Day 1 Saltaire to Draughton Height

A very restful night’s sleep, appreciating what will be the last bed for a while. Though the bedding arrangements at the camping pod at Malham youth hostel are something of a mystery to us

Awake at 5am, time to publish the previous day’s blog, have a shave and a shower and make my breakfast

In the old days, B&B meant bed and breakfast. Now it appears to mean bed and bugger off. I had anticipated this and had brought some stuffed pasta and pesto sauce which I cooked in Mel's kitchen. Then time to do my Spanish lesson on Duolingo before saying farewell and heading back down the hill into Saltaire

I had expected a cool morning, but the sunshine and lack of wind made the day feel quite warm. The air was heady with birdsong the scent of cherry blossom and magnolia, and the day seemed full of spring promise

The walk starts by four stone lions outside Saltaire college and I was slightly early for my rendezvous with Chris. Time to nip into an alleyway and swap long trousers for shorts. Chris arrived while I was doing this.

We press ganged a passerby to take a starting line photo

And then we were off. Along the Leeds Liverpool canal for a short mile and then we leave housing behind and enter the countryside, encountering our first DHW sign

Watched by some curious cows

A delightful ascent through oak and birch woodland,

emerging into farmland with new born lambs

and across a horse galloping track, complete with galloping horses

After a very short section of busy road we start climbing on a moorland path. Rumbold Moor, which will merge into the famous Ilkley Moor. The browns of the dead bracken and heather have yet to feel spring’s warm touch.

After several miles walking through big open scenery we arrive at the twelve apostles stone circle where we have a bit of a break and enjoy the views and the weather

We now leave the official route and take a detour to visit one of the Stanza Stones. These are a series of six stones set in remote locations and inscribed with poems by Simon Armitage with a theme of water, in its various forms

Puddle

Rain junk

Sky litter

Some may mornings Atlantic storm-horses clatter this way,

Shedding their iron shoes in potholes and ruts,

Shoes that melt into steel-grey puddles

Then settle and set into cloudless mirrors by noon

The shy deer of the daytime moon comes to sip from the rim

But the sun likes the look of itself, stares all afternoon, its hard eye lifting the sheen from the glass,

Turning the glaze to rust

Then we don’t see things for dust

Cowper’s Cross. Unusual in being constructed from five stones. It could almost be an Inukshuk 

Then more tramping along the edge of Ilkley Moor, with views down into the green of Warfedale and the town of Addingham where I am hoping to find beer and food

The path descends through gorse bushes, their bright yellow flowers smelling of tropical coconut 

and bluebells are starting to emerge

We go into The Fleece. The beer is excellent but the seafood curry a sad disappointment

I had been sold on seabass but what emerged consisted mostly of prawns and a scrap of salmon

Two more miles, uphill, to our campsite at Daughton Heights 

A lovely location

Chris, who had wisely forgone the food on offer at the Fleece made up a dehydrated mash and  veg meal. Probably better than what I had

One advantage to a campsite over wild camping is the availability of some facilities.

I treated myself to a hot shower and washed my T-shirt. There was even a washing line
In my sleeping bag for 9pm, as the temperature started plummeting with the loss of light.

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