| Name of walk | Bell Ringers' Walk from Sedbergh to Dent |
| Date of walk | 2016-06-11 |
On Saturday the St. James’ ringers had planned another walk. This time we would ring at St. Andrew’s Church, Sedbergh at 9am for an hour, then walk the six mile section of the Dales Way to St. Andrew’s Church, Dent, and after a pub lunch join the ringing meeting of the Furness and South Lakes Branch at 2.30pm. The weather forecast was pretty dreadful, but we are a hardy band of ringers, not much will deter us from thoughts of a pub lunch! We parked our cars on Busk Lane outside the Public School Chapel, where parking is free. It is only a few minutes walk to the church.
St. Andrew's Church, Sedbergh dates from 1500 and is Grade 1 listed. It has eight bells.
Our merry band of ringers. This time we were also joined by Helen from Kendal and Martin from Dalton.
Helen and Sue ringing the bells up. The ringing room looks out over the congregation.
We start with Grandsire Doubles, Cameron trebles.
We were also joined by Adam from St. Andrew's.
Looking up to the ringing room from the church.
An overweight Shaun the Sheep on the Bishop's Chair. (Actually I have been informed that it is Shirley, not Shaun! I now know what level of TV programmes my tower captain watches!)
One of two pieces of embroidery in the church showing aspects of Sedbergh.
We head out of Sedbergh. We are also joined on the walk by Andy's wife, Jo, and son, Jason. Andy on his run up for two forward somersaults with pike.
We cross the River Rawthey, joining the Dales Way.
We cross the bridge. Photo by Andy.
We walk through Millthrop. The owner said that the dog was called Wellington and sits out in all weathers.....as tough as old boots!
Andy getting a bit excited, he forgot to read his own T-shirt! This house even used a fire extinguisher as a plant pot.
It was only light rain at this point.
Millthrop had two chapels, only 50 feet apart. Both are houses now.
The second chapel.
A very ornate ridge tile.
As we head up the hillside the rain increases, and even Andy stops to put a jacket on.
Photo by Andy.
Bikini sheep! A two piece in off white. Not a yellow polka dot in sight.
Ford through the River Dee. Fortunately there is a bridge too!
Sue walking over Brackensgill bridge. I'm not laying on the ground! I stood upright to take this!
Sue's photo of me on the bridge.
The hedgerows were full of the webs of either the Small Eggar or Ermine Moth caterpillars.
Rosemary, Martin and Ken wait for us to catch them up.
Part of the Dales Way takes us by the river.
It is pouring with rain again!
Near Gawthrop we have to cross a road.
Then it is back for the final field walk before we arrive in Dent.
Martin is the first to reach civilisation. Thankfully the rain has now stopped!
Dentdale Heritage Museum.
Wesleyan Chapel.
St. Andrew's Church, Dent, a six bell tower. View from outside The Sun Inn.
View down the road.
Photo by Andy
We decide to eat at The Sun Inn. The food was very quick to arrive, leaving plenty of time to savour dessert.
Martin and Ken.
As Alan Dewar was in Paris, enduring floods and football, I decided to honour his dessert eating abilities and go for the hefty chocolate pudding and custard. All the Pollocks followed suit, and I can honestly say that we did Alan proud! As you can see we also held a wet T-shirt contest. Sue won, purely because she was the only walker with the foresight to bring a dry one along with her, and change....damn!
While we were eating it was pouring down again, so no chance to have a look around Dent. So, for once, we were early for the Branch Practice. Tower Captain, Colin on the left and Ringing Master, Hilary on the right.
I watch them ring the bells up from the belfry stairs Then they start with Grandsire Doubles.
I have a look around the church. St Andrew's originated in the 12th century, was rebuilt in 1417, restored in 1590, and again in 1787 and 1889. It is Grade 1 listed. The bells were overhauled in 2011.
There were quite a few ringers who turned up to ring, but there were not as many ringers from our end of the branch as we thought there would be. Rosemary managed to arrange a lift back with Ian and Margaret, but the rest of us thought it wise to catch the 3.15pm bus back to Sedbergh, as we did not want to have to wait for the next bus, which was at 6.30pm, especially as we were all still a bit wet and getting cold. Also, some of us wanted to be home in time for the football! ENG-ER-LAND! D'oh, why did I bother?
Despite the pouring rain, we had a good day! The six mile walk had taken us two hours and twenty minutes. An easy route, which would have been glorious in sunshine! We will do the walk in reverse when the next branch meeting is held in Sedbergh, providing it is not under 3ft of snow!
Jo.
