Pennine Way - Day 2: Crowden to Standedge

About 10 minutes

We may have, as the old saying goes, ‘Bitten off more than we can carry’.

Despite the loaded rucksacks being fine in our living room. Some of us are starting to struggle to actually carry them. 

News Flash: Gravity is stronger in England. 

There has been a transfer of weight. Wife and Son can’t carry as much as we’d hoped. Daughter, is carrying enough. So, I am lucky enough to get more; call me Oliver.

I am a hero.

That lasted about 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, it’s too much for me too. Not cut out to be a hero.

If you like the broad open moors, today is for you. The sun is still shining, everything is dryish and the flagstone paths just keep on going. But it's big sky country. Magnificent in its emptiness. 

The Donkeys

We met another family who were only doing part of the Way. We stopped to have a chat, but mainly talked about the lady’s bad knee - we all knew how she felt. We had seen from afar that she was really suffering on the down-hill bits; Iliotibial Band problems apparently. A nice chat in the middle of nowhere.

Later, we had stopped, by a little reservoir, to have our picnic lunch (not to rest because we were carrying too much) and they caught us. This time, they asked where we were from. The collection of accents had obviously peaked their interest. This is always a fun question; as I am English, Wife is Slovak, Kids: confused and we lived in Serbia. 

Beautiful

They said, and I quote, ‘Ah, yes. We thought maybe German, but you’re not organised enough for that’.

Not German! A compliment in a way, I guess. Possibly.

It is true. But we had hoped that we were hiding it better.    

Our goal was Standedge, there was a camp site and a pub. What more could a walker ask for. When we got there, or where ‘there’ should have been, for some reason wasn’t. We stopped and consulted our maps and the guide book.

On a big scale both of these were helpful. But for the last mile – they were both equally, but unquestionably, shite.

Up up and more up

We saw a man with a dog and said, as always, our hellos. Everyone gets it four times. In the UK almost everyone responds; this is not the same everywhere. So, the poor man dutifully responded four times. We continued walking but soon realised that we had started Day 3. Shock. Horror. We are, or at least, were keen. But this was too much so we set off, almost at a run, well a quickish lumber anyway, back to the road.

We met the man again. This time we stopped for a chat and asked where this mythical place ‘Standedge’ actually was. He unhelpfully said 'Right here'. Which, while being technically correct and the answer to our question, it obviously, by the looks on our faces, wasn’t the answer we expected. He asked where we actually wanted to be. After a brief chat, he said he wasn’t sure which of the two potential destinations was the best. But, he would happily take us there in his car.

No swimming

He had a small car and could only fit two of us, with backpacks, at a time. But he was happy to make two trips. A really nice man. He set off with Wife and Son. Apparently, they stopped at two places, the first not being suitable for some reason. He returned for us and then ferried us to the chosen spot. A very nice man and a shy dog. Plus, we didn’t get murdered.

We put up the tents and went for a beer. Wife ordered and was asked how many eggs she wanted. Seems, that her English wasn’t as good as she thought. At least not in Standedge.

The four of us

A beer (we do miss English beer: Euro lager is OK but … ), some good pub food and bed.

We chatted to a couple who were also walking. They had cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats the previous year. They talked about the trip at length pointing out that England and Scotland are mainly all up hill.

There are some small downs but the ups are much longer, slower and require more effort.

We went to bed, well, ground, less happy in the knowledge that it was only up.

		Cumulative
Distance Walked	18km	44km
Start Point	Crowden
End Point	Standedge
Via	Black Hill and Wessenden Moor
General Comments Moor, moors and moor moors. A very long day’s walk. Heatwave – very un-British

Walking Across Slovakia