Trailblazer Guide Books

Trailblazer guidebooks provide practical information on specific routes… in less accessible parts of the world.
 - Wanderlust

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 pp34-5 provides a snapshot of what type of accommodation and services are available in each of the towns and villages, while the tables on pp36-7 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; one or two charge nothing at all. 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 pp24-7, 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 often 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. Over the years the venerable YHA (Youth Hostel Association) has acquired some of the best-located and most interesting accommodation along the path, from two pretty country houses at Grasmere to a former shepherd’s bothy at Black Sail, some former workers’ cottages at Osmotherley and an old corn mill at Robin Hood’s Bay.
    Each hostel comes equipped with a whole range of facilities, from drying rooms to washing machines, televisions to pool tables and fully equipped kitchens. Many also have a shop selling a selection of groceries, snacks and souvenirs and some even have internet access (though for some reason, the YHA always charges a fortune to use the internet at their hostels, perhaps because you should be outside doing something more wholesome). Many offer breakfast and/or dinner (of varying quality), some offer a packed lunch, and several even 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. The curfew (usually 11pm) is annoying, too. 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 most are not staffed during the day and walkers may have to wait until 5pm before checking in, though in some cases you can access the kitchen and you may be able to leave luggage in a secure room before 5pm. Furthermore, youth hostels save booked beds only until 6pm unless they have been informed of your late arrival – though to be fair, this rule doesn’t seem to be rigidly enforced on this route. And finally, the cost of staying in a hostel, once breakfast has been added on, is in most instances not that much cheaper (around £17-21 for members) than staying in a B&B, especially if you’re walking with someone.

Booking a hostel  Despite the name, anybody 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, : www.yha.org.uk). The cost of a year’s membership is £15.95 for an adult, less for anyone under 18.
    Having secured your membership, youth hostels are easy to book, either online or by phone through the contact details above. If you’re booking only a few days in advance it may be better to ring each hostel direct; if you haven’t actually booked in advance hostel staff will reserve a bed at the next stop on the path for you. Since non members have to pay £3 more per night it is worth joining if you expect to stay in a hostel for more than six nights in a year.

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 (see p19) 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; see also box p23.
    Some B&Bs provide an evening meal (see pp20-1); 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. Always let the owner know if you have to cancel your booking so they can offer the bed to someone else.

B&B rates  B&Bs in this guide start at around £23 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 £28-35 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.

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 Coast to Coast 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, see box p23.

MONEY
Banks are very few and far between on the Coast to Coast path. There’s one in Shap open a couple of hours a day, a couple in Kirkby Stephen, and Richmond has branches of all the major banks, but apart from in these places there’s nothing.
    Post offices thus provide a very useful service. You can get cash (by debit card with a PIN number, or by cheque with a debit card) for free at any post office counter if you bank with certain banks/building societies (for a full list see : www.postoffice.co.uk; click ‘Counter Services’ and then ‘Using your bank account’ on the left).
    A number of post offices also play host to the village cashpoint/ATM (usually a Link machine). These machines are useful for people who can’t get cash from the counter but a number of these are privately operated and charge £1.25-1.75 whatever amount is withdrawn.
    Another way of getting cash is to use the cashback system: find a store that will accept a debit card and ask them to advance cash against the card. A number of the local village stores as well as some pubs will do this, though you’ll usually have to spend a minimum of £5 with them first. It pays to ask.
    As not all local stores, pubs or B&Bs accept credit or debit cards, it’s essential to carry plenty of cash (reckon on £200 per person). A chequebook could prove useful as a back-up, so that you don’t have to keep on dipping into your cash reserves. Travellers’ cheques can only be cashed at banks, foreign exchanges and some of the large hotels so their use is limited; cash and cards are best.

INTERNET ACCESS
If you have the means to get online, places to stay are increasingly offering wi-fi free to visitors, or in the case of some pubs and hotels, for a small fee. Some clued-up B&Bs and hotels provide an internet-enabled computer in the guest lounge free of charge while, as already mentioned, the bigger youth hostels do so for around £4 an hour. Otherwise, where present and open, the local library is the place to find internet access if there’s no cyber café.

OTHER SERVICES
Most small villages have a post office that doubles as the local store, and nearby you’ll usually find a phone box, though be warned, to combat vandalism some only accept cards, taking a £1 connection fee which is charged whether you get an answer or not! Otherwise 40p, supposedly in any non-copper combination of coins, is the minimum fee to make a cash call.

There are outdoor equipment shops and pharmacies in the larger towns of Grasmere, Kirkby Stephen and Richmond and tourist information centres at Kirkby Stephen, Ullswater (near Patterdale), Reeth and Richmond.

TAKING DOGS ALONG THE COAST TO COAST PATH
The Coast to Coast is a dog-friendly path, though it’s extremely important that dog owners behave in a responsible manner. Dogs should always be kept on leads while on the footpath to avoid disturbing wildlife, livestock and other walkers. Dog excrement should be cleaned up and not left to decorate the boots of others; take a pooper scooper or plastic bag if you’re walking with a dog.
    It’s particularly important to keep your dog on a lead when crossing fields with livestock in them, especially around calving or lambing time (see box p71) which can be as early as February or as late as the end of May. Most farmers would prefer it if you did not bring your dog at all at this time.
    In addition, in certain areas on the Coast to Coast trail (particularly around Sunbiggin Tarn, east of Shap) there are notices ordering owners to keep their dogs on a lead to protect endangered ground-nesting birds between March and June; dogs can frighten them off and possibly cause them to desert their nests.
    Remember when planning and booking your accommodation that you’ll need to check if your dog will be welcome. Youth hostels do not permit them unless they’re for assistance. Many inns and hotels charge extra for a dog and not all farms will want your mutt frightening the chickens. Note, too, that your dog needs to be extremely fit to complete the Coast to Coast path. You may not believe it when you watch it haring around the fields, but they do have a finite amount of energy (the hyperactive collies of some walkers we met finally went lame around Osmotherley), so make sure your dog is up to the task of walking for 10-20 miles a day.

Budgeting

England is not a cheap place to go travelling and, while the north may be one of the less expensive regions, the towns and villages in the Lakes especially can get all the business they can handle and charge accordingly. You may think before you set out that you’re going to keep your budget to a minimum by camping every night and cooking your own food, but it’s a rare trekker who sticks to this. Besides, the B&Bs and pubs on the route are amongst the Coast to Coast’s major attractions and it would be a pity not to sample their hospitality from time to time.
    If the only expenses of this walk were accommodation and food, budgeting would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, in addition to these there are all the little extras that push up the cost of your trip: for example beer, cream teas, internet use, buses or taxis, baggage carriers, laundry, souvenirs. It’s surprising how much these add up!

CAMPING
You can survive on less than £12 per person per day if you use the cheapest campsites, don’t visit a pub, avoid all the museums and tourist attractions in the towns, forage for or cook all your own food from staple ingredients ... and generally have a pretty miserable time of it. Even then, unforeseen expenses will probably nudge your daily budget up. Include the occasional pint, and perhaps a pub meal every now and then, and the figure will be nearer £15 per day.

HOSTELS, BUNKHOUSES AND CAMPING BARNS
The charge for staying in a hostel is £12-17 per night. Whack on another £5 for breakfast and an evening meal (£9-12), though you can use their self-catering facilities for both, and there’s also lunch (packed lunches about £5.50) to consider. This means that, overall, it will cost £25-35 per day, or £40-45 to live in a little more comfort, enjoy the odd beer and go out for the occasional meal.
    There are a few basic camping barns along the Coast to Coast. They vary in quality and price (expect to pay around £8).

B&BS, GUESTHOUSES AND HOTELS
B&B prices start at around £23 per person per night but can be up to twice this. Add on the cost of food for lunch and dinner and you should reckon on about £40 minimum per day. Staying in a guesthouse or hotel will cost more. Remember that there is often a supplement of £5-10 for single occupancy of a room.

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 few 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 school holidays to clear the way. 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 and after sunrise and 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.