On Sunday, I had been out walking since ten thirty in the morning and it was now three fifteen in the afternoon. The M62 motorway is shown in blue on the map above. I was north of it and north east of Heycroft Farm. Trouble was that those paths shown in green were little walked and badly signed. FB means footbridge. It was allegedly somewhere at the bottom of a steep and wooded ravine. I needed to cross it to get back to Outlane which would have only been another mile or so to the east.
By three thirty I gave up - discretion being the better part of valour - and headed back to the yellow lane in Hey Clough. Then I plodded north for almost two miles - taking an arcing route back to Outlane which probably trebled the intended distance. It was after five o'clock and getting dark when I checked in at the hotel. I was bushed or as we say in Yorkshire and Ludwigsburg - knackered. It had been a long march along lanes since I gave up trying to find the footbridge.
The room was pleasant, spacious and clean with a spotless en suite. I sat at the dressing table area merrily editing photos I had taken before heading out to the nearby "White Swan" for my evening meal. I had just ordered a pint of "Landlord" bitter and asked for the menu only to be told that they finished taking orders at six thirty. It was now six fifty.
I had visions of going to bed without edible sustenance. Would I survive the night? In a fit of panic, I downed my pint and sped back to the hotel where my trusty chariot Sir Clint waited to rush me to another pub on the edge of the village called "The New Inn". I had walked past it earlier on.
Were they still taking food orders? "Yes," said the sparkling barmaid after she had checked with the kitchen. I ordered a beef Sunday roast and when it arrived it was magnificent. Tender pink slices of top rump, roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnip, a medley of green vegetables in a separate bowl and a side order of cauliflower cheese. Tasty beef gravy and to top it all off the pièce de résistance - a scrumptious, golden Yorkshire pudding. Naturally, I wolfed it down for I had really earned that meal.
I shared four pictures in my last blogpost - "Outlane" - but here are four more images from yesterday's long walk:-
In Outlane near The Old Golf House Hotel
On Rochdale Road west of Scapegoat Hill
Pole Moor - the "new" graveyard
Farm ruin north east of Heycroft Farm
Sunday night dinner.
ReplyDeleteRoast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding.
Is this where I came in, lockdown 2020?
Is this where I exit ?
Mysterious comment but if you are exiting at this point, be good, be happy and live well.
DeleteSpectacular walk! I bet you were thankful for that meal after contemplating going without. It sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat's the best Sunday dinner I have had in ages but the roasted potatoes were not as good as mine!
DeleteThat was a nasty surprise that they were not selling food anymore. 6:30 PM seems to be very early to quit serving food if you're in the food business.
ReplyDeleteI should have checked beforehand. At a food pub that I go to in Sheffield they finish taking orders at 9pm on a Sunday.
DeleteThe Farm Ruin is pretty. It needs a story written about it. Your Sunday beef roast sounds absolutely delicious to a girl who is currently on soft foods after having six teeth extracted yesterday. Mmm, cauliflower cheese :)
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time in a remote Yorkshire farm, there lived a buxom milkmaid called River....
DeleteSorry to hear about the extractions! Sounds horrible. Just be patient as you heal.
It can be frustrating when you have to alter your intended route because what should be there can not be found, but you did the sensible thing, and the fact that you were able to add those extra miles is proof of your fitness.
ReplyDeleteWho knows whether the food at the White Swan would have been as excellent as what you ended up having at The New Inn! It sounds like a huge meal but, as you say, you really earned that meal.
The gravestones picture is great, and I love the tree in Outlane. But of course you know that the ruins of the farm house is my favourite picture of this post.
I nearly labelled that picture - "Specially for Meike..."
DeleteI'm surprised you didn't check in advance about meal times, but then 6.30 is very early to end food service. A couple of the grave headstones look the same. Maybe more than a couple. People related perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I should have checked. I just never imagined they would end food orders so bloody early!
DeleteHappy you got fed. Have you taken photos of the farm in the middle of the motorway. Or were you driving too fast?
ReplyDeleteI have got a couple of pictures of Stott Hall Farm. I walked under both carriageways of the M62. Maybe in my next post.
DeleteHow annoying to have to retrace your steps. You certainly deserved the magnificent dinner after all the frustrations of the extra walk, no food at the nearby pub and then having to wake Sir Clint to go out on a Sunday evening - just after he'd settled down for a good sleep!
ReplyDeleteClint was lucky. His belly was full of delicious unleaded petrol.
DeleteDid they accept cash YP? I went into a bar in Oxford and they didn't accept cash just card.
ReplyDeleteGreat! You just had to give them an old Christmas card and you got a pint? They accept cash around Outlane.
DeleteAmazing long walk, with a bit of adventure at, and after the end.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a place not serving after 6:30. I might have cried and begged at the kitchen door for scraps; you were smarter than that!
The first pub had been open since midday and they close early on Sundays apparently.
DeleteA YP ending, to a long day
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day. I loved it and so was Monday which I have not blogged about yet. It is good to remind yourself that you are alive!
DeleteThose are beautiful headstones. I would have panicked too at the foodless pub! Six thirty seems awfully early to stop serving. Your adventure is making me think I need to take a getaway of my own.
ReplyDeleteI guess it depends on the kind of person you are but I am very happy to spend time on my own and this break was a great fillip.
DeleteI would be hard pressed to go on a hike with just that map as a guide. Surely they make maps of hiking trails but I'm guessing perhaps since this one was out of your way, you didn't have one.
ReplyDeletePubs here are not great places to eat that late at night. Many don't serve food that late and if they do, it is fried frozen food. I have never been in one that served vegetables other thank pickles and onions on your fried sandwich.
I make up my own "hiking trails" using Ordnance Survey maps. It is all pretty detailed. Those black lines are field boundaries.
DeleteLovely pics. I always imagined that stone buildings withstood the test of time but I was wrong. Although I'm guessing there were wooden beams involved in that falling down farmhouse. We only have wood houses around here so they don't last for hundreds of years. Sounds like the perfect holiday for you, tramping around the countryside:)
ReplyDelete36 hours away but many great moments.
DeleteGood thing that other pub was still serving and the food was so delicious. A better ending for a frustrating day.
ReplyDeleteYou summed it up nicely Ellen.
Delete