Dufton Hostel. by Dianne Moyes
Monday 11th September
Having watched the weather reports in the days leading up to our trip indicating heavy showers, I was delighted to find that a dry day was in prospect after all, plus, as a bonus, a following wind from the west. Stewart and Maggie, John Rowell, John and Sue, Bob and I (Dianne) met up at the Murphy's ready for a 10.00a.m. start. The plan was to meet Paul, Sue and Roy at the Kings Arms in Stainton around lunchtime. We followed the usual route through Threlkeld and decided we had time for morning coffee at The Sportsman. After that we went via Greystoke Gill and Newbiggin, then under the A66 to Stainton where our friends were tucking in to lunch. The pub was delightful with very good food and quick service. Sue Cumella left by car to visit a friend and spend the afternoon visiting C-art exhibitions while the rest of us, now 9 in number followed Paul to navigate around Penrith and onto the Cliburn road. Past Cliburn it was left to go under the A66 again and onto a lovely little road into Kirkby Thore where we stocked up on milk at the village shop. We reached Dufton Youth Hostel before the reception was open but could go inside and make a cup of tea. That night some of us enjoyed a filling Hostel dinner while others cooked. There was another cycling group in, from Lancashire, heading up to Aviemore, with a backup vehicle. So we enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their plans.
Tuesday, 12th September
Another dry start, this time there were 10 of us as Sue C was on her bike. We headed north, through Knock and then all the lovely villages to Melmerby. The views were great with the Lake District to the west beyond the broad sweep of the Eden Valley and the Pennines close by to the east. At Melmerby we stopped at the Village Stores and Cafe, enjoying drinks and cakes. We continued north to Gamblesby before turning left to find on a dead end track signed Ancient Monument, Long Meg and her daughters, one of the best stone circles in Cumbria. The site is part of a farm and cows were grazing but we all left our bikes and had a good look round. Long Meg is a red sandstone column, possibly hauled from the River Eden, the other stones are erratic boulders, the whole dated between 3000 and 500 BC.
It was then onto lunch at Mrs Miller's at the Garden Centre in Culgaith, a really lovely place to stop, followed by a ride into Appleby and then a gentle ride back to Dufton via Murton, a total of 42 miles. In the evening we were very well catered for at the Stag Inn, Dufton which had a table ready for the 10 of us.
Wednesday, 13th September
We were all ready to go by about 9.30 a.m. 9 of us to start with as Sue C was back in her car. We took a slightly different route to Kirkby Thore then retraced our route to Cliburn and towards Penrith before turning down to Brougham to collect points at the Castle and then to the cafe at Brougham Hall for morning coffee, another very good coffee shop. It was only a short distance from Brougham to Stainton where we had decided to have lunch again. This was convenient as Roy had left his car there and Sue was to collect Paul. In the end Stewart wasn't feeling great so Roy offered him a lift leaving only 6 of us to ride back to Braithwaite. Our luck with the weather finally ran out in Motherby with the onset of a very heavy shower which turned into prolonged rain as we rode into the wind along all those ups and downs parallel to the A66. I asked for a stop in Threlkeld village hall to phone John so my lift was ready in Braithwaite. Some people were shivering and finally put on over trousers to try and warm up. We all made it back but were really pleased to get into warm
Monday 11th September
Having watched the weather reports in the days leading up to our trip indicating heavy showers, I was delighted to find that a dry day was in prospect after all, plus, as a bonus, a following wind from the west. Stewart and Maggie, John Rowell, John and Sue, Bob and I (Dianne) met up at the Murphy's ready for a 10.00a.m. start. The plan was to meet Paul, Sue and Roy at the Kings Arms in Stainton around lunchtime. We followed the usual route through Threlkeld and decided we had time for morning coffee at The Sportsman. After that we went via Greystoke Gill and Newbiggin, then under the A66 to Stainton where our friends were tucking in to lunch. The pub was delightful with very good food and quick service. Sue Cumella left by car to visit a friend and spend the afternoon visiting C-art exhibitions while the rest of us, now 9 in number followed Paul to navigate around Penrith and onto the Cliburn road. Past Cliburn it was left to go under the A66 again and onto a lovely little road into Kirkby Thore where we stocked up on milk at the village shop. We reached Dufton Youth Hostel before the reception was open but could go inside and make a cup of tea. That night some of us enjoyed a filling Hostel dinner while others cooked. There was another cycling group in, from Lancashire, heading up to Aviemore, with a backup vehicle. So we enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their plans.
Tuesday, 12th September
Another dry start, this time there were 10 of us as Sue C was on her bike. We headed north, through Knock and then all the lovely villages to Melmerby. The views were great with the Lake District to the west beyond the broad sweep of the Eden Valley and the Pennines close by to the east. At Melmerby we stopped at the Village Stores and Cafe, enjoying drinks and cakes. We continued north to Gamblesby before turning left to find on a dead end track signed Ancient Monument, Long Meg and her daughters, one of the best stone circles in Cumbria. The site is part of a farm and cows were grazing but we all left our bikes and had a good look round. Long Meg is a red sandstone column, possibly hauled from the River Eden, the other stones are erratic boulders, the whole dated between 3000 and 500 BC.
It was then onto lunch at Mrs Miller's at the Garden Centre in Culgaith, a really lovely place to stop, followed by a ride into Appleby and then a gentle ride back to Dufton via Murton, a total of 42 miles. In the evening we were very well catered for at the Stag Inn, Dufton which had a table ready for the 10 of us.
Wednesday, 13th September
We were all ready to go by about 9.30 a.m. 9 of us to start with as Sue C was back in her car. We took a slightly different route to Kirkby Thore then retraced our route to Cliburn and towards Penrith before turning down to Brougham to collect points at the Castle and then to the cafe at Brougham Hall for morning coffee, another very good coffee shop. It was only a short distance from Brougham to Stainton where we had decided to have lunch again. This was convenient as Roy had left his car there and Sue was to collect Paul. In the end Stewart wasn't feeling great so Roy offered him a lift leaving only 6 of us to ride back to Braithwaite. Our luck with the weather finally ran out in Motherby with the onset of a very heavy shower which turned into prolonged rain as we rode into the wind along all those ups and downs parallel to the A66. I asked for a stop in Threlkeld village hall to phone John so my lift was ready in Braithwaite. Some people were shivering and finally put on over trousers to try and warm up. We all made it back but were really pleased to get into warm