Saturday, August 26, 2006

Langdon Beck to Dufton

Tamara:
a separation
cut foot and a car to Dufton
this is an edit, a section to be returned to
pasted in, which will now be my ending of this journey
ending in the middle

Simone:
9.43 am:
a departure of a companion and a one woman walk
past lying cows and into the moorland where the river splits in two.
There a warning for bulls in the next field. Advice: DO NOT RUN
Im still trying to consider this advice

10.43 am there is a large rock to the left of me, balancing on smaller friends. cronkley crag is becoming smaller.
Midgys get a beating

11.43 am:
passed along the river to the roar of Couldron Snout, the dam imposing behind it- such a straight line in this rolling landscape. the smell of Cow dung and dead rabbits trace the pathway embedded, becoming road. I wonder if this road is layers of dead animals in the dust.

12.43pm:
The danger area to the left of me. looks pretty passive to me!
its just the people in it that are dangerous.
I follow caterpillars journeys through the grasses, they are continually searching for something and me for something within them( i note that my big toe is throbbing at this point)
mistyness in the air and approaching boggy land
a conversation about the edinburgh festival and people dancing with skies on.

1.43 pm:
Maize beck: this way or that way? over the bridge . the original PW track is wetter and longer. Well, the pennine way is what im here for and the Pennine way ill go.Youll regret it the book says.

2.43pm
just before this Heron emarges from the grey rock its body camoflauged.
HIGH CUP NICK
this expanse opens up before me eyes.
Wild horses come to eat with me, its my lunch their after
I can see the Lake district in the distance and i think about those places and memories that still live in that landscape-over there.
sitting listening to the sound of planes ricocheting across the basin of high cup

4.43pm
'dont you rain, oh please dont you rain down on me know....'
i sing a new tune as i run down the ricky descent, cake in my legs and ready for a bit of fast-forward action.
No time to say hello to passing walkers- im running in the rain.
down the tarmac track and the sheep i make it to Dufton earlier than i expected
A warm welcome from the injured party and the fast stompers that are Barbara and Paul that left me way behind this morning.

Tamara:
Being driven to Dufton
Pam and Brian on their way home, 50 miles out of their way, THANK YOU
12 miles by foot and 26 miles in the car
back down the valleys we have walked
given a ride to rewind through country i have left behind
tangent off trail and around it
gap to be filled in
road accessible routes around hills

Dufton at 1045am. The earliest arrival.
Visit the post office
its closing
people do not have the same patterns that they used to
villages losing services
walkers carrying more of their own gear
cars taking everyone everywhere
hostel's closing too, not Dufton
Dufton is one of the luckier ones
post mistress, 'they have forgotten the reason that they were set up'
everyone everywhere making money
more loss or soon to be lost

return, 3rd September 2006
Langdon Beck in the rain
to get here, a train from home and then three buses

high clouds and high winds
move it everything through
walking into the winds
upstream, the Tees
clamber over the rocks
see the fir tree that I imagined on the scar
more rock scrambling
the river is fast and flowing today
brown, boiling, foaming
spilling onto the path
I don't know what the time is today
Cauldron Snout, above a packet of crisps
under the bridge below the dam
a little shelter
on the road
to the moor
on the moor back down to the river
Pennine Way or shortcut at the bridge?
I take the PW
the path disappears as a crossing point on a stream is sought
the waters are high today
the other Maize Beck crossing is on the bend
across the heather bog and grass
crossing lots of streams
getting very wet feet
at the bend a limestone gorge
onto the plain
the rain stops
High Cup and four germans are describing the geological formation
sudden drops
I've never seen this before, but I knew it was like this
the gap in my mind was just in my mind
I finished this journey three days ago
I filled in this gap not walked
it is all so familiar
like I walked it
an alinear insert
down the track to Dufton
a friendly drink in the pub
I want to keep walking

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