Details

Hits: 2700

The tour of '87 was a long and meandering trip around the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors and the Lake District.

Day 1.

We set off on Sunday 2nd August 1987. George, Mushead and myself set off on a cold and windy day, got as far as Hexham and retreated in to a cafe for pie and chips. Not the best of starts you might think but we were thinking of the hills of Alston. However we persevered and eventually reached the beautiful hostel at Ninebanks.

Day 2.

The following day saw a considerable improvement in the weather, some sun even so we headed up to Alston and went to look at the miniature railway. Obviously it couldn't last and as we set off again the rain started. It was truly torrential as we went over Hartside Pass but by the time we reached Melmerby the sun came out with a vengeance and soon steam was rising from the roads. After a quick stop for a pint we wound our way down to Kirkby Stephen a converted church and very comfortable.

Day 3.

The weather still seemed more or less OK so we headed straight east over the moors, it's quite a climb up the B6270 which takes you in to the top of Swaledale, but you get 20 miles of downhill (more or less) to compensate. At the bottom of Swaledale we shot across the Vale of York to the Youth Hostel at Osmotherly. Bert met us that night so now we were four.

Day 4.

In the morning we continued our easterly trajectory down the very hilly Eskdale and we climbed a 1:3 out of Glaisdale (who walked?) I have since found out that this is officially the steepest hill in Britain and the only genuine 1:3! We then went on to visit the Steam Railway at Grosmont and on to stay a Whitby YH.

Day 5.

Today we headed for Thixendale but we stopped for a while at Cayton Bay caravan park. Mushead worked here last summer and wanted to visit some ex workmates. Soon after Bert got lost. We had just made a right turn and were waiting patiently when Bert came steaming down the hill, head down, pedalling hard. We shouted and shouted but to no avail, he carried on. We could have chased him down the hill but it may have taken some time to catch him so instead we carried on to the hostel. Later he realised he was lost, bought a map and met us that night at the hostel. This hostel had the best equipped kitchen I have ever seen, a shining example of what a hostel should be.

Day 6.

Today we headed in to York and visited The Kings Head down by the river. We then carried on to Dacre Banks (which closed for good at the end of that season). The same pattern has afflicted the Youth Hostel Association for years, anything worth keeping they sell!. That was sadly our last visit to that hostel.

Day 7.

We took a windy and meandering route over the moors so we could take in a feature called 'The Strid' Mushead was impressed, it is where the outflow of Bardon Reservoir crosses the B road. This took us naturally over to Skipton and inevitably the Pork Pie Shop. Bert and George were beginning to suffer by this time so they missed this bit out and went straight to the hostel at Linton where we met Foss Carter and Myc Bellerby. (His spelling) That night we drank all of the Old Peculiar at The Fountaine Inn and Foss said he would like to try this cycling business.

Day 8.

The next day, with George safely in the car with Carter and Myc, Foss set off with the rest of us cycling over to Malham, there was no road, only a grassy track. When we got there we went in The Buck Inn for a pint, Foss had really earned that one. We said our goodbyes and with George safely back on his bike we made our way up to Ingleton.

Day 9.

We were starting to get the hang of this by now but the mornings involved ever longer mechanic sessions as the strain took it's toll of our mechanical beasts of burden. This morning was no exception and involved re trueing several wheels. Eventually we got going and went down the beautiful Dentdale, a really terrific ride and highly recommended. We kept on heading west through Kendall and eventually to Hawkeshead where we met up with Gaz.

Day 10.

Well we were now in the Lake District so as you can probably guess it was raining pretty much all of the time. The hostels were so busy we couldn't all book in to the same one so the party had to split up. Gaz, Mushead and I headed up to Blea Tarn and although it was wet the climb was so steep we did it in T shirts. It was strange to see the walkers coming down in full waterproof gear. It was still raining when we reached Coniston Coppermines. Mushead said they built the houses too close to the sky, that's why it was so wet.

Day 11.

It was still raining in the morning inevitably so we went over to Ambleside to find a cafe for lunch. We sat and steamed with our mugs of tea as long as we reasonably could (and that's a long time) but eventually we had to put our damp gear back on again and venture outside. We continued our way up to Keswick where we met up with Alan George and Bert, wow now we were six!

Day 12.

We got off to a slow start this morning due to a good night out last night but the sunshine (which we'd forgotten about by now) and a packet of fig rolls helped. We shot up over Hartside Pass and stopped in Alston at The Bluebell Inn. On leaving Alan left his wallet behind, when we returned a few minutes later someone nicked it. No one had left the pub so we stayed and phoned the police who appeared after 2 hours. By this time the wallet had been returned, quelle surprise! This however meant we were running late so our thunderous thighs were put to good use whizzing us all down to Langdon Beck.

Day 13.

We started today off with a trip to High Force and then up in to the hills at St. Johns Chapel. From here to Allendale Town there's an easy way and a hard way via Ninebanks. Mushead and I of course took the hard way, the approach to Allendale Town from this direction is savage. On arriving at Allendale Town we found that George had bent his wheel in to a figure of eight. Gaz and I managed to make it round again, I've never seen anything like it before or since! Once it was serviceable we shot down to Acomb, Mushead got much closer to the lorry in front than is good for him and ended up on the ground. No harm done though. That night we went out for fish and chips and then detoured via the pub. The warden was waiting up for us when we returned at 23:30, oops!

Day 14.

Sad day today, the end of the holiday. A new service had just become available at the Metro Centre, same day film processing. We stopped off on our way home, went home to clean up and by the time we returned to the shop our prints were ready. It was a great novelty at the time. We'd done 560 miles in 14 nights and 15 days. An excellent holiday by any standards.