Orton to Kirkby Stephen

The stats

• Day 7 - Orton to Kirkby Stephen - 12miles (19km)

The verdict

It is the last day of our walk.  We have a leisurely breakfast which includes good conversation with our hosts.  It's very difficult leaving Barn House as it's such a wonderful place to stay but we finally get our boots on at 9:30am and set off.

The Fellowship outside Barn House

It is a glorious morning with just a bit of chill in the air and the walk out of Orton is magical, along lanes dappled with sunlight, past moss covered stone walls, and with the surrounding countryside laid out like a green carpet.  We have four in our party today as we are joined by a fellow C2C walker who will also be finishing up in Kirkby Stephen this evening.

Leaving Orton

The walk takes us through numerous meadows (hello Sheep!) and up and over countless stone stiles.  Near Sunbiggin Farm we pass a paddock with a mean looking bull which is so huge it won't even fit inside the picture...

The Sunbiggin Beast

I am deliriously happy we are walking past this field and not through it.  Farmland gives way to featureless moorland where we encounter our strangest ever restaurant recommendation in the form of a local lady out for a gallop on her horse, dogs gleefully bounding along behind her.  She stops for a chat and tells us that The Mango Tree is the place to dine in Kirkby Stephen... 

The roving restaurant guide - on Ravenstonedale Moor

The moor becomes farmland and we skirt the perimeter of fields keeping the stone wall on our right until we reach a stile where we're meant to cross over.  Slight problem of course in that a group of cows have chosen to stand precisely at this spot.  They have calves with them so start bellowing as soon as they see us and we can't get remotely close.  It means walking further along the wall and clambering over when we can.

Disused railway building in the valley

We're rewarded once over the wall with views over the prehistoric Severals settlement and a grassy slope heading downhill to Scandal Beck.  We sit by the side of the Beck for our last packed lunch which is undoubtedly the finest, being the high quality homemade fare from Barn House.  Then it's our final walk uphill and along the clearly waymarked path around Smardale Fell.  There is one final moment of drama as we crest a small hill only to see a panicked riderless horse galloping at full speed up the hill towards us.  Its reins are trailing behind it and it runs very close to the wall which we are following and are now at risk of being squashed against if it comes any closer.  Fortunately it diverts and gallops around us in a fury of pounding hooves.  A few minutes later we see the rider walking painfully uphill - he had been thrown when the horse fell and now faces the unenviable task of finding and calming his animal.

The remainder of the walk into Kirkby Stephen crosses farmland and is uneventful except for the full scale activation of my cow phobia.  We must walk through quite a few fields with cows and calves - and I'm ever wary and anxious as we tiptoe past.  When we finally cross under the disused railway line and into Greenriggs Farm, it is nice to see the signs in the farmyard welcoming walkers with arrows to point us through the yard... although I'm not sure if the farmer is having a bit of a laugh at our expense.  I wonder if the route we're guided through isn't the muddiest and smelliest of all because we emerge with our boots and trouser bottoms soiled with mud and cow shit.  

The laneway into town gradually becomes more built up until we finally emerge into the main street.  This is it!  Our destination - Kirkby Stephen!

Historic sign post in Kirkby Stephen

We take leave of our walking companion and head straight to our accommodation at Redmayne House where we get cleaned up and enjoy afternoon tea, with a strange mixture of fatigue and elation at the thought of not having to walk tomorrow.  Our accommodation is a rambling old Georgian house ... with some interesting antiques!

Redmayne House guest toilet

As the day slips into evening, we're fortunate enough to get into St Stephen's Church right before closing time.  We even score a guided tour by the verger although we're probably more amazed by the fact that Catholics and Anglicans actually share this space than by its 8th Century Viking artefact, the Loki Stone.  Our last dinner on the trail is at...The Mango Tree where we're joined by our Canadian fellow walkers for a celebratory meal.

It has been seven days and countless miles through amazing countryside.  We're happy, proud at our achievement, tired, sore, sad not to be continuing with the rest of the C2C, humbled by the walkers we have been fortunate enough to share this experience with, excited about the rest of our holiday, and a whole jumble of other feelings.  What a magical journey this has been.