Day 7, Patterdale to Shap continued - 20th April 2025
This blogspot has been moved to my own personal domain.
I have been finding this app quite tedious to use and so decided to give up on it
and move everything to a new place.
Rise and Shine!
We had breakfast of beans, porridge, fruit and flapjacks and of course cups of tea. The stream was fabulous, it was a perfect spot to camp.
I've had a long break from updating my Blog, now I really need to get back to it (Friday 20th June 2025)
So after packing up camp, and having a good check around to make sure we had left no trace, we started back towards the path to continue our walk to Shap. I was particularly looking forward to seeing Shap Abbey.
We walked through a gated wooded area, where the path eluded us occasionally, resulting in traipsing carefully through bracken, and found our way towards the edge of Haweswater.
We walked along the stream, through many fields of sheep and cows, walked along rough pathways and saw many tadpoles in puddles. There was a house in one of the villages we walked through which had a very welcome refreshment box outside with an honesty box. Unfortunately, we didn't have much cash with us so were limited in our purchases. Mental note, make sure to always have cash because you never know when these opportunities will arise!
The cakes were delicious and I would have loved to buy some cards but they would have got bent and misshapen in my pack.
Very welcome pit stop for Coast to Coast walkers.
And there it is! Shap Abbey.
When I have been asked who from history I would love to have a chat with, my answer is always King Henry VIII. My first question to him would be "What the hell were you thinking!?" It saddens me that so many of these beautiful buildings were wrecked and destroyed because of that man! Completely senseless destruction. The remains of Shap Abbey are quite spectacular and we spent a bit of time. There are information boards all around with pictures and diagrams showing how it looked before the damage occurred.
The remains of one of the supports.
The tower.
This gives a really good idea of the way it looked, huge!
We made it!
I purchased a keyring here with Shap burnt onto it, a lovely souvenir.
So, our Coast to Coast walk stopped here, until I can find time to come back to complete the next section. We were very lucky to book an Uber to take us back to Patterdale where Mark's car was parked. Then all that remained was to adjourn to a hotel near Kendal for a spot of luxury and to finish off this part of our holiday.
8.3 miles, 19,889 steps - an easy day
