Day 1 of a two-day walk. This was part of our "training" for doing the Coast-to-Coast walk the following summer. We decided to take more kit than we needed, to make our packs heavier. This was all part of the training!

Day 1 was about 13 miles, some across moorland and some walking through undulating countryside past streams, farms and small areas of woodland.

We parked the car at Bolton Bridge (where it would remain for the two days), and set off north towards Bolton Priory. From there we turned west and headed out onto the moors, passing the Bardon reservoirs as we crossed Embsay Moor. We stopped in a hollow on Embsay Moor for lunch. There was some shelter from the wind in the hollow, and we set up the stove and "cooked" some food. The moor is hilly, but the gradients long and gentle, and we made very good time. We carried on on the same path across the moor until we reached the village of Rylstone, and Hetton just beyond.

Between Rylstone and Hetton there's a disused railway marked on the map, so we stopped on the line to take some photos. We thought the line looked suspiciously clear; the following day we saw a train running up it, from a distance!

In Hetton we thought that we'd find a shop, but no such luck. We turned south and followed Hetton Beck/Flasby Beck down to Flasby, passing Flasby Hall with its impressive grounds. The autumn colours on the trees made the views spectacular. At Flasby we joined the road which we followed into Gargrave.

The campsite in Gargrave had plenty of room. We put up or two tents; an extravagance, which we justified by the extra weight it added to our packs, and the consequent greater effectiveness of the training. Unfortunately we were pitched next to some rowdy Army Cadets, but they ended up going to bed pretty early. We headed out to find something to eat in the village, and came across an Indian restaurant - result!