Orton to Kirkby Stephen Day 7

As I was a-travelling in the north country
Down by Kirkby Stephen I happened for to be
As I was a walking up and down the street
A pretty little buy-a-broom I chanced for to meet

The 12 miles to Kirkby Stephen was largely a reflective time over undulating farmland. Stiles, public footpaths across farmland, bridleways and kissing gates all provide a finely meshed network of readily accessible but too-seldom travelled pathways across England. You get the chance to see rural England from the inside as it were, instead of from the coarse outer skin of the motorway and the B roads. In Australia we have no such rights and tradition. We'd just call it trespassing.

Dry stone walls near Orton

We have kept company for several days with walkers we now regard as friends: the bird watchers from Somerset, the contented plodders from Connecticut, the sore-footed, frequently-lost couple from Surrey and the happy Finnish couple who have found this such a contrast to the camino in Spain. Sadly we shall lose them all in a day or so as they soldier on and we take a rest day in Richmond. Our consolation is we shall certainly meet some other interesting people coming along behind them.

Smardale Gill viaduct on the way to Kirkby Stephen

Kirkby Stephen is the home of the family business with whom we booked our walk, the Coast to Coast Packhorse. In case we forget to give them a plug anywhere else, let me say that so far they have been faultless ... thorough, reliable, flexible and friendly. They collect our luggage daily and it is there waiting for us when we get to our next night's accommodation. The places they have booked for us have been excellent and it pretty much runs like clockwork. We have heard good reports of other operators too (like Contours, Sherpa, Mac Adventures, etc) but from our experience to date we would be surprised if they outdo Packhorse who service this walk only, and do no other routes.

We stayed at the Jolly Farmers Guesthouse in Kirkby Stephen, clean comfortable and close to the centre of this small market town. We had our hearts set on the chippy for a change but the recommended shop was closed this Monday so it was back to reliable pub fare again.

Tomorrow we cross the watershed and the rivers begin to run eastward.