On the Leeds and Liverpool canal
This was to be the longest day so far, at 22 miles, but I'd thought the walking was fairly easy and that it wouldn't be a problem. It was, however, to prove one of the hardest days of the walk.
I'd slept for only about 5 hours in total and the psychological effect of this didn't help - I knew it was going to be fairly hard without the lack of sleep.
It was a hot day, mostly sunny, and this added to my problems, but the main cause of my difficulty was the effects of what to me was a heavy pack (around 25 lbs.) upon an injured foot.
Three weeks before I began the walk I developed a fairly bad pain in my left foot and this proved to be a stress fracture of the third metatarsal - I had broken my foot, probably through adding 2 lengthy training walks per week to my usual regime of running. I cut out the running for the next three weeks but kept up the walks, usually between 22 and 25 miles. My GP said I should still be able to do the walk.
The foot had been quite painful from the start, hurting particularly on uphill and downhill sections (i.e. most of the time) but on the fifth day it worsened. I clung to the hope that from the sixth day onwards the reduction in the weight (I'd arranged to use a bag-transfer company) would make a big difference. If it didn't I would have to give up.
The are no obvious difficulties to be seen from the map on this section of the Pennine Way. However, I found the combination of boggy and marshy terrain coupled with continously climbing and descending, very wearing. None of the ascents was particularly difficult in isolation but it seemed that no sooner had I gained several hundred feet that I descended again and began another ascent immediately,time after time . This was to change after Thornton-in-Craven but by this time I was already very tired.
The scenary was outstanding on this section, rolling hills, farms, pretty villages such as Ickornshaw and Lothersdale and a mixture of moorland and meadowland. The meadows were particularly beautiful.
....One of the beautiful meadows on this section of the walk
The Leeds and Liverpool canal
After Thornton-in-Craven the PW follows a section of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, at 127.5 miles long it is Britains longest canal. This marks the start of a gentle section to Malham and for me it was a relief to see from the map that there were to be no further major climbs today.
I continued to the town of Gargrave. From what I saw of Gargrave it seemed an attractive little town and I would have liked to have a better look around. I had to focus on getting to Malham, however, and didn't stop. I pressed on to Airton knowing that from here it should be a gentle walk along the River Aire into Malham. It was by now a very hot day and my foot was throbbing relentlessly.
I was tired but not too tired to notice how beautiful the River Aire was along this section. It was becoming a real effort now and most of the time I just had my head down. Each mile became more difficult than the last and I started to doubt whether I could complete the sixteen days to Kirk Yetholm with my injured foot.
At Hanlith Bridge two elderly ladies asked me where I was walking to and were interested when I said Kirk Yetholm. They were very knowledgable about the Pennine Way and its difficulties and wished me luck. This was very encouraging and I started off again with renewed determination.
I eventually got my first view of Malham Cove and stopped to take a photo.
At 5.45 p.m. I 'staggered' into Malham, tired, in pain but hopeful that, as I did not have to carry a full pack from here on, my foot would get better.
That evening I treated myself to a fillet steak washed down with 2 pints of Timothy Taylors in The Buck Inn. It was an excellent meal and I fell into bed and slept like a pile of logs.
Rating for day out of 10 :-