Coast to Coast, Day 10, Keld to Reeth

(Correction: yesterday’s title should have been Kirkby Stephen to Keld. )

The Kirkby Stephen to Keld leg on Thursday was lengthy, 17 miles, and with over half of that on pavement through a rather bleak landscape, we were happy to descend into the beautiful valley that rises on either side of the River Swale. Keld comes from the Norse word “kelda” and means spring or stream. Keld sits at the start of Swaledale which is one of Yorkshire’s most beautiful valleys. Historically, it was a mining area but much of the mining occurred higher in the hills, out of sight of the river. We passed stone barns called “laithes”, and appreciated the beauty of the autumn foliage against limestone cliffs.

We fell into bed by 8:30 Thursday night and awoke refreshed Friday morning. Another mostly clear day! Keld is the halfway point on our Coast to Coast trek!

Like the walk from Kirkby Stephen to Keld, we had a choice of two routes today, one high that traverses the hill tops and visits numerous disused lead mines, and the other along the River Swale. The lead mines had been described to us as socially and historically interesting but bleak. We chose the river route and had an easy day walking beside low waterfalls, through fallen leaves, over pastures, and through small villages filled with stone buildings. It was an easy 13 mile walk.

An interesting geological feature of this area is the presence of “swallow holes” and “shake holes”. Both are noted on our maps and they are deep depressions of various diameters and depths, some a few feet across and deep, others yards across and quite deep. They are sinkholes down which water disappears via a fissure to join a subterranean drainage system. Apparently sheep sometimes get trapped in them.

As for wildlife, we saw rabbits galore, and of course sheep and cows. We also saw pheasants and a bird that looked like it was hovering. It was much too large to be a hummingbird. We found out it was a kestrel. They “windhover” and are the only bird of prey to do so. Tomorrow is another easy hiking day to Richmond, and then we get another rest day.