A shorter walk today (just over ten miles) but it starts with two steep climbs out of the valley to the moors. In contrast to the previous two days there's a real sense of wilderness here. It's good to walk for mile after mile without seeing any signs of modern life. of the val

Top Withens as a building is a bit of a disappointment. It's been subjected to a severe conservation. It might have been kinder to allow it to fall into a more natural state of ruin. It's clear, as a plaque on the wall says, that it was the location rather than the building that inspired Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Down the hill to Pondon. I've booked a pitch at the Pondon House campsite, but rain is threatening, and I decide to opt for the Bed and Breakfast option instead. A very good meal and excellent Theastons Old Peculiar at the Old Silent Inn.

It looks like another good walking day when I wake up, but by the time I've had breakfast and packed the clouds have covered the sun and it's raining steadily. I need to cover around 17 miles today and the last train home from Gargrave is at 6:15 this evening. I try not to feel too daunted as I climb up to the moors.

The weather improves gradually through the day and I start to dry out. There are beautiful views in every direction at Pinhaw Beacon. I loose the way a bit coming down to Thornton-in-Craven, but soon find a route back - thank goodness for GPS!

Gargave is a welcome sight after about nine hours walking. It's good to spot the Pennine Way sign that marks the start of a walk Andy and I did five years ago (It's looking a little more rusty now. The flags and bunting are to celebrate the London Olympics). It means that I've completed the section of the Pennine Way from Edale to Malham Tarn. My feet, back and neck are aching, and I'm really thirsty. Just time to call in at the Co-op to get two litres of organge juice and a small bottle of whiskey, before limping up the hill to the station and the 5:30 train. Home via Leeds and Peterbough at 9:30

A late morning meet up in the village of Gargrave after a very tasty bacon sandwich in the famous Dalesman Cafe for Andy, followed by a quick visit for a takeaway sandwich from the Co-op in the main street for Peter.

This was agreed as a very short Pennine Way walk to take us just four and a half miles miles north to Airton. All very well until we saw the Gargrave Pennine Way sign - Edale 70 miles , Kirk Yetholm 168 miles - and realised just how little we were biting off!

Still, after the usual routine of getting the cars to the right places we left Gargrave on a lane that soon became a track and then steadily North West through some of the loveliest rolling countryside you could imagine. And with a bright, warmish morning, altogether a far cry from Kinder Scout in October.

Having not met up for six months we were a little distracted from the wonderful scenery by catching up on news of family and work but the easy and straightforward route almost looked after itself. Before we knew it we hit the footbridge over the Aire just short of Newfield Hall and within a further short distance we saw Airton ahead of us, just 3 miles south of Malham.

Peter by now looking disappointed that the walk is coming to an end; Andy glad to be stopping as walking any distance leading to pain in the left foot (hence the reason for the short distance!)

Up from the Pennine Way (after checking parking for the next section) and past the well converted and very nicely positioned mill, into the Land Rover and onto the next part of the weekend - a good few pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord in Ripon!

Back in Airton two years later. No Andy this time. After Day 3 it was clear that Andy wouldn't be completing the whole walk, so in the meantime we've been meeting up in the Lake District for some low-level walking and evenings in the pub. (To be honest, the older we get the more we seem to focus on the choice of pubs and restaurants for the evening, rather than the walk). But I'm is not ready to give up on the Pennine Way project just yet, so, together with younger son Jonathan, set off for Malham, following the course of the River Aire to its source.

It's just a couple of easy miles to Malham, with a short climb up the hill at Hanlith marking the half way point. We arrive at the Buck Inn in time for a quick drink and a game of pool before getting the bus back to the car. Then back to Malham to pitch the tent at Riverside camp site, before heading off to the cinema in Skipton to see 'The Taking of Pelham 123'.

We wake to heavy clouds and light drizzle, and this turns out to be the best weather of the day. It's just a short walk up the hill to Malham Cove - an 80 metre curved crag formed by melt water after the last ice age. The waterfall has long since gone but the Cove is still a magnificent site. The route takes you steeply up to the left to the 'clints' and 'grykes' of the limestone pavement at the top, then north through 'Dry Valley', which today fails to live up to its name.

By the time we reach Malham Tarn we're soaked, and decide to call it a day. We retrace our route to the camp site, rather than completing the circular walk we'd planned, and so miss out on Gordale Scar and Janet's Foss. Jonathan has a shower and gets dry but I need to walk to the Buck Inn and back first, so as not to leave a half-mile gap in this otherwise completed section of the Pennine Way. (Well, you'd do the same, wouldn't you?)