Rest Day in Settle. Conversations with Octogenarians.

Today was our first planned rest day. This was time to re-stock the larder, do the laundry and rest the legs. We did just that on a very warm and sunny day in the town of Settle.  It was a mile or so to walk into town, just enough to stop my legs seizing up entirely.

Settle is a proper town. Not like similar sized towns in The Lake District; it has people who live there, doing jobs other than in the leisure industry. Consequently there are many shops including butchers, bakers and (almost) candlestick makers.  Today was market day with stalls on the square selling their produce, including a fine cheese stall selling local delicacies and a bread stall where we bought a “cheese and marmite” loaf for my lunch sandwiches (Catherine is not as keen on Marmite as I am) and a sourdough loaf for evening eating.

We had lunch in the famous Naked Man Café where we were engaged in conversation by two separate octogenarians. I think we must have looked sufficiently like rugged outdoor types (I had my rucksack with me to carry the shopping) for them to start the conversation with “are you up ‘ere to do some long walks…” It turned out that the first gentleman had been the record holder for the fastest completion of the Pennine Way at 3 days and 1 hour! I checked and now it stands at 2 days 17 hours and some seconds and that was set in 1989.  Both these times are staggeringly fast and must have been done without sleep.  Our record breaker said that they had not set out to break the record but just to run the Way as fast as they could, and why not?

The second encounter was with a couple eating their bacon rolls who again asked us what we were up to.  He was a retired banker / insurance salesman and had lived all his life in Settle. He did however quietly confess to us (as we were not from these parts) that his mother had unfortunately given birth to him in Lancashire. She had grown up in nearby Long Preston (all of 5 miles away) and had intended to see the world but had got no further than Settle.  I think Settle has it all, why go anywhere else?

There has just been a cracking thunderstorm. I diligently unplugged Gloria from the grid and trusted in her metal and tyres to keep us safe.

Sorry, no pictures today.  

Malham Cove, Malham Tarn, Fountains Fell and Pen-Y-Ghent tomorrow. 

AW