A huddled lunch under a bridge

Last week, A Sunday Picture featured a picture of sandwich basking in the sun in June. But at this time of year, sandwich eating is likely to just be a bit more like this: huddled, cold and sheltering under a bridge. Although I guess the bridge bit is rather optional.

This particular bridge is on the Pennine Way, part way between the mighty Tan Hill Inn and Middleton-in-Teesdale. Which isn’t quite so mighty.

The bridge is over Deepdale Beck, on Bowes Moor and it was a miserable day. Windy, wet and cold. Mist had been hanging over the area all morning. Our fortifying pub breakfast could only sustain us for so long and with no shelter in sight, if we wanted to escape the rain for lunch, this was the only option.

By all accounts there’s a shooting hut in the area now which is also open to walkers to shelter in. Luxury indeed. Although for my mind, you’re not doing the Pennine Way properly unless you have at least one lunch like this.

Still, it’s not the worst location for a lunch I’ve ever had – that award has to go to the entrance to some public toilets on the edge of Coniston Water where I sheltered one truly awful day having taken a wrong turn on the Cumbria Way; my waterproofs turning to paper in the heavy onslaught of rain, I followed lunch by using the same toilets to do a change of clothes too.

Want to know more? Read about my Pennine Way walk.