersey to Kidsgrove, climbed above the Harecastle Tunnel and returned on old railway lines through Burslem where my tubeless tyre picked up a nick that defeated the sealant. Unbelievably I was carrying the wrong spare and Mandy's unused one had a hole in it so we googled nearby bike shops and fortunately found one less than half a mile away. The friendly owner  of Plant Cycle Works soon had a new tyre fitted and four tubes supplied whilst we ate our lunch and we carried on back along the canal via Stone in time to see a steam special head north.

So after a very rewarding few weeks I am off to finish the last sections of the PBW before heading back to Wales for some bothy related commitments.

We have managed to avoid the holiday crowds as hoped and as education and work get back to normal I hope the countryside gets even quieter.....

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