Day 6: Shap to Tebay via Orton
Sunday 26 May 2024, 10 miles (7 to Orton)
Day 6 was a short day, just walking from Shap to Tebay via Orton. From the Greyhound pub, we walked out of the back of the car park and under the west coast rail line. Ahead of us across a grassy field we could see the footbridge over the M6 which was our first aiming point for the day. This took us over the motorway and out onto relatively lower terrain which looked like we might enjoy a bit of respite from the hills of the Lake District. Before long we picked up signposts for the Coast to Coast and noticed that one of them was also marking ‘Tim’s Walk’ (Tim was very happy to see that).
We climbed up out of Shap and followed the route round the top edges of a lot of very extensive quarry works which are all clearly marked, “DANGER Deep Active Sludge”! The ground has been dug away then refilled with the residue after the best bits for industry have been extracted.
It was a lovely low-level walk from here down to Orton. Don’t rush this bit as there are some limekilns on the way and limestone escarpments to see as well. And, if you don’t mind a little bit of a detour, there is Robin Hood’s grave to go and look at (well, possibly, depending on which version of history you like to follow, I’ll leave you to make your own mind up about that).
We came down into Orton through fields of yellow buttercups, the white tower of the church in Orton as a target in front of us. We stopped at Kennedys chocolate shop and were disappointed to find that the café was not open. Luckily, they redirected us to an alternative café about 400 metres away where we had a delicious coffee. Then it was back to Kennedys for some much-needed chocolate rations. We had planned these as snacks over the next few days but well…..seems there might have been a hole in the bag, either that or a mouse got at them – honest!
From Orton, a couple of miles down the tarmac road brought us to Tebay Services and the Westmoreland Hotel. We were too early to check in but at least there was a good size lounge to sit where we could stay out of the rain (yes, it had started again) while we waited for our rooms to be prepared.
At dinner we had a nice view looking out over the hills, a small stream and waterfall. Whilst the restaurant was pleasant, airy and the food good, the serving staff were poorly managed as there were a lot of them, but none of them paying much attention to customers’ needs. Dinner was welcome even though we had a short day, I think the cumulative effect of multiple days walking was kicking in. We washed it down with a bottle of prosecco and then shared another after dinner, we thought that we had earned it.
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