Day 5 - Tuesday 5 June 2012
Rest Day in Shap
They say hindsight is a wonderful thing – had we been in the possession of it we probably would not have decided to have a rest day here – or any rest days on this walk to be honest. Whilst it is nice to rest up and get some washing done, we were both missing the walk and the people we had met over the first few days.
Never mind though, we spent a relaxing day in Shap, sorting out our personal admin, lazing about and suchlike. It was today that the weather broke and the day was fairly gloomy overhead with the occasional shower. New Ing Lodge is a satisfactory place to stay - no frills but perfectly adequate for a night or two. If you like a choice of eggs for breakfast and all that malarkey then this is not the place for you – it’s a big truckers breakfast or nothing I’m afraid which suited us down to the ground despite the mob of unruly, ill mannered students we shared the table with. We went for a walk down Shap's long street and bumped into Steve, Tracy and Tess who were heading for Orton and we chatted about the Chocolate Factory there, which we had visited on our way to Kirkby Stephen. Tess the dog was also looking much more chipper and was without her boots! We then paid a visit to the local Co-op for some glue for Dave’s boot as the sole had come away and a bottle of Radox to take advantage of the bath at the B&B.
We then walked down Shap’s main street again where the Golden Jubilee celebrations were still in full swing. Arriving at The Greyhound Hotel, we met up with Mark and Irene from Cork who stayed in the same B&B as us in Rosthwaite and had broken their journey at Grasmere. We all had dinner together and the food was pretty good. As we were finishing our meal who should arrive at the pub but “Tim Nice but Dim” who then proceeded to demolish the majority of the menu!
Tomorrow sees a fairly long stretch of 20 miles to Kirkby Stephen and it will be nice to get the boots back on again.
Never mind though, we spent a relaxing day in Shap, sorting out our personal admin, lazing about and suchlike. It was today that the weather broke and the day was fairly gloomy overhead with the occasional shower. New Ing Lodge is a satisfactory place to stay - no frills but perfectly adequate for a night or two. If you like a choice of eggs for breakfast and all that malarkey then this is not the place for you – it’s a big truckers breakfast or nothing I’m afraid which suited us down to the ground despite the mob of unruly, ill mannered students we shared the table with. We went for a walk down Shap's long street and bumped into Steve, Tracy and Tess who were heading for Orton and we chatted about the Chocolate Factory there, which we had visited on our way to Kirkby Stephen. Tess the dog was also looking much more chipper and was without her boots! We then paid a visit to the local Co-op for some glue for Dave’s boot as the sole had come away and a bottle of Radox to take advantage of the bath at the B&B.
We then walked down Shap’s main street again where the Golden Jubilee celebrations were still in full swing. Arriving at The Greyhound Hotel, we met up with Mark and Irene from Cork who stayed in the same B&B as us in Rosthwaite and had broken their journey at Grasmere. We all had dinner together and the food was pretty good. As we were finishing our meal who should arrive at the pub but “Tim Nice but Dim” who then proceeded to demolish the majority of the menu!
Tomorrow sees a fairly long stretch of 20 miles to Kirkby Stephen and it will be nice to get the boots back on again.