Coast to Coast to Coast Day 12 - Airton to High Benthan

An easy day today just 18.5 miles (I'm pacing myself, my train isn't until Saturday). A bit of a climb out of Airton towards Settle but made it without any drama. Low cloud and chilly this morning, I thought about putting on my tracksters but the sun kept peeping through so I held off. The road to Settle ended in a long steep hill finishing  with a final cobble descent into TOWN.

The final cobble descent into Settle.

I upset one of the locals when I said Settle was a nice little village. I was rebuffed with " we are a town tha knows sonny, we've got our own town hall an a'. That's me told but i did like being called sonny. I had coffee and cake to recover from the climb out of Airton and as I had time to kill.

I was soon off again in the sunshine this time heading for Clapham about 8 miles distant, uppy downy with nothing too severe. Another coffee stop in Clapham, no cake this time as I haven't been working too hard today...pity.

The bridge at Clapham, very picturesque.

The camp site I'm aiming for is 1 mile east of High Benthan so I decided to take a detour from the prescribed route and head straight from Clapham along the B6480 to pass the campsite. I'm quite pleased I did as the road back from the proper route via High Bentham was a bit hilly (a lot hilly really)... So the detour was a good choice, not like me to make a good route decision.

The camp site is great, a real campsite, basic facilities but everything a cycle tourer or backpacker could require.(Shower, sink, loo,) there is also a fire pit in case you fancy a camp fire, wood available for a small fee and a power point so that you can charge your gadgets. ( Curlew Campsite is I mile east of High Bentham and is recommended despite the hilly approach from the High Bentham side )

I had the company of another couple of inquisitive chickens, a friendly cat and a very old horse.

Any spare grub mate.....

View from near the camp site.

I bit of a mixed day weather wise, cool and overcast to begin with, then sunny intervals, then a couple of very light showers and its got quite warm and close! I hope there's not going to be a storm.

Statistics for today:

Distance 29.97km ( 18.6 miles )

Total Distance 625.17km ( 388.5 miles )

Height climbed 504m

Total Height Climbed 7483m

Average speed 14.6 km/hr

Max Speed 53.0 km/hr

22 miles to go

I will head to the finish tomorrow at Morecombe then head north towards Bolton-le-Sands to look for a  final camp site. I'm staying in a hotel on Friday night as I need to be close to the railway station for my early train on Saturday.