Trailblazer Guide Books

wonderful handbooks
 - The Bookseller

Practical information for the walker

Route finding

The presence of signposts and waymarking varies along the path. Once over the Pennines and into Yorkshire the trail becomes fairly well signposted and finding the way shouldn’t be a problem. In the Lakes, on the other hand, there are no Coast to Coast signposts and you’ll have to rely on the descriptions in this book to find the way. For much of the time the path is well-trodden and obvious, though of course there are situations where there are a number of paths to choose from, and other occasions where the ground is so boggy no clear path is visible at all. Misty conditions are another problem, particularly in the Lake District. In these instances a compass or GPS will help you move in the right direction or follow the correct path. (See the box on pp81-2 for more details.)
    In the Lakes in particular there are a number of high-level alternatives to the main route, and on a clear day fit trekkers should consider taking them. Though obviously more tiring, the rewards in terms of the views and sense of achievement are all worthwhile.

GPS
I never carried a compass, preferring to rely on a good sense of direction... I never bothered to understand how a compass works or what it is supposed to do... To me a compass is a gadget, and I don’t get on well with gadgets of any sort.    Alfred Wainwright

While Wainwright’s acolytes may scoff, other walkers will accept GPS technology as an inexpensive, well-established if non-essential, navigational aid. To cut a long story short, within a minute of being turned on and with a clear view of the sky, GPS receivers will establish your position as well as elevation in a variety of formats including the British OS grid system, anywhere on earth to an accuracy of within a few metres.
    One thing must be understood however: treating GPS as a replacement for maps, a compass and common sense is a big mistake. Although current units are robust, it only takes the batteries to go flat or some electronic malfunction to leave you in the dark. GPS is primarily a navigational aid or backup to conventional route finding and, in almost all cases, is best used in conjunction with a paper map. At its most basic level a GPS stops you exacerbating navigational errors and saves you time in correcting them. Unlike the satellite navigation systems now common in cars, handheld ‘hiking’ GPS units do not come with an inbuilt map that is of much use for driving let alone walking across the moors. Though such units are now entering the market and while it’s possible to buy digital mapping (see box p46) to import into a regular GPS unit with sufficient storage capacity, it might be considered as practical as having internet on a mobile phone – you still end up scrolling and zooming across a tiny screen.

Using GPS with this book
This book identifies key waypoints on the route maps. It’s anticipated you won’t tramp along day after day, ticking off the book’s waypoints, transfixed by the GPS screen; the route description and maps are more than adequate most of the time. Only when you’re unsure of your position or which way to go might you feel the need to even turn on the unit for a quick affirmation.
    The book’s waypoints correlate to the list on pp247-51 which gives the OS grid reference and a description. You’ll find more waypoints across bleak mountain and moorland sections where the walk can degenerate into a prolonged stumble through thick mist. Typically cairns and other significant landmarks and junctions are marked. In towns and villages waypoints are less common, but in places can still be useful to pin down an unsigned turn off up a lane, for example.
    You can either simply read off the nearest presumed waypoint from the list on pp247-51 as and when the need arises and work out where you are in relation to it or, less confusingly, key it in as a new point and press ‘go to’. As there will probably be only a handful of times you need to do this, for most that will suffice but, with less margin for keystroke error, you can download the complete list as a GPS-readable .gpx file of grid references (but with no descriptions) from http://trailblazer-guides.com/gps-waypoints.
    Another way of using a GPS unit is to download a track log of the route from the internet. Where waypoints are single points like cairns, a track log is a continuous line like a path that appears on your GPS screen; all you have to do is keep on that line. If you lose it on the screen you can zoom out until it reappears and walk towards it. While it’s impressive to see the trail unfold as a track log on a calibrated map or Google Earth, many of these ‘user-generated’ track logs available online are imperfect because it takes an extremely trail-savvy and committed Coast to Coaster to record a perfect, 200-mile-long track log without any gaps or confusing diversions; we certainly didn’t manage it. The fact is thousands have managed the walk without this feature and you certainly don’t need a track log to walk from one end of Kirkby Stephen High St to the other. On the Coast to Coast, waypoints will be adequate.
    Using GPS with this book, be it someone’s tracklog or just the key waypoints listed on pp247-51, is an option. Without them you could find yourself staggering around a mist-clad moor, or ambling confidently down the wrong path. With GPS, when the need arises, you can reliably establish your position in relation to the path, or quickly find out how far and in what direction it is to a known point on the trail.
    It’s worth repeating that 98% of people who’ve ever walked the Coast to Coast did so without GPS so there’s no need to rush out and buy one. Your spending priorities ought to be on good waterproofs and above all, footwear. However, correctly using this book’s GPS data could get you back on track and dozing in front of the pub fireplace or tucked up in bed all the sooner.

ACCOMMODATION

From one coast to the other, businesses and families alike today owe a lot to Wainwright’s inspired concept. Smaller towns and villages as well as isolated farms far from the reliable Lakeland honeypots have come to rely on accommodating and feeding the seasonal flow of coastbound walkers.
    The route guide (Part 4) lists a fairly comprehensive selection of places to stay along the trail. The three main options are: camping, staying in hostels/ bunkhouses, or using B&Bs/pubs/hotels. Few people stick to just one of these the whole way, preferring, for example, to camp most of the time but spend every third night in a hostel, or perhaps take a hostel where possible but splash out on a B&B or hotel every once in a while.
    The table on pp36-7 provides a snapshot of what type of accommodation and services are available in each of the towns and villages, while the tables on pp34-5 provide some suggested itineraries. The following is a brief introduction as to what to expect from each type of accommodation.

Camping
It’s possible to camp all along the Coast to Coast path, though few people do so every night. You’re almost bound to get at least one night where the rain falls relentlessly, sapping morale; it’s then that most campers opt to spend the next night drying out in a hostel or B&B somewhere. There are, however, many advantages with camping. It’s more economical, for a start, with most campsites charging somewhere between £4 and £8. Best of all there’s rarely any need to book, except possibly in the very high season, and even then you’d be highly unlucky not to find somewhere, even if it means camping discreetly in the woods.
    The campsites vary and you get what you pay for: some are just pub gardens or a farmer’s spare field with basic toilet/shower facilities; others are full-blown caravan sites with a few spaces put aside for tents, security access codes and sparkling ablutions blocks with wi-fi. Showers are usually available, occasionally for a fee, though more often than not for free. Note that the youth hostels on the Coast to Coast path no longer accept campers. Note, too, that some of the bigger towns such as Richmond and Grasmere do not have recognised campsites, with the nearest being at least three miles away.
    Wild camping (ie camping not in a regular campsite; see p69) is also possible along the route but please don’t do so in a field without first gaining permission from the landowner. Some good wild camping locations include the level areas surrounding mountain lakes such as Innominate Tarn (on the high route to Borrowdale), Grisedale Tarn (out of Grasmere) and Angle Tarn (two miles from Patterdale). Further east old mine ruins, such as those on the high route to Reeth, provide good shelter and ‘cover’ as well as patches of level grass and nearby running water. Beyond there, wild camping might be misconstrued as ‘vagrancy’ so woodland or plantations will be your best bet.
    Remember that camping, wild or ‘tame’, is not an easy option, especially for a solo walker. Walked continuously, the route is wearying enough without carrying the means to sleep and cook with you. Should you decide to camp at campsites, consider employing one of the baggage-carrying companies mentioned on p28, though this does mean the loss of spontaneity which is the whole point of camping, and of course they can’t deliver to Angle Tarn!

Bunkhouses and camping barns
A bunkhouse and a camping barn are different things. In most cases a camping barn is pretty much what it sounds like: an old barn in the corner of a farmer’s field with a couple of wooden benches to sleep on; sleeping bags and usually sleeping mats are thus necessary, though bedding is provided in many of the YHA-franchised camping barns. A camping barn is probably the nearest non-campers will get to sleeping outside, while at the same time providing shelter from the elements. Note also that camping barns are sometimes booked for sole occupancy and thus it is essential to call in advance to check availability.
    Bunkhouses can be much more agreeable places, with fluffed-up bedding, bathrooms you’d be happy to show to your parents and even kitchen and lounge areas. The description ‘bunkhouse’ is often used in place of ‘small hostel’ or ‘independent hostel’ to distinguish a private enterprise from lodgings under the YHA banner (see opposite) which can sometimes be huge properties with scores of beds, hyperactive school groups and, depending on your age, unhappy memories of a long-gone institutional past.

Hostels
Youth hostels are plentiful along the Coast to Coast path and if you haven’t visited one recently – and thus the words ‘youth’ and ‘hostel’ still conjure up images of limited opening hours, crowded dorms, lousy food and staff who really wish you’d move on – we advise you to take a second look. Hostels, whether owned by the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) or independent, offer some of the best-located and most interesting accommodation along the path. In fact there are now as many independent hostels as YHA ones along the Coast to Coast path, several having passed from YHA into private ownership in recent years as the YHA reviews its portfolio of properties.
    Despite the name, anyone of any age can join the YHA. This can be done at any hostel, or by contacting the Youth Hostels Association of England and Wales (☎ 01629 592700 or 0800 0191 700, : www.yha.org.uk). The cost of a year’s membership is £15.95 for an adult, less for anyone under 26. Having secured your membership, youth hostels are easy to book, either online or by phone through the contact details above. Since non-members have to pay £3 more per night it is worth joining if you expect to stay in a YHA hostel for more than six nights in a year.
    Hostels come equipped with a whole range of facilities, from drying rooms to washing machines, televisions to pool tables and fully equipped kitchens.   Some have a shop selling a selection of groceries, snacks and souvenirs and may even have internet access. Many offer breakfast and/or dinner (of varying quality), some offer a packed lunch, and several have a licence to sell alcohol. They are also great places to meet fellow walkers, swap stories and compare blisters.
    Weighed against these advantages is the fact that even though many hostels now have rooms with two to four beds you may have to share your night with a heavy snorer. A couple of the hostels also suffer from uncomfortably small dorms when they’re full. Some rooms now have en suite facilities but in others you have to share a shower room and in a couple of cases facilities may be limited. Nor is it possible to stay in hostels every night on the trail, for there are some areas where hostels don’t exist and when they do they’re occasionally at least a mile or two off the path.
    If you’re travelling out of the main season (particularly between November and February) you may find some hostels are shut to walkers during the week, or completely. Even in high season some are not staffed during the day and walkers may have to wait until 5pm before checking in, though you may be able to access the kitchen and leave luggage in a secure room before 5pm. And finally, the cost of staying in a hostel, once breakfast has been added on, is in many instances not that much cheaper (around £21-27 for YHA members) than staying in a B&B, especially if you’re walking with someone.

Bed and breakfast
Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) are a great British institution and many of those along the Coast to Coast are absolutely charming, with buildings often three or four hundred years old. Older owners often treat you as surrogates for their long-departed offspring and enjoy nothing more than looking after you.
    As the name suggests, they provide you with a bed in a private room, and breakfast – a hearty, British-style cooked one unless you specify otherwise beforehand – though they range in style enormously. Most B&Bs have en suite rooms and/or rooms with either private or shared facilities. En suite facilities often mean a shower squeezed into a room but with private/shared facilities there may be a bath, which is what most walkers prefer at the end of a long day, and the bathroom is never more than a few feet away. These rooms usually contain either a double bed (known as a double room), or two single beds (known as a twin room). Family rooms are for three or more people. Solo trekkers should take note: single rooms are not so easy to find so you’ll often end up occupying a double room, for which you’ll have to pay a single occupancy supplement (see below).
    Smoking is banned in all enclosed places open to the public in England but places to stay are able to designate rooms for smokers, so do check this if it’s important to you.
    Some B&Bs provide an evening meal (see p26); if not, there’s often a pub or sometimes a restaurant nearby or, if it’s far, the owner may give you a lift to and from the nearest place with food.

B&B rates and booking  B&Bs in this guide start at around £25 per person for the most basic accommodation to over £40 for the most luxurious en suite places in a popular tourist haunt like Grasmere. Most charge around £30-35 per person. A typical single occupancy supplement is between £5 and £10. An evening meal (usually around £10-15) is sometimes provided, but you may need to book in advance. Packed lunches are often available too for around £5.
    Some B&Bs have their own website and offer online/email booking but for the majority you will need to phone. Most places ask for a deposit (about 50%) which is generally non-refundable if you cancel at short notice. Some places may charge 100% if the booking is for one night only. Always let the owner know as soon as possible if you have to cancel your booking so they can offer the bed to someone else.
    Larger places take credit or debit cards. Most smaller B&Bs accept only cheques by post or payments by bank transfer for the deposit; the balance can be settled with cash or a cheque.
 

Guesthouses, hotels, pubs and inns
A guesthouse offers bed and breakfast but should have a better class of décor and more facilities such as offering evening meals and a lounge for guests. However, they are unlikely to offer room service, unlike a hotel.
    Pubs and inns may also offer bed and breakfast accommodation and tariffs are no more than in a regular B&B. However, you need to be prepared for a noisier environment, especially if your room is above the bar. Hotels do usually cost more, however, and some might be a little displeased by a bunch of muddy trekkers turning up. Most places on the walk, particularly in the quieter towns and villages, are used to seeing trekkers, make a good living from them and welcome them warmly. Prices in hotels and pubs start at around £35 per person. When booking say if you want a room designated for smokers.

When to go

SEASONS

Britain is a notoriously wet country and the north-west of England is an infamously damp part of it. Rare indeed is the trekker who manages to walk the Coast to Coast path without suffering at least one day of rain; three or four days per trek is more likely, even in summer. That said, it’s equally unlikely that you’ll spend a fortnight in the area and not see any sun at all, and even the most cynical of walkers will have to admit that, during the walking season at least, there are more sunny days than showery ones. That walking season, by the way, starts at Easter and builds to a crescendo in August, before quickly tailing off in September. By the end of that month there are few trekkers on the trail, and in late October many places close down for the winter.

Spring
Find a couple of dry weeks in springtime and you’re in for a treat. The wild flowers are beginning to come into bloom, lambs are skipping in the meadows and the grass is green and lush. Of course, finding a dry fortnight in spring (around the end of March to mid-June) is not easy but occasionally there’s a mini-heatwave at this time. Another advantage will be fewer trekkers on the trail so finding accommodation without booking is relatively easy. Easter is the exception, the first major holiday in the year when people flock to the Lake District and other national parks.

Summer
Summer, on the other hand, can be a bit too busy and, in somewhere like the Lakes over a weekend in August, at times depressingly congested. Still, the chances of a prolonged period of sunshine are of course higher at this time of year than any other, the days are much longer and the heather is in bloom, too, turning the hills a fragrant purple. If you like the company of other trekkers summer will provide you with the opportunity of meeting scores of them, though do remember that you’ll need to book your accommodation well in advance or be prepared to camp occasionally. Despite the higher-than-average chance of sunshine, take clothes for any eventuality – it’s bound to rain at some point.

Autumn
September can be a wonderful time to walk; many of the families have returned home and the path is clear although accommodation gets filled up in early September by a wave of older visitors who’ve been waiting for the new school term. The weather is usually sunny, too, at least at the beginning of September. By the end of the month the weather will begin to get a little wilder and the nights will start to draw in. For most mortals the walking season is almost at an end.

Winter
A few people trek the Coast to Coast in winter, putting up with the cold, damp conditions and short days for the chance to experience the trail without other tourists and maybe even under snow. Much of the accommodation will be closed too but whilst it may also be a little more dangerous to walk at this time, particularly on the high-level routes through the Lakes, if you find yourself walking on one of those clear, crisp, wintry days it will all seem absolutely worth it.

RAINFALL

At some point on your walk, it will rain; if it doesn’t, it’s fair to say that you haven’t really lived the full Coast to Coast experience properly. At nearly 4.7 metres (185 inches), the hills over Borrowdale on Stage 2 (see p106) record the highest rainfall in England; a staggering eight times more than the south-east of England, for example! The question, therefore, is not whether you will be rained on, but how often and how hard. But as long as you dress accordingly and take note of the safety advice given on pp71-5, this shouldn’t be a problem.
    Do, however, think twice about tackling some of the high-level alternatives if the weather is bad and visibility poor, and don’t do so on your own.

DAYLIGHT HOURS

If walking in autumn, winter or early spring, you must take account of how far you can walk in the available light. It won’t be possible to cover as many miles as you would in summer. Remember though, that you’ll get a further 30-45 minutes of usable light before sunrise and after sunset depending on the weather. In June, because the path is in the far north of England, those coming from the south may be surprised that there’s enough light for walking until at least 10pm. Conversely, in early spring, late autumn and winter you’ll be equally amazed how quickly the nights draw in.