Curbeck

The Kapitan was navigating today. Almost immediately he had to lengthen his strap on his baseball cap. This was possibly due to his head swelling due to the honour of navigational responsibilities, or more probably, his normally dormant brain cells had now become active. He successfully navigated us out of the village and some field hopping brought us to flatness along the top of Brough Scar. At Cubeck the Cabin Boy and myself waited as the Kapitan studied his map. A couple of people came out of a nearby house and started preparing to leave in their car and we exchanged 'helloes.' The Kapitan confidently strode off and we diligently followed him. He turned around at a barn and a few seconds later we appeared on the other side of the car and the people we'd just greeted. They looked surprised to see us so soon after our departure. I rolled my eyes at them, shrugged and nodded at the Kapitan.

The Devil's Stone

The lane took us higher and the views started to open up. The fields became more like fells by the time we came to Worton Pasture. The crags surrounding Addlebrough's summit looked quite impressive and imposing. We made our way up to a large boulder on its eastern flank that the OS map declared was the Devil's Stone. It had been deposited here during a stone fight between a giant and the Devil. Either that, or the less likely...having been deposited by falling from the crags above. There weree markings of a large cross engraved on its southern side, but on closer inspection it seemed to be formed of natural fissures. There are some indentations on the top that some people say are cup and ring markings, but more rational members of society consider to be the finger holes formed by Old Nick when he threw the stone.

Addlebrough

The summit of Addlebrough looked well defended from the Devil's Stone and so we followed a vague track northwards that traced a contour around the bottom of the crags. We had to hop over a barbed fence to get access to the crags. This had some protection from the barbs, although the Kapitan pulled his groin and the Cabin Boy hooked up her pants in the process. The top of Addlebrough revealed itself to be a flat grassy summit divided up by stone walls. We set up a summit camp and admired the tremendous views across to the fells on the northern side of the Wensleydale valley. After our stop, we walked along the crag to find a curious pyrammid cairn. We headed southwards and when traversing a stile, we came across a well made stone seat on the butt end of a stone wall that had been built up from the valley. It could have made an ideal lunch spot, given that the Cabin Boy and Kapitan would have sat on one side of the wall, and me on the other.

Busk And High Lanes

At the farm house at Carpley Green, we picked up the Busk Lane track that headed southwards. We didn't see any buskers but a number of motorcyclists did scoot past us, leaving us choking in a cloud of dust. As we approached the junction on to High Lane, another limestone track, a car rumbled across and disappeared over the ridge. We'd not seen any walkers, but plenty of motorised transport. On the descent along High Lane about 20 mountain bikers struggled up past us. They were stretched out for quite a distance dependent on their abilities, fitness levels and whether their machines were powered by a a battery or human power. The lane eventually met up with the route of the Pennine Journey, another long distance walk that I'd like to attempt in the future.

Stalling Busk

We left High Lane's limestone track and descended into the small and pretty hamlet of Stalling Busk. No sooner had we entered, then we were out the other side and heading down to Semer Water that was now clearly visible. Not far from the village was the ruin of the old St Matthew's Church (the new one is in the village). We wandered around its deserted rooms. It was first built in 1603 but fell into ruin during the English Civil War. It was rebuilt in 1722, but fell into disrepair again when the new church was built. There is a large cross in the grounds decorated with fairy lights.

Semer Water

Semer Water was a reasonably large lake (in fact, the second largest in North Yorkshire) and was evidently popular with the watersports fraternity. Windsurfers and paddle boarders patrolled its waters. The Cabin Boy had to attend to some blisters which was unfortunate on the first day of a two week Dales campaign. We made our way around to the northern end of the lake where the River Bain drained Semer's waters. The river is reportedly one of the shortest in the UK and it would be our guide down the valley to Bainbrige, where it would contribute to the River Ure running along Wensleydale. It turned out to be a rather nice riverside walk down to Bainbridge with pretty views to keep us entertained. 

John still seemed to be absent from the garage as we walked past the premises in the village. Obviously his knowledge was in demand. It had been an excellent walk with tremendous views. Thankfully, my Covid symptoms were no worse, although the Cabin Boy's feet had taken a battering. We came back to the holiday let to find that there was no hot water and no facility to switch it on. Multiple phone calls revealed that the owner could alter it remotely and had neglected to switch it on. We all had cold showers that evening which was a bit of a cold shower on a wonderful day.