Day 7 - Bampton Grange to Orton

Bampton Grange had a very wet welcome but was another quaint village for us to enjoy.  We didn't spent any time looking around because of the wet evening but enjoyed a lovely meal together at The Crown and Mitre.  At least we didn't have to go out to eat!

The view out of our bedroom window.  .          
      

The garden was just gorgeous

Today we set off in all of our wet weather gear.  First time!  

What a beautiful walk through fields full of buttercups as we say goodbye to 

 Bampton Grange 

Looking back to the church, where the church clock tower bell  rang every quarter hour, all night!!

Today we walked through many slot stiles.  . 

They are a challenge to squeeze through

At least it gives me time to take another photo

As we walked alongside the beck, we ended up forging our way  through a field of plants that looked  

like rhubarb on steroids.

Another stile to climb over.  These ones are easy to  traverse.  

Our walk has changed.  The last of the fells has gone now.  We still have the sheep along the way but now the English cows are keeping us company.   Today we saw the biggest cow I have ever seen.  It was so big it couldn't move, other than it's head.  It had to be pregnant with twins, at least...

Big cows and another bridge.  I guess, if it lies down it won't get up!

And another pretty bridge. 

A mobile kiosk!  Take what you want and leave a donation.         It was just sitting along the path, under a tree.

We visited the ruins of Shap Abbey.  It was the last abbey to be founded in England in 1199.  It was  also  the last abbey to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540.  Seems that King Henry was very destructive or just didn't like monks...

As we approached the Abbey, we saw this beautiful old bridge in the foreground. The mirror image in the River Lowther was really pretty with every shade of green in the trees and the grass. This certainly is a very picturesque part of England. 

The entrance to the Abbey

The Abbey Tower is huge  

This is all that is still standing of the original church.           

Over time parts of the building have been dismantled and re-used to built the adjacent farm.

Obviously the monks were very short. 

The resident chicken

and her house at the base  of the abbey tower. 

Will we fit through this one?? 

 Can you see the steps we had to get up onto before we climbed through.  Some of these slot stiles were tricky to fit through with our backpacks.   There are many more to come!

The township of Shap has a wonderful coffee shop - the Abbey Coffee Shop.  It came highly recommended and lived up to all the reviews - the  best little retreat we have found so far on the Coast to Coast walk.  We meet three bikies  who were Christians.  One told us he was a vicar in Lancaster. 

The best Danish Pastry I have ever had!!  And a real pot of tea too!

Just one of the beautful and very typical houses  we walked past in Shap.  You see these              white-washed houses dotting the landscape. 

We crossed the M6 - the six lane highway that runs all the way from London to  Edinburgh. Here we take our last look at the fells of Lakelands that we have hiked through and like Wainwright  we say, "Ah, don't say goodbye, say so long." 

Thankfully a walkway has been built  over the M6 and we didn't have to play chicken with the cars and trucks that were flying along the road. 

We began to feel  like mobile saunas with our wet weather gear on  so we decided to stop by a wall and remove our coats and weather proof pants.   We heard a noise behind us and there was four horses, galloping towards us.  They were VERY friendly.  I suspect they were wanting food the way they sniffed at our backpacks. 

They even tried to eat my hat! 

Ammie having a very serious conversation with Mr Ed 

Stop it, that tickles. 

We only had one apple so we decided not to feed  any of them so they galloped away, no longer interested in us...

Did you notice the factory in the background?  This truly was  the industrial hub of England and  even today some industries still function in the area.  The factories stand out amongst the beautiful green fields. It does seems such a shame because the countryside is so beautiful.  But then the M6 has been built, much to Wainwright's dismay.  He would have preferred to keep all the people away and just have  the peace and quiet of nature.  But in modern England,  travelling along the M6 would certainly sped up a trip from London to Edinburgh. 

We all enjoyed our walk today tremendously.  But the walk into Orton was a challenging end to the day.  We felt like we walked right through the village before we eventually found our accommodation -