Dales Way: thunder and lightning
Our two days of walking included a very apt flavour of ice cream and ended with a journey in the wrong direction.
We woke in the little village of Dent to the deep sound of a storm rolling across the Yorkshire Dales. Lying in our beds in the George and Dragon, we listened to thunder rumbling over the hotel and rain pelting the cobbled streets below.
It was due to clear soon, so we weren’t unduly concerned. We probably should have been, though. Later that afternoon we spent hours waiting at a deserted, trainless Kirkby Stephen station because a lightning strike had damaged the signalling on the Settle-Carlisle railway line.
Our eventual escape – on the only train to run that day – came in the form of a circuitous eight-hour journey that began in the wrong direction and took us nearly to Scotland. But more on that later. For now, let’s go back to the beginning.
We were walking more of the Dales Way, the long-distance footpath that we’re tackling in stages when we visit family in the area. On our previous visit, we crossed the high point of the route – over Cam Fell. This time it was the section stretching 22km or so from Ribblehead to Sedbergh, with an overnight stop in Dent.