Day 40 Langdon Beck to Dufton

Waking up this morning and looking out the window it was difficult to believe I was in England as it was a perfect blue sky, the sun was out and the houses are so remotely spread out it could have been a foreign country. A bird watcher had set up his single hide in the middle of the meadow opposite the Youth Hostel striking a very lonely figure. Lovely run through grassy and sometimes flagged fields alongside the river Tees before having clamber over a couple of sections of huge boulders beneath 30 m high cliffs. Board walks were conveniently placed over a few boggy patches before I reached Couldron Snout, a frothing mass of water plunging 60 m from Cow Green reservoir. I already spied a rare ring ouzel which is rather like a blackbird with a light brown throat and then spotted her nest with four blue and brown speckled eggs....jackpot 10 points! Caught up with my extended family, David and Marilyn, while scrambling up the side of the impressive waterfall and walked with them for a few miles (we passed from county Durham into Cumbria). Across Dufton Fell occasionally on flagged path and other times on grassy or stony track. To the South is the Warcop army training ground complete with red warning flags indicating firing ranges. After reaching the crest of Rafp Hill I then had a nice run down to Maize Beck and after crossing the footbridge headed slightly uphill to the surprise of the day : High Cup Nick , a "U" shaped valley created by glaciers with a view of the lakeland fells silhouetted on the skyline. I stood at the very end of the valley, high up on the basalt columns looking at the incredible view stretching before me - jaw dropping. When David and Marilyn arrived they kindly invited me for a brew up and here I was, normally a two sugar addict, drinking black tea with no sugar.........John would be impressed! I then ran most of the rest of the journey down into Dufton as it was almost all downhill but whilst the first part was on grass and then track, the rest was on a quiet lane so had to be aware of my leg which has again come up in a lump but isn't causing me too much pain when I run which is great.

Dufton is a really picturesque village this time with red sandstone cottages rather than the grey stone I had become used to over recent weeks. First stop ? coffee shop for a cup of tea and a tea cake. David and Marilyn arrived a bit later and I met another end to ender but he was walking North to South. Pub opens at 6pm for tea but the Appleby horse fair is on this week which attracts a lot of gypsies and travellers - it's only about 8 miles away and apparently some of them visit the local villages and pubs and have been known to cause a nuisance. The YH has a wealth of nature in its garden (excellent news for me!). Their cat is a bit dozy though as there is a rabbit (of the wild kind) and a chicken (of the domestic kind) feeding right under its nose. Red squirrels are chasing each other on the lawn over ownership of the peanut feeder and wild birds galore are homing in on the various seed dispensers. It's like a mini nature reserve here!

Milage 13.28 Time 3.34