Day 1: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

Day 1 was a bit of a grinder, distance-wise only. Not a lot of climbing (although the first ¼ mile pull up from the beach at St Bees made sure your legs knew that this was no walk in the park: it was going to be a tough challenge.) and the weather was overcast to misty with some light rain.  It could have been a LOT worse, and at least it was a comfortable temperature for walking.  

There should have been several points at which we would have had views of the Isle of Man.  There were NONE, but we waved anyway.  We know you’re there.

We saw Razorbills nesting just above St Bees on the cliffs. They looked like 'miniature flying penguins'. 

This was the best view of the walk: still heading North at this point. 

We met three different groups of walkers all along the way – one couple (father/daughter? Grandfather/granddaughter?), or rather the man, seemed to know all the short cuts.  We’d leave them sitting somewhere, and next thing they’d be standing ahead of us on the path. We’re not quite sure which route they’re doing, but they were definitely getting there quicker than we were. Hmmm. No doubt they’ll be in the pub tonight and I’ll have to ask them.  I had visions of a bus service we were unaware of. 

We had some sheep friends and some cow friends who cheered us on at various points along the route. One of them requested a photo op, and wanted to be on a famous blog, so obviously I had to oblige. 

Lulu’s had provided us with a decent pack lunch – sandwiches (with a choice of sandwich fillings, ordered the night before), crisps, juice, fruit and a chocolate brownie each.  More than adequate and we were very grateful by the time we made a pit stop. Most of us were just glad to stop.  Although we didn’t find a picturesque or comfortable spot, because we were along the old railway line (now a cycle path) at Cleator Moor before we deemed it worthy to stop, we made the most of it and plonked ourselves down on the ground anyway.  It was dry and we got to rest our feet!

In fact, the weather behaved pretty well until we got to Low Cock How Farm (I love the name) and then it started to hammer it down. We didn’t care.  We’d made it to the end of our first day; we’d completed 14 miles; we had cake, tea and a wood-burning stove all to ourselves.  Heaven in Wild Ennerdale.

We have booked our meal and a taxi to get there. It’s only a mile, downhill. However a combination of teeming rain,  sore feet, bunions and some tight hips all round have meant that between us we all voted for a taxi.