England - The Dales Way, Day 8

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Patton Bridge to Staveley, 7 miles

We finished the Dales Way with two short days. It was nice to finish the walk with time to enjoy both Staveley (today) and Bowness-on-Windermere (tomorrow). The short day also gave us the opportunity to visit a paper mill in Burneside.

Once we saw Burneside in the distance, it seemed to take forever to get there. We kept on walking, but Burneside didn't seem to get closer. The large buildings to the left are the James Cropper paper mill.

A closer view of the paper mill. The Dales Way actually goes along two sides of the mill property.

The James Cropper paper mill is just a very short distance from the Dales Way. In fact, because a bridge was being repaired, the route into Burneside went directly past the mill. We had read about this paper mill in our guide books, and Lon arranged a mill tour. The offices and labs occupy former schools (the town kept expanding and needing larger facilities), and they are much more attractive than typical industrial buildings. James Cropper PLC makes a huge variety of highly specialized papers and non-wovens. The tour of this unique mill was very interesting, and we appreciate the effort the company made to accommodate a visit from a retired papermaker on holiday in England.

More bluebells. They really contribute to stunning landscapes in May!

I have no idea of the identity of this tree, but the flowers look like it should be in the Leguminosae family.

Once we got to Staveley, we had a late lunch at the highly recommended Hawkshead Brewery. Like many of the small towns we walked through, Staveley had a lot of amenities for its size.