Day 10: Reeth to Richmond

Marrick Priory

We were sad to leave the Yorkshire Dales behind, but the metropolis of Richmond (and the promise of a rest day tomorrow) spurred us on.

Day 10 was punctuated by knee pain (for me, at least).  Megan took the option of the bus, hopefully with positive results for the next walking day on Monday.  Without overwhelming this post with whinging about my knee, I will just say that although the day began with no pain (I thought - hooray!) within an hour of walking I could feel it hurting on descents.  Within two hours, ascents and descents hurt.  By the end, it just hurt the whole time, with every step.

The walk itself was a delightful grassy stroll through farmland with views across the valley.  We passed through more beautiful Yorkshire villages, such as Fremington, Marrick and Marske with the River Swale peeking in and out of view all day.

The laziest sheep I've ever seen - crawled on its 'knees'

This one needs James Herriott's help

Too early in the walk - we didn't stop

This walk is starting to feel like a Pilgrimage.  At one point we could see 6 Coast to Coaster walkers ahead of us, and knew there were at least seven more behind us.   I'm picturing The Canterbury Tales, but set in the North of England only and heading West to East.

At Marske, we found another lovely tearoom - and a host of our fellow nutters. I mean, walkers. Yup - coffee and cake were consumed - it would be rude not to.  Unfortunately another uphill climb followed, (will I never learn?) and we were on our way again.

My excuse? They gave me an ice pack for my knee

Gardens at the cafe 

At Richmond, we easily found our most welcoming and attractive accommodation at Cordilleras House Gez and Liz are great hosts, they'd already welcomed Megan and we all sat down to tea and home made cakes in the garden. I will need a diet when I finish the walk if I'm not careful but I cannot resist home made cake. If you click on their link, our room is the one on the far left.  A simple, light and spacious room - up two flights of stairs on the top floor.  Limpity limpity limp.

photo courtesy of Jack

Our hosts noticed the plethora of knee bandages (by this point I was literally limping at every step - the final path into Richmond descended down a long hill) and immediately passed on details of a Remedial Massage Therapist in town who has helped some other Coast to Coasters limp their way to the finish.  Jennifer Thursfield managed to squeeze me in with just half an hours' notice, and will fit Megan in if necessary tomorrow afternoon (yes, on a Sunday).  You couldn't ask for better service than that.

I've had an hour's appointment with her, and so far so good.  It doesn't hurt walking on flat terrain at the moment, since the treatment. She thinks it is probably just a strained muscle (not a ligament, thankfully) and has given me some strengthening exercises and stretching to do to gently try to recover enough by Monday. Fingers crossed. The rest day came at just the right time.