Shapteb two

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I walked this route on a lovely late summer day, from Shap to Tebay. I managed to time it so that I could get the 106 Friday morning bus from Tebay to Shap, and walk back, but I had no option but to drive to Tebay. Public transport here is absolutely minimal (see ShapTeb One for photo of bus timetables).
I was delighted with this route! I headed up a lane/lonning from Shap and across some sheep pasture to a footbridge over the M6. Ascending further, the noise of the M6 lessened as I rounded Hardendale Nab. The views from here were superb, despite it being a bit hazy. Passing Hardendale/Shapfell Quarry was interesting, with an information board to explain things. This is very much limestone quarrying land, and the modern-day lime kilns had been prominent on my way up the hill.
The route followed the Coast to Coast route for the first half, although I hadn’t realised this when I plotted it, as it’s not currently labelled on the OS Map around here. It meant that the route was pretty easy to follow on the ground though, and was well-trodden.
I stopped at the highest point of the route, about 40% through, where there was a lot of exposed limestone which made excellent seating! Also, the views were amazing, and it was glorious, peaceful and beautiful.
I continued across clear moorland paths (taking care through the limestone outcrops), and after a point marked “Robin Hood’s Grave”, which is a large cairn, I headed south again along a dry valley. At the end of this was a string of field crossings, with through-wall stone stiles which were a bit tricky at times. The path here was a bit less trodden (I had left the Coast to Coast) but was still relatively clear, and always heading towards the white church tower of Orton.
Orton was a lovely village with historic houses, cafés, pubs, toilets, and a chocolate workshop. It was 70% through the route, and I stopped at the café for a short refreshment break. From Orton, there was another walled track (rather muddy initially), some fields, and a wooded dell, then a short road section. This was fairly busy at the time, with end of the week traffic, but there was a pretty good verge along it.
A quiet lane took me over a pretty tributary of the River Lune, which I then followed, until the bridge where it met the main river. The path along the sparkling young River Lune was rather nice, despite approaching the M6!
A short road section led to the end point in the pleasant railway village of Tebay. It included a crossing of the slip-road to/from the motorway, but this was not difficult to cross. It’s not a hugely busy junction, and is the only one I know to feature cattle grids.
I really enjoyed this route! There were various facilities at the end points and at Orton, lots of history (old buildings, historic quarrying, Roman roads, burial mounds, stone circles), lots of wildlife (many buzzards, swallows, meadow pipits, harebells, scabious, peacock butterflies), stunning views all around, and was pretty easy to follow.

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