Lars Stenberg

A walk across the North of England – Day 6

Today we stroll up picturesque Swaledale to Reeth. The sound of machine guns from the army training ground on the other side of the valley and the thrashing of V22 Ospreys overhead takes the gloss off our morning and reminds us that there’s a war going on not so far away in Ukraine. We find some peace in dark woods and follow a 2km track of mossy limestone slabs built by nuns in the C15. Each stone has a surface like oiled glass and feet must be carefully placed.

We stop to cool our feet in the Swale and, from the bank behind us, sand martins shoot in and out at high speed, seemingly not bothered by our presence and obviously confident they can avoid us as they swish past our ears. It’s less than relaxing for us, but great fun watching them catch bugs on the wing only a few metres away.