A Walk in Goathland, March, 2000
Part 2: Over hill and dale
We finally emerged from the woods, and were soon walking up the side of a field--and continued up for a long way, until we reached a paved road, which we followed to a farm. The view from the road was very broad, and it was a nice breather from plodding uphill. Our path continued alongside the farmhouse then turned back downhill. Uphill and downhill became the new theme for this walk.
We reached to bottom of the hill and faced a decision. It was 2:30, and we could head back toward Goathland, or we carry on to the Roman road and take a longer route back--we estimated that would take 2 hours. We decided to see some Roman road. We started uphill again. Given the hour, we had our Hob Nobs on the march.
About halfway up onto Wheeldale Moor we reached the end of a preserved stretch of Roman road (although its Roman origins are in doubt) and the path continued along side this road. We met a couple walking toward us on the path--they were in their fifties, it seemed, and she wore high heels and he wore a tweed coat. They had a tiny dog with them. Very English.
Roamin the Roman Road
We miss our exit
The route called for following the road for about 3/4 of a mile, and I picked up the pace a bit. We had made decent time so far and I figured we could get in a little early and sit in the pub for a bit. We chatted away, keeping one eye out for a small landmark that was our cue to turn left and head down the moor for our return leg. When we arrived at the other end of the road and, despite several rationalizations, couldn't fit the landmarks we saw with our assumed spot on the map, we knew we had overshot our mark. I would have stopped and asked for directions, really, but there was no opportunity to do so. Of course, we had walked across the major fold of the map, and I spent 5 minutes unfolding and flipping and trying to refold it in the stiff breeze. We retraced our steps about 1/4 mile and found the correct route -- the landmark was gone, of course.
We plodded back downhill, enjoying the great views of the dale. After crossing a stream we headed back up to open moor. We walked along the ridge top and had an expansive view across the dale and much of the route we had walked over the last 2 hours. Everyone was getting tired, and it was possible that only the few Hob Nobs we munched along the way kept everyione going the last 1.5 miles back to Goathland.
On the path down from the Roman road
We walked the length of town, and of course the first pub we tried was closed until 7:00 PM. Luckily, we still had the energy (thanks Hob Nobs) to walk across the street and enjoy a pint of Old Rogue Ale before heading home. The length of the route we walked was 8 miles, which we covered in 4.5 hours.