Today was always going to be a sad day. The day when we reach the halfway stage (in terms of days walked) AND the day that 3 of our group were going to take their leave of us and wend their way home. Marie, Tim  & Jim were finishing their stint of the walk and departing for their 'normal lives' back home! We get back to Kirkby Stephen today and then it's one more night together before, like certain routes on the C2C trek, our paths diverge forever.......or at least until the reunion booze up!

 











But before we get too weepy, let's talk about this leg of the walk itself. Firstly, another day, another group photo, but this time with a difference.....we also had a team huddle, partly for inspiration and partly to check out how much was left in the kitty! Incidentally, Barn House in Orton was excellent. The place is beautiful, the hosts fantastic and the food superb. Highly recommended. We also had another very good meal in The George pub in the village last night and walked back to Barn House under a beautiful cloudless night sky, but guess what.......no camera with me!


 

Tina's friend Fiona joined as this morning for the first part of the walk and off we headed to join up with the C2C path. We soon found it...........exactly where the owners of Barn House said it would be! In actual fact, today's walk to Kirkby Stephen was fairly straightforward and pretty reasonable under foot. We even started getting a few signposts....something we hadn't seen much off since the very first leg; the National Trust are, apparently, not keen on signposts in the Lake District. 



We did have a bit of a run in with a local farmer who wanted us to 'ger off moi land!!', our second sighting of TheEdge this trip! And readers, Marie also had a run in with some local sheep! Having stopped briefly to read and reply to a text from her son, Marie looked up to find herself surrounded by sheep! Could have been worse Marie, they could have been cows!

 

One of the highlights of the trek, was soon after we stopped for lunch. As we walked down to the pretty Smardale Bridge, we looked back and saw the magnificent Smardale Viaduct in the distance, formerly carrying the Stainmore Railway between Barnard Castle and Tebay, but now sadly, disused. A sad, but towering reminder of a bygone age.

 

We arrived in Kirkby Stephen mid-afternoon and soon found tonight's accommodation, the Jolly Farmers; although the name might imply otherwise, it is not a pub. We arrived just in time for tea and cakes and lo and behold, it was scones with jam AND clotted cream!! Jim got his full cream tea in the end! We had already booked into the Black Bull for dinner (the same place as our first night) and it didn't disappoint. A great meal and a good laugh, swapping long, rambling stories.........or were they long stories about rambling? Who knows? But that was it, first week done and it was done to the four of us from here. You could say, a good job, half done!

 



Tomorrow, we are off to Keld, about 13 miles away; we cross the Pennines and also pass the halfway point in miles.....a milestone day, you might say! 87 miles done and about 108 to go. Onwards and upwards.......hopefully with a bit of downwards thrown in as well!
 






Today's interesting facts from 'Paul's Book of quite Interesting Facts' are:
 
* Smardale viaduct was built in 1861, comprises 14 arches, spans 184 feet and is 90 feet high. It cost £11, 298 to build;
* 'Parting is such sweet sorrow' is a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet written between 1591 and 1595.