Day 3 - September 4th 2004
Standedge to Hebden Bridge - 15 miles
I slept pretty well and up and out early for papers, back to the B&B, breakfast and on with the boots and ready to go. Connie drove me back to the end of yesterday’s walk, on with the pack and off I went. The weather was a bit foggy/misty and I was geared up for bad weather although it certainly did not arrive this day. As it was Saturday, there were more people about and I followed a group of three I was to run into several times in the next couple of days, both on the Way and in pubs in the evening. This was a pretty uneventful day although Connie was able to park and walk back and meet me on three occasions. This day was one of two on the Way where I had a “sit down” lunch. The White House Inn provided a good bowl of soup, a cheese sandwich and a pint of Black Sheep bitter. This was the first and last time I had any ale while walking although it is true opportunities were certainly not plentiful. Frankly, even if they had been I would not have had anything to drink again. The one pint slightly clouded my concentration and I certainly did not need that on the trail.
After lunch it was an easy walk around reservoirs with packs of day walkers about. I found the scenery to be nothing special but I did enjoy the easy walking. Stoodley Pike loomed in the distance, giving me something to look forward to as I knew that once there, the day’s walk was almost complete. Along the way I came across a fell runner who, under a shouted question by me, said he will have done ten mile when he was finished. When I got to Stoodley Pike, a couple of runners were coming up the hill from the west but their pace was just slightly more than a fast walk. Looking over the edge, I thought it excellent that they could even come close to a jog as it was a very steep slope. Stoodley Pike was interesting and I stopped to do some photography. I then went on my way down fields and past farms with one misdirection in a field where I did not go far enough to stay on track. Fortunately, it was a insignificant error. As I left Callis Wood, Connie was coming up to meet me. From there it was a short walk to where the car was parked and a quick drive into Hebden Bridge and up to our very nice B&B.
Once at the B&B there was no bath but the shower felt just wonderful. So good, in fact, that I fell asleep for a bit afterward while reading the paper. Connie and I then walked to town, found a pub and I had a so-so pint of Black Sheep. Certainly not as well kept as the one at lunch. For dinner we found a quite nice Italian restaurant where the food was excellent and the bottle of wine just right. It was then a nice stroll back up the hill to our B&B and a short read and to sleep. This was an easy day and my walking time was about one and a half hours less than estimated in Walking in Britain. I put that fact down to the very good path which was much better than the past two days. In addition, not getting lost was a real plus.