Day 6

Day 6:  Bampton Grange to Orton.  About 20km.  390m up and 370m down.

Bright sunshine to wake up to, but some clouds had rolled in by the time we started out.  Luck was with us, though, and it did not really even threaten rain throughout the day.  A tad windy at times, though, but mostly a tail wind thankfully. 

We started out with about a 7km stroll on a quiet road and then a footpath to get to Shap Abbey.   We're out of the Lake District now, so rolling hills/moors with a bit more vegetation.  In theory the navigation should be a bit easier, but in fact there are way more turns in somewhat featureless landscapes which means the day was spent with guidebook in hand.  Still lots of sheep, though!  Nony went missing at one point and was headed off in a different direction after she lost sight of us and was unsure of where to go. Once reunited we made a point of keeping each other in sight as we went.  We spent lots of time looking around Shap Abbey, which was founded in 1199 and dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540.  The belltower, which is shown in the pictures below, was built around 1500.  Much of the abbey was plundered, so together with the ravages of time, there is little left standing of the original building.  There was, however, a little stone casket in the ground which fit Marilyn perfectly.  I think if we had found this after day 2 she would have gladly settled in here while we completed the walk without her! 

We saw more signs of civilization today than we had for quite some time.  A little grocery shopping in Shap, followed by lunch (or a snack) in a great little coffeeshop, a bit of shopping in an outlet store and then crossing the London-Glasgow rail line as well as the 6-lane M6 freeway - sensory overload!  Once we lost the constant noise of the highway we continued cross-country towards Orton -passing  through some wet & boggy terrain, finding the 6000 year-old stone circles and missing Robin Hood's grave.  

Around 5:30 we got to our destination - the quaint little town of Orton.  The chocolate factory had closed, but the village store was still selling wine (and a delightful dandelion & burbock drink) so we retired to our own happy hour at our hotel - The George Hotel.  It's a great little place and the people are very friendly & helpful.  Good dinner, good fun and ready to head out to Kirkby Stephen tomorrow (after a visit to the chocolate factory!)