Tan Hill Inn to Middleton-in-Teesdale

I almost thought I wouldn't want to write about today at all. Starting off at 7am we tackled miles of unpaved bog and uneven terrain, cranking through 14km before 10am. We did keep ourselves entertained for a while with word games, and a round of "music man" where each and a starting phrase and then added on another instrument and sound effect to the song. I seriously nearly wet myself laughing as we all made horrible imitations of musical instruments, and persistently forgot which order they were in.
Despite the laughter, the morning seriously was a difficult slog through uninspiring landscape. Although it did prove the ability of my new shoes to dry rapidly.
Blackton Reservoir is pretty, with its nature reserve, and we dipped our feet in the chilly water of Grassholme Reservoir. Then it was one last climb over the hill with lovely views (and a convenient honesty box tuck shop at Wythes Hill Farm) and down into Middleton-in-Teesdale.
George had forged on ahead, but we found him immediately when we entered the first tea shop we came across - there he was drinking Yorkshire tea, with milk! Clearly the lesson at Tan Hill struck the right note.
The very last part of our day is most worth mentioning. After dinner Adam and I continued on to a campsite 4km further along the route. This became a quintessential English countryside walk, with bluebell woods and rabbits alert in the fields (seriously, I field I think had over 40, it was a bit weird). With the sun low on the horizon, and no one else in sight it was a perfectly idyllic finish to the day.

7am at Tan Hill

Blackton Reservoir