Part two of our six part walk took us back to start from Gisburn with a 16 mile walk to Skipton.  It was a walk of two halves as we enjoyed sunshine and strong winds in the morning but some showers at lunch time. 

Given how much it had rained for the whole of the previous month, we considered ourselves quite lucky, and even made the short detour to the top of Weets Hill to see stunning views to the West towards the Lakes and North towards the Dales and Three Peaks territory.  In fact, we rather frightened ourselves by having a good look at most of the ground we have to walk over to complete this whole route - it does look an awful long way!

Given the lack of facilities along the way, this day could have turned out quite bleak, had it not been for the good people of  Lothersale, near Skipton, who were having their Christmas Craft Fair today.  Nicky had spotted the notice at the village hall when checking out the route, and there was mention of tea and cakes so we decided to drop in.

We were by this time, into the wet half of the day, and dripping wet through was an inadequate description of our circumstances.  We were very impressed to be welcomed with open arms by the locals, who not only had a radiator just perfect to dry our stuff, but also a wonderful feast!

The odd cake!  They must have been baking for weeks.  There was hot soup or chilli and fresh hot bread for £2.00, followed by any number of cakes at daft prices ranging from 30p to 50p.  I had a butterfly cake, some fruit loaf, a bit of chocolate brownie, some banana cake..........and all for about £1.40 - fantastic. 

And the icing on the cake - (if you needed any after that lot) was that as we left the hall, the rain had stopped, the sky cleared and we had dry and bright conditions for the last four miles over to Skipton. Now I always say the secret to planning a good walk is a good craft fair, a word with him upstairs about the timing of the weather, and chocolate, lots of chocolate...........

Many thanks to the residents of Lothersdale for their hospitality - hope you raised lots of cash for charity as you made a brilliant effort.