Ros drove us back to the spot where she had picked us up last night, and Max accompanied us on what was a shorter and easier walk. I was aware that David was much more talkative with Max than he usually is when we walk together! We were still on the Pennine Way, and the route was varied but largely flat and pastoral, initially following the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and later the river Aire. It was a very enjoyable walk, and I was pleased to be without my rucksack!

We arrived in Malham and enjoyed a drink whilst waiting for Ros to pick us up and take us back to Ilkley, where we enjoyed another pleasant evening with our friends.

A Backward Glance

Probably our last gentle walk for a long time to come today, keeping our feet always within paddling distance of nearby waterways. Our friend Max and the sun came out to join us too, which made the experience idyllic. During conversation Max told me his Dad would run over fifty miles in one day in the Dales. I hope he takes after his Mum I thought to myself as we strolled along. I needn’t have worried, we both struggled to keep up with Carol, even without her poles! Max is an accomplished photographer and enjoys capturing stone on camera. We crossed several ‘clapper’ bridges, which was a particular interest to him as a photographer and also to me, but less so, as a structural engineer. I think those ancient bridge builders pinched the idea from Stone Henge’s Wiltshire craftsmen a millennia before them. However, limestone dry walls are a remarkable testimony to the skills, hard work and ingenuity of their creators, some still at it even today. For hundreds of years farmers in the Dales have built stone walls rather than hedges, which are less durable at higher elevations. Judging by the gated gaps in them for walkers, legs back when they were built were even thinner than mine. The highlight of the day was relaxing in a field with sheep enjoying a lunch together (not with the sheep) prepared for us by Ros, including crispy rice chocolate cake!