We’ll meet you at Ireby Farm
“We’ll meet you at Ireby Farm,” they all said; so, as Fred tells us, this month’s run started at Ireby Farm Café instead of the Old Stone Trough. Neil and Janet were kind enough to go to the OST just in case anyone turned up unexpectedly. There were two guest this month, Robert (Rob) and Luba, who came with Fred and Betty, as they were next door neighbours and also live next door to Eric.
Following a leisurely coffee stop, (or should that be coffee start?), we left Ireby Farm in the direction of Cowan Bridge. Our first instruction was to turn right at a brown flowerpot sign, which we duly did and found ourselves on the old Roman Road heading towards Barbondale. We were advised to take care to avoid the “two-wheeled chariots” but fortunately none were in evidence that day, so our four wheeled “chariots reigned supreme as we headed through the picturesque countryside in the general direction of Sedbergh. It was the intention of Geof, our intrepid leader for the day, to cross the bridge over the River Rawthey, but on the reccy run the previous week it was found to have been damaged by a large vehicle, which had demolished half the parapet wall on one side.
The council were hoping to carry out temporary repairs and have a single file system in place using traffic lights by the date of our run, but it was not to be! On reaching said bridge we turned right instead and headed towards the little hamlet of Millthrop. This was a narrow road with virtually no passing places and the hope was that no one else would be coming in the opposite direction. The previous week we’d had a clear run, but today we had the misfortune to meet not one, but four vehicles – one of which was a Land Rover and trailer – as we tried to squeeze through the very narrow street that is Millthrop. The two leading cars got alongside the on-coming four, but alas, not the rest. After some light-hearted banter, some waving of arms and some reversing, we made it safely down the lane and onto the A684 headed towards Sedbergh. It only took about five minutes, but it seemed much longer than that. From the A684 we then took the A683 towards Kirkby Stephen and got stuck behind a slow moving tractor, but still arrived at the Fat Lamb in Ravenstonedale slightly ahead of schedule for lunch. Another grand day out to end our season of runs.
