Coast to Coast Keld to Reeth

Day 8 Keld to Reeth 12 Miles

Keld sits right in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. If you are a long distance walker, the chances are you have passed by this village on your travels as it lies not only on the Coast to Coast Walk but also the Pennine Way. Keld is a quiet, settled kind of place. Visiting it is a bit like going to your grandma’s house when you were a child, it’s safe, comfortable and reassuringly unchanging.

Wainwright describes Keld perfectly (page 82 in my original Westmorland Gazette version of ‘A Coast to Coast Walk’) and I love the quote “A sundial records the hours, but time is measured in centuries at Keld”. There is one thing however in Keld that always seems to be in a hurry, the water passing through it. A variety of gills and becks join up with the infant River Swale and together they produce several spectacular waterfalls in the valley below the village. And with the wet weather we have experienced recently, they are all in full flow.

Keld also marks the halfway point of the Coast to Coast Walk and there is something satisfying in knowing that we are half way to Robin Hoods Bay. Leaving the village there are two options, a high level route which takes you across the moors and seemed to be favoured by Wainwright and a low level route that follows the River Swale all the way to Reeth. This latter route seems to be favoured by the Cicerone guide and, on this occasion is the route we are going to take. Not only does it follow the river which I have been looking forward to, but after yesterdays bog hopping we have had our fill of moors and wet feet for a while. We leave the centuries old, sleepy village of Keld behind, pass by the waterfalls and head into the sublimely beautiful valley of Swaledale.

If there is any doubt remaining that we are in the Yorkshire Dales, entering Swaledale dispels this. There are sheep, dry stone walls, stone barns and rolling green hills a plenty. The walk to Muker along the Dale, never far from the river Swale, glistening in the sunlight is a delight. At Muker we stop for a rest and a quick look around the village. St Mary’s Church, consecrated in 1580 gives a sense of history and the village is well served with a pub and cafe as well. The trail continues along the river bank and after another few miles we arrive at Gunnerside where we stop for our obligatory coffee and cake. The day has been dry and in the main sunny with a very occasional shower but Gwen and I are both glad that for the first time in a week we have dry feet.

The cafe is full and we have caught up with a group of Americans who are also doing the C to C. I have to smile to myself in the cafe when one of the Americans asks for Wensleydale cheese to be told that they only have Cheddar, we are in the Yorkshire Dales for goodness sake! Coffee and cake consumed we continue our journey, our spirits are rising with the temperature, the Sun is shining and life is good. Immediately after Gunnerside there is an intriguing section where you walk along slabs on top of a dry stone wall for a short while before the path rejoins the banks of the Swale, which is slowly getting wider now as we follow it downstream on it’s long journey to the sea. It has a way to go yet though and before it’s waters flow out into the Humber Estuary it will lose it’s name, firstly to merge with the River Ure and finally, the River Ouse.

The going is good and we are both enjoying what is a relatively flat, calm and uneventful day, a day to recuperate from some of the exertions of the last week. The weather is also playing its part, dry and sunny. Reeth, although not what you could call a town is bigger than both Keld and Muker and on arrival at the village green it suddenly seems rather busy after our two days of comparative isolation. There is a classic car rally on and we walk past pristine Morris Minors and Ford Anglia’s before making our way to the Dales Bike Centre and our bed for the night.