We left home at 8:20am having entered the destination of our evening accommodation – Broadlea of Robgill B&B into the sat nav.
Loaded and ready for our trip.
Light rain started just as we had passed Ipswich and it continued most of the trip. We did have a very short break at Colsterworth services picking up a Greggs for a snack.
As we approached Junc 38 on the A1(M) north of Doncaster, the road ahead was stationary. Taking the exit immediately on the left onto the A638 (the junction we take to see Darren), Helen had to get the map book out to navigate. All the SatNav kept wanting to do was take us back to the A1M. Helen soon discovered that there wasn’t an easy route around the traffic back to the A1M. Helen navigated us through Ackworth and Pontefract before we rejoined the M62 East just before the turn off to the A1M North. The signs were warning of serious queues going South, but we rejoined going North just after the road works. Not sure we saved much time, but it was better than just sitting in traffic!
Having got the map book out, Helen suggested that we took a more scenic route across the Yorkshire Dales rather than going via Scotts Corner and the A66. The road signs indicated that the A66 had traffic delays anyway. We exited the A1M at Junction 51 and took the A684 to Hawes. The countryside changed significantly to the lovely Dales despite the incessant rain and low cloud obscuring the high peaks.
Arriving in Hawes at 14:30 and 305 miles, we parked in the car park at the Dales Countryside Museum. The car park was very empty and it was sad to see that the rope maker Outhwaites had closed (Dec 22). It was raining so hard that even with our waterproofs on our legs were getting soaked as the water ran off our jackets, so we took an umbrella and walked into Dawes. There were very few people walking around and having walked to the end of the main street, we returned to the car having purchased a sandwich for lunch. It was raining so hard.
The waterfall on Gayle Beck at Hawes was a raging torrent.
The picture doesn’t convey the noise and mist created by the rushing water.
We set off through Hawes only to discover that the A648 was closed the other side of Hawes, so returned thorough Hawes to take the diversionary route. Helen had the map book out again and suggested that we took the Buttertubs Pass to join the B6270. This proved to be a fantastic drive in the Landrover and in typical Landrover weather – lots of water. At points, the water across the road was very deep and smaller cars would have had difficulty in passing. We couldn’t see much due to the driving rain and cloud. The drops on the side of the road into the valley were very steep at some points. Thankfully the Landrover managed it very well as it was designed to do. It felt like we had escaped civilisation as we hardly saw any other cars or people. We did see a few very soggy cyclists and walkers – they didn’t look like they were having fun. There were also some tents pitched at various camp sites.
Swollen river along our journey.
Water was running off the hillside forming very large puddles and standing water. At one point the river ran along side a limestone cliff face that had been turned into an impromptu waterfall due to the rain. The wipers were barely managing to cope with the rain falling and the windows were getting steamed up despite the blowers going at full tilt.
We finally made Kirkby Stephen and joined the A685 to head to the A66 at Brough. The A66 was very busy and several times we came to a halt. The rain seemed to be relentless and when Helen reached back for her jumper, we discovered that there was water ingress through the top of the rear doors. Not a lot, but enough to make items against the door wet, like her coat. The problem is that the doors are so rusty part way down that they no longer have the strength to push against the seal and you can see air from the inside at the top. It doesn’t help that the roof rack is bolted into the gutter and immediately above the gap on the passenger side one of the roof rack struts sits in the gutter forcing water down onto the door seal where the gap is! New doors at some point in the future required.
We joined the M6 at Penrith, junction 40, and headed north. The M6 turned into the A74M as we crossed into Scotland and it stopped raining! We took the B7076 at Junction 21 and then a left turn toward Robgill towards the B&B. We finally arrived at 17:48 with 391 miles traveled on the speedometer.
She made it!
The Accommodation – Room 3, Broadlea of Robgill B&B. £75 for the night.
We had a Pot Noodle and biscuits before watching TV for the evening.
Map of the journey and the elevation profile. You can see the climb and descent over the Buttertubs Pass clearly towards the right of the graph.