Day 9. Burgh by Sands to Garstang.

Despite getting an early night and sleeping well, I didn’t get going until quite late today. I chatted to Alice again in the morning to discuss different route options – I had wondered if it might be easier to follow the coastline around Cumbria, instead of heading inland and up and over the higher roads of the Lake District. It turned out that going along the coast would be many more miles, and so I headed off inland, over the hills of northern Cumbria. It took most of the morning to reach Penrith, and I was feeling really exhausted – time to refuel and stock up on food for the rest of the day too!

Refuelled and with more energy I headed out of Penrith, south along the old A6. The road steadily rose up until I reached the village of Shap, skirting along the M6. I can’t say I was feeling much love for the very eastern side of the Lakes – it just didn’t feel very Lakes-esque, much more like Yorkshire – the past few days had felt a bit underwhelming, passing through rural but very agricultural areas that smelt rather fragrant was a bit of a come down from the far north-west of Scotland, and the rugged beauty found there. The fact that I was now back in England was a mini achievement in its own right, but I also felt that the highlight of the trip was already behind me. Anyway, onwards I went and past Shap the road headed downhill again, all the way into Kendal. I couldn’t find any mint cake shops, so just carried on. It was now the early evening and the roads were pretty busy with commuters.

I decided that I would head towards Garstang, and was able to book a campsite for the night, short notice over the phone. The road was really flat now, with virtually no hills at all as I passed into Lancashire. The people I interacted with at a petrol station were extremely friendly and curious about my trip – calling out to other customers to tell them of my adventure!

I arrived at the campsite, which was small but really nice – the owner was a complete contrast to the owner of yesterday’s site – smart, professional and interested in my journey – he did however point out to me a full A4 sheet of rules to abide by at the site – I actually quite liked his strictness, as it meant that the site was run well, and was very clean, and quiet too! However, the flipside was that it cost £1 for 5 exact minutes in the shower – not quite so good! Anyway, my evening routine was soon done and I had time to watch and photograph a beautiful sunset. It was then time for a deep sleep after a long 90 mile day!