The trail guide has been described from west to east and divided into 13 stages. Though each of these roughly corresponds to a day’s walk, do not assume that this is the only way to structure the trek. There are so many places to stay en route that – except for a couple of stretches where there is no accommodation – you can pretty much divide up the walk whichever way you want. This is even more true if you have your own camping gear, in which case you can pitch your tent virtually anywhere, as long, of course, as you first have permission from the landowner.
On pp32-3 are tables to help you plan an itinerary. To provide further help, practical information is presented on the trail maps, including walking times, places to stay, camp and eat, as well as shops for supplies. Further service details are given in the text under the entry for each settlement.
TRAIL MAPS
Scale and walking times
The trail maps are to a scale of 1:20,000 (1cm = 200m; 31/8 inches = one mile). Walking times are given along the side of each map; the arrow shows the direction to which the time refers. Black triangles indicate the points between which the times have been taken. These times are merely a tool to help you plan and are not there to judge your walking ability.
Hopefully, after a couple of days you’ll know how fast you walk compared with the time bars and can plan your days more accurately as a result. See note on walking times in the box on p73.
Up or down?
The trail is shown as a dashed line. An arrow across the trail indicates the slope; two arrows show that it is steep. Note that the arrow points towards the higher part of the trail. If, for example, you are walking from A (at 80m) to B (at 200m) and the trail between the two is short and steep, it would be shown thus: A- - - - >>- - - -B. Reversed arrow heads indicate a downward gradient.
Accommodation
Accommodation marked on the map is either on or within easy reach of the path. Many B&B proprietors whose accommodation is a mile or two off the trail will offer to collect walkers from the nearest point on the trail and deliver them back again next morning. This is particularly true of the B&Bs at Great Broughton and Urra, where walkers are collected at Clay Bank Top (see p204).
Details of each place are given in the accompanying text. The number of rooms of each type is given at the beginning of each entry, ie S=Single, T=Twin room, D=Double room, F=Family room (sleeps at least three people). The rates are also given; these are per person per night prices. As an example: £20/15 sgl/dbl means the rate is £20 for a single room, £15 per person in a double. Unless otherwise specified, the rates are for the summer high season. DB&B means dinner, bed and breakfast.
Other features
Features are marked on the map when they are pertinent to navigation. In order to avoid cluttering the maps and make them unusable, not all features have been marked each time they occur.
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