Day 18 - Grosmont to Robin Hoods Bay

Today should be our last day on the Coast-to-Coast walk.  Fittingly, it rained for much of the night, and our tent is sodden.  We pack it down and leave it with the rest of our overnight gear for the luggage carrying company to pick up; then off into Grosmont for a 9:30am breakfast at the local shop, as none of the cafes have yet opened.  Fortunately the shop keeper comes to the rescue by making Fiona a cup of tea.  Fiona without tea in the morning - it just doesn't bear thinking about.  We drink our tea and coffee on the station platform, watching the staff of the North York Moors Historic Railway prepare a steam engine for its day's work.

We finally get walking at 10:00am, across another section of moor land. It starts raining again, and continues for the rest of the day.  At midday we enter a forest, where we sight the only deer that we have seen on the walk.  Unfortunately it does not stay around for a photo.

Then off across one last moor, before reaching the coast a few kilometres north of Robin Hoods Bay.

Followed by a spectacular, grey, rainy, walk along the coast - which is probably only appropriate for the North Sea - 

before reaching Robin Hoods Bay at 6:00pm.  We have a quick shower, then head to the pub that the guidebooks states is the gathering place for Coast-to-Coasters.  Here we met up with six other people who have also finished the C2C today.  One of them is new to us, but the other five we have seen regularly over the past few days.  Hot dinners are eaten, and C2C stories (both good and bad) are swapped.  

I am smiling - it is just that the rain has washed my teeth away

That is the end of our soggy Coast-to-Coast adventure.  I'll write up a summary next week.  The next adventure, real life (including finding a way to pay for these reckless walking endeavours). 

Distance walked today: 25km

Total distance walked - a little over 300km

As he hurried along, eagerly anticipating the moment when he would be at home again among the things he knew and liked, the Mole saw clearly that he was an animal of tilled field and hedgerow, linked to the ploughed furrow, the frequented pasture, the lane of evening lingerings, the cultivated garden-plot. For others the asperities, the stubborn endurance, or the clash of actual conflict, that went with Nature in the rough; he must be wise, must keep to the pleasant places in which his lines were laid and which held adventure enough, in their way, to last for a lifetime.

- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Day 17 - Blakey Ridge to Grosmont

The day starts off with some blue sky over the moors;

which soon becomes grey skys over the moors,

and then it starts raining, again.

Fortunately the rain only lasts for 20 minutes, although it does remain overcast for the rest of the day.  We get to see some cute old shepherd's huts,

and to practice our grouse stalking skills again - which involve walking up to grouse just a little bit more slowly than we would normally walk.

Fiona demonstrates her skill as a huntress, by walking to within 4 metres of a grouse.

Idea for how to turn grouse hunting into a real skill-based sport - Make it that the hunter has to hit the grouse with a thrown unweighted beach ball.  The sport would then be re-named "Grouse Bunting", be administered by "The Royal and Ancient Society of Grouse Bunters".  and with the beginning of the bunting season each year the moors would abound with bunters demonstrating their skill with a brace of brightly coloured beach balls.  

We finish the day at Grosmont where we camp in a farmer's field, then walk into the village for dinner at  an inn.

Distance walked today: 20km

Day 16 - Lord Stones to Blakey Ridge

Yeah, the weather has cleared making for lovely walking on the North Yorkshire moors.  Heather as far as the eye can see.  This has to be one of the most purple landscapes in the world.  There are grouse everywhere, popping up out of bushes at the edge of the path, giving me a fright, then letting lose with their gurgling laugh.  Grouse have a warped sense of humour.

A sheep with the dreaded Blue Bum disease

Ancient boundary marker between two lord's lands.

For anyone who is wondering how difficult grouse shooting is - here is an unmagnified mobile phone photo of a grouse (centre of picture - not to be confused with the sheep in the right of picture).  Grouse have to be some of the stupidest / tamest birds in the world.  As long as you can hit a target the size of a chicken, with a shot gun, at a range of 4m, you'll be fine grouse shooting.  We found that mostly grouse just ran down the path in front of us.

Toward the end of the day we come across two 15cm long animals locked in combat on the path.  Subsequent research on the internet identified them as weasles.  We sat and watched the fight for five minutes.  It was like watching a gladitorial contest - between two socks.

Distance walked today: 20km

Day 15 - Oaktree Hill to Lord Stones

We get off to our earliest start ever - 8:20am.  Why?  Because we need to walk 25km to a camp ground that we are told closes at 5:00pm.  Another day in rain.  Well, lets be honest.  Not so much rain as drizzle; heavy drizzle though.  In Richmond Fiona purchased a product to waterproof her boots, and it is having no affect at all.  We climb up into a set of low hills in the mist, then set out across heather clad moors.  

It's lovely, but damn damp.  

Apparently if it was clear we would be able to see the North Sea, but all that we can see is a sea of heather.

Fact for the day - As a result of freak atmopsheric conditions, the North Yorkshire moors are one of the few place in the world where you can see the curviture of the earth.

We camp for the night at Lord Stones Camp Ground, and cook for ourselves on our camp stove.  As a result of another day in soaking boots, Fiona is very cold, so crawls into bed at 6:00pm and refuses to get out of her sleeping bag until after 7:45am.

Distance walked today: 25km

Day 14 - Richmond to Oaktree Hill

We get away to our traditional 10am start.  Why can we never get away early?  The weather is fine, and at couple of stages the day nudges into hot.  Fiona even puts on her sun hat and suntan lotion.  A positively shocking turn of events.  We walk along country lanes, past recently harvested fields of wheat.

At one stage we encounter a diversion, telling us to walk a couple of kilometres out of the way to bypass a construction site.  Fiona knows that this will be her longest walking day to-date, and isn't going to have anyone make it even longer.  She leads the way in reclaiming an (almost) English women's right to ramble over the countryside where ever they like; bulldozers and land barons be damned!

"But I didn't see any sign officer"

Fortunately, because it is Sunday, there isn't any construction going on anyway.  We also get to walk through some woodland, and increase our grey squirrel count for the trip from two to five.  A long day, and we have sore feet and legs now, but otherwise all is good.  The guidebook describes today's section as the low point of the Coast-to-Coast, but we enjoyed it. 

Distance walked today: 26km

Day 13 - Rest day in Richmond - Special feature on stiles

We are taking a rest day today in Richmond, doing laundry, visiting castles, eating curries.  But this day off walking presents an ideal opportunity to write a special feature on a topic very dear to any Coast-to-Coast walkers heart - stiles.

The majority of the Coast-to-Coast passes through farmland.  Even the moors, and hills of the Lake District, are grazed.  Meaning that farmers get 20 plus people a day walking across their land, opening gates, maybe closing gates, maybe not closing gates, maybe freeing cattle and sheep to roam, well, free.  The "solution" is stiles.  A stile is described in the dictionary as - a series of steps or rungs by means of which a person may pass over a wall or fence which remains an obstacle to sheep or cattle. In the Yorkshire Dales the Coast-to-Coast walker passes through more than 25 paddocks a day. 

To reduce the risk of a farm gate being left open, each paddock along the route has stiles built into it.  The walker doesn't have to open a gate, instead they just walk through a stile that stock cannot get through.  It is a nice theory, but sometimes the stiles are a bit of a tight fit.

Some of the stiles have been sponsored by the RSPA (the Royal Society for the Promotion of Anorexia),

and some of the stiles are staffed by border control cows - What is the purpose of your visit to the paddock?

Day 12 - Reeth to Richmond

We wake to a sunny day and head to the local shop to buy some sandwiches to eat for lunch.  Then more easy walking down the Swaledale beside the river.

About midday the rain clouds roll in; but half an hour later they roll out again.

Today we get a short section through a forest, where we had the good fortune to see a grey squirrel.  Still no red squirrel sightings unfortunately.

We arrive at Richmond at 3:30pm - the earliest end to our day's walking to-date - and we have a rest day scheduled for tomorrow; very exciting and much needed!  Although the weather has been mostly fine today, Fiona still has soaking wet boots as the ground conditions under foot are still sodden from earlier rain.

Fact for the day - a few short sections of the Coast-to-Coast are carpetted

Distance walked today: 18km

Day 11 - Keld to Reeth

The rain pours down overnight.  So much so that I can hear it impacting on the thick slate tiles that roof the converted barn in which we are staying.  In the morning the barn yard is a frenzy of ducks, trawling through the newly wet ground.  Which is all very well for the ducks, but we are supposed to be walking in this.  Fortunately the weather starts to clear about 10am, leaving some dramatic sky-scapes.

Looking down the Swaledale valley

Today's journey is a relatively gentle stroll down the valley, often beside the river.  The weather slowly improves throughout the day, and we have a very pleasant walk.

The Lipton river, flowing out of Yorkshire's famous tea growing highlands.  A factory downstream extracts the water, combines it with fine wood shavings, and packages it as tea bags.  OK, OK - it is just the run off from the peat bog above.

Fields near the village of Gunnerside.

We have arranged to tent in the campsite at Reeth.  We are managing to do this about one day in three, to help keep costs down.  However, on arrival the effervesant campsite owner offers us the use of a caravan for approximately the same price.  This is great because it means that we don't need to spend time setting up and taking down our tent, or pack the tent wet in with all of our other gear in the morning.  As we do most nights, we have a meal in the local country pub.  We have become very enthusiastic about these old gems.

We are now over half way through the Coast-to-Coast, and although we end each day quite tired, we are otherwise both in reasonable physical condition.  The current plan is to try to complete the Coast-to-Coast with six days walking, then a rest day, then five days walking, then another rest day, then a final five days walking.  We are certainly looking forward to our next scheduled rest day - the day after tomorrow.

Distance walked today: 20km

Day 10 - Nateby to Keld

Today we cross the Pennine Hills, Britian's main divide.  Rain that falls on the west of these hills makes its way to the Irish Sea, while rain which falls on the east makes its way to the North Sea.  Appropriately, it is raining again. 

Weather normality is restored

On the top of the range are the Nine Standards; nine large stone cairns.   I can't explain who built the standards or why, as no one seems to be sure.  It is possible that they are less than 500 years old, but also possible that they are several thousand years old.  Any analysis is complicated by the fact that they seem to have been rebuilt/restored many times in their current location.  Although we are not quite half way yet, if the Coast-to-Coast had a symbollic half way point, the Nine Standards would be it.

Then on across the moors and into Britian's grouse shooting heartland.  People pay a staggering amount of money to come here and shoot at rusty brown coloured chickens.  I must admit that I don't get it.  The grouse that we have seen are relatively tame and will let us get to within 25 metres.  I could understand the "challenge" in grouse hunting if you were restricted to hitting them with a spear, thrown knife, or even bow and arrow - but hitting something the size of a chicken at 25 metres with a double barrelled shotgun - well, it might be sport if you had to kill the bird by throwing your gun at it.

Grouse hunting bunker on the moor.  If those grouse start shooting back then an Englishman wants to know that there is at least 50cms of stone wall between himself and hot metal.

We finished in Keld, at the head of the Swaledale valley.  Keld was once a major centre for lead mining.  Probably best not to eat any grouse from here that we've gun butted along the way.

In the end it wasn't too wet today.  A short patch of rain while on the tops of the hills, occasional drizzle at other times; but mostly it was overcast, windy, but fine.  More good news is that my knee is slowly improving.  I'm very happy about this because a few days ago I thought that there was a chance that I would not be able to complete the walk. 

Distance Walked Today: 21km

Coast-to-Coast Map

Fiona keeps (rightly) telling me that I need to include a map of the Coast-to-Coast route in the blog.  The red line is the approximate route of the Coast -to-Coast.  This won't be exactly the same as the route that we are taking, but it is close enough.  We are walking left to right (west to east).  The whole route is approximately 300km (190miles).

Day 9 - Orton to Nateby

Woke this morning to sunshine.  Sunshine on the Coast-to-Coast; is this real or did I drink too much scrumpy last night?  We set off at a gentle pace again.  My knees are only just managing to stay in the game after their bruising on day six; and I'm far from the worst in our Coast-to-Coast cohort - one of the Americans can only make it across the floor of the restaurant each night with the aid of a Clydesdale.

The vast majority of the Coast-to-Coast is through farmland.  Even the land inside the national parks is grazed.  The grass is so green and lush that Fiona and I cannot understand why it is so lightly stocked.  It seems that each fat sheep or cow has vast areas of pasture on which to feed.  This rural British landscape is extremely varied, regularly interspersed with dry-stone walls, country lanes lined with wild flowers, tree lined streams and ancient arched bridges; although there are quite a few boggy cattle races and silage pits as well.

We are told that a skilled artisan can build 2m of dry-stone wall on a good day, and that approximately one tonne of stone is required for each metre of wall. It must have taken many generations to build what we see today.

Two consecutive days in dry boots.  I don't know whether I can take much more of this level of comfort.  We end the day at Nateby (a kilometre south of Kirkby Stephen) with another stay in a very pleasant English country pub.  It takes me over an hour to get the wifi to work, but we've come to expect this, and everything else is lovely. 

Distance Walked Today: 21km

Day 8 - Bampton Grange to Orton

On our rest day we managed to dry our tent, our clothing, and my boots.  Fiona's boots are 90% dry, so she is now only a little bit soggy.  Not that we expect this progress to last long, as the weather looks overcast and the forecast is for rain.  We are not optimistic about staying dry.  

Today we put the Lake District behind us, and start heading toward the Yorkshire Dales.  On an overbridge across the M6 motorway we manage to get internet coverage on our phones.  Coverage by the British mobile phone network is so bad that this is almost justification to break out a jug of cider and a couple of Yorkshire puddings.  As one local said to us - "outside of London we have a choice of twenty equally terrible networks".  For the first time in twenty five years, Fiona and I are back to utilizing coin operated pay phones; how..... quaint.

We  are deliberately trying to walk slowly today, to give my knee an opportunity to heal.  The landscape is flatter, whimsical, and quintessentially English.  It just makes you want to paint, write poetry, buy a Landrover, and declare war on France. 

Farmland on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales

At Orton, probably the cutest village that we have visited to-date on the walk, we camp in the "beer garden" of the local pub.  We are doubtful about this plan, but as it turns out we get an excellent night's sleep.  At Orton we also re-meet several Coast-to-Coast walkers that we had first encountered at Bampton Grange.  This would eventually turn into a cohort of twelve walkers that are doing the Coast-to-Coast at the same time and at approximately the same pace: a group of four Australians, a pair of Australians, a single Australian, two Americans, just one Brit, and ourselves.  Golly, that is a lot of Australians.  Couldn't we put them all on a boat and send them to the opposite side of the world?

And, despite the forecast and overcast sky, it didn't rain!

Distance Walked Today: 20km

Day 7 - Rest day in Bampton Grange

The first fine day in five, and we are taking a rest day.  We dry our boots and tent, and wash and dry our clothing.  Appallingly, the forecast for tomorrow is back to rain.

Fact for the day - In England, sheep are so fat that they cannot stand.  Instead they lie in one place in a paddock, and then graze the grass in a circle immediately around them.

Day 6 - Patterdale to Bampton Grange

The weather is more varied today, both drizzle and rain. Fiona is in wet boots for the 4th consequtive day, and I'm only a little better off.  We climb out of Paterdale and up into the hills again, then a long stretch across the tops.   Just before we begin our descent, Fiona does the numbers: we are booked to stay at our most expensive accomodation tonight, it is 1pm, and we may still have 7 hours of walking ahead of us; all of which means that she may barely get to enjoy the expensive room.  From the highest point in the day's walk Fiona takes off; accelerating downhill and taking the track in 4 metre strides.  I try to keep up, but after 10 minutes I've aggrevated an old knee injury, or to be more specific, two old knee injuries.  I hobble down the hill, then edge slowly along the side of Haweswater lake, to the village of Bampton Grange. 

Fiona contemplating the distance between herself and a hot bath.

The southern end of Haweswater lake

We decide to take a rest day tomorrow in Bampton Grange, to give my knees an opportunity to recover, and Fiona's feet a chance to dry out.

Distance Walked Today : 21km

Day 5 - Easedale to Patterdale

We have breakfast, then use almost the last of our cash to pay the bill for our B&B.  Fortunately Grasmere, only a kilometre away, is the first village that we've been past with an ATM; well, two ATMs actually.  Unfortunately, the first ATM is out of order, and the second will only accept UK issued bank cards.  We spend the very last of our money to catch a bus the 10km into Ambleside, restock on cash, then catch another bus back to Grasmere; all of which delays the start to our walking to 1pm.

Summer in the Lake Districts is on form, and it is raining again.  We head up into the hills, meeting no one.  Presumably it is too damn wet, and anyone else who is walking the Coast-to-Coast will be four hours ahead of us.

Fiona, soaking up summer in the Lake District

We have lunch, more sandwiches in the rain, just before the highest point on the day's walk; then cross a pass between two mountains and desend to a large tarn.  On the edge of this we stop for photos in the rain.

A minute later two figures appear out of the mist at the end of the lake.  One walks over and asks us if we know where we are.  I'm a bit incensed by this question, because I like to think that my wilderness navigation skills are not too bad, but I restrain myself and simply say "yes".  Then the conversation takes an unexpected turn, and he asks me if I could tell him where he is.  It turns out that they, a brother and sister, have just summited Britian's 3rd highest peak then become lost on the way down.  They are both wearing jeans, which brings to mind the old quote - "there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing".  The sister looks cold, and Fiona and I have got two packs full of warm clothing between us.  The sister accepts my gloves and a couple of chocolate biscuits.  They then follow us down to Patterdale, the destination for both walking parties.  

We reach Patterdale at 6pm.  Fiona and I are camping outside the YHA, in the rain again.  Fiona is now up to 3 days in sodden boots. My boots are a little more water proof so I'm doing a bit better. 

Distance walked today : 13km

Day 4 - Seatoller to Easedale

Damn, the weather forcast was wrong.  It's drizzling and there will be no chance to dry either boots or clothing today.  We pack down the tent, leave our gear for the pack carrying company to pick up, then walk back to the next village to get breakfast.  Then off for a six hour walk across sodden boggy hills in the drizzle.  Don't get me wrong, they look great, it's just that they are also a boggy abyss.  Who would have guessed that the Lake Districts would be so wet?

"In England's green and soggy land..."

Lunch in the lee of another rock, then on across the hill tops, again encountering a staggering number of Brits who seem to be out for walks on mountains, in the rain, with inadequate clothing, and evening settling in.  It is beyond us how they avoid gettng into trouble.  

Fiona laughing in the face of adversity; well, two days of sodden boots and damp clothing

We stay in a very pleasant B&B, and hang our sodden gear over every fitting in our tiny room.  

Distance Walked Today : 16km

 

Day 3 - Ennerdale Water to Seatoller

After another full English breakfast (for me, Fiona was more sensible) we decide to take the high route out of the Ennerdale Valley, which means starting the day with a 650m climb.  Great views over the Lakes District from the top of the range.

We push our walking along.  It is overcast now, we are being buffeted by the wind, and rain is forcast to start around 2pm.  Descending along the ridgeline we meet all sorts of people: couples, families walking with kids, people walking dogs, solo photographers; one thing that you can say for the locals, they don't let a bad weather forcast stop them getting out into the mountains.  We are also surprised that many of the people that we see are not wearing any specialised outdoors clothing, just the same gear that they would wear into town. 

Fiona descending the ridgeline, with un-needed sunhat in tow.

We manage to get off the high ground as the rain arrives at 2:30pm, right on schedule. We huddle in the lee of a large rock, eating soggy sandwhiches purchased (dry) from the YHA earlier in the day.  A group of very wet walkers turn up.  They have come over the low route up the valley.  Then more walkers turn up, then more.  Soon there are twenty plus people on the hillside.  We plod on in the middle of the convoy.  Damn, the person at the front has gone the wrong way, taking us all on a longer route.  Lesson for today - always do your own navigation.  We arrive at a small village with a cafe and order hot soup; then head on to complete the final 4km for the day.  Most of the other walkers have given up, and are standing outside the cafe waiting for a bus.  

We reach Seatoller at 6pm, having walked 20km, and pitch our tent in the rain.  More bad news, there is no place to buy food in the village.  We walk an additional 2km to the next village for a place to eat.  After dinner we walk back another 2km in the dark and rain.  We crawl into our tiny tent at 9:30pm, knowing that we will be putting on soaking wet walking gear the next morning.  We've definitely had better days.  At least the forcast is better for tommorrow; maybe things will dry out during the day.

Distance Wallked Today : 24km