Ep 2: The One in the Middle of Nowhere

Day 2 1 May: A long walk to the most peaceful place you have never heard of !

Breakfast done, our taxi returned to take us back to Cleator to start day 2 of our walk.

The first stage was a reasonably steep climb of 350m to the top of Dent Hill, which provided outstanding 360’ views.  Ahead of us lay the western mountains of the Lake District, and our destination for the end of the day.  Behind us, the Cumbrian coast was still visible as was the hazy outline of southwest Scotland to the north.

There followed an, at times, very steep descent through a narrow valley alongside a charming brook that eventually took us into the village of Ennerdale Bridge.  We were absolutely delighted to find a community run café just on the main route through the village – where we of course shared a slice and the need for coffee was suitably taken care of.  (As Peter and Val found when they did their long walk a few years ago, coffee and a slice in the middle of the day are glorious treats indeed!)

Suitably refreshed, our heroes followed quiet country lanes to arrive at the shores of Ennerdale Water – the most westerly of the Lake District’s lakes.

Needless to say, it looked stunning in the beautiful sunshine and clear blue skies that continued to grace our walk today.  The next few kilometers along the southern shores followed a well defined if at times scrambly and rocky path.  There were a surprising number of walkers abroad, and people enjoying the water – but then it is the English half term school holidays.  We did not enjoy the rough track so much and were quite glad to reach the end of the lake and join a smoother track, which eventually took us onto a forestry track that would lead us to our destination. This part of Britain has a number of conifer plantations – this one provided some shade at times but was undeniably boring and this last seven kilometers seemed to go on forever.

We were absolutely delighted to come out into the open at the head of the Ennerdale Valley and see our destination.  YHA Black Sail is England’s most remote Youth Hostel, and probably its smallest.

It was originally a bothy – a rudimentary stone shelter for farmers, and walkers, and from the outside it still looks like one.  It has a capacity of only 16 beds, and we were not expecting a lot but were astonished by how much it had to offer.  The two charming hosts greeted and checked us all in, and we were directed to our bunk room “Kirk Fell”, with lovely views across the valley.  There was an astonishing arrange of beverages to refresh the inner walker – a choice of local ales and ciders, a  selection of bottles of wine, a whisky,  a non-alcoholic beer, and of course soft drinks.  It should be noted here that this amounted to a greater choice than we had encountered at our Inn in St Bees!! Needless to say, the local ales were sampled as we sat outside in the late afternoon sunshine, chatting to our fellow guests.

As you can imagine, being so remote, the dinner options were not going to be great.  YHA hostels have a tradition of providing a dish or two at great prices – and this one was no exception.  Our Pasta Bolognese was very tasty and filling, and exactly what was needed after a 22km walk.  However – the best was yet to come.  Would we prefer Lemon Meringue Pie or hot waffles with chocolate and caramel sauces for dessert ???  Amazing.  Top marks to Black Sail YHA!

After dinner, the whisky drinker of the group, Peter, supped a whisky in the late evening sunshine – well someone had to sacrifice themselves …
Distance 22km/14 miles