It was a late start at Tan Hill, 10am when I was dropped off. No sign of any Pennine Way walkers but the first of a few (of the 700) cyclists were already enjoying the sandwiches that were being prepared the afternoon before.
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It was great to be walking over springy peat turf, though it was a bit boggy in places. This stretch had no flagstones and only a couple of very short stretches of duckboards – there was a bit of guidance with a smattering of white posts at various intervals, which gave reassurance that the right route was being followed.
I intended to do the Bowes Loop, but headed down to God’s Bridge first to see the arch of limestone over the River Greta – though it was disappointing that there was no water flowing in this stretch, just a few small pools.
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The walk through farmland into Bowes was lovely – and much better than the guidebook suggested. I stopped to have a look around the ruined castle, and get warm in the pub, before heading north again skirting by the danger areas.
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Having survived the danger areas the path descended down toward the middle of a group of three reservoirs in the valley, and it was just a short walk to Baldersdale, which is the halfway point of the Pennine Way – Hooray!!
View the map in Google Maps, or here is the Google Earth KML file.More photos (from all the days of walking) can be found in the photo gallery.