DAY 13 – Monday, 26th August 2002

The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge is an excellent pub and restaurant and the overnight accommodation excellent and is probably the best facilities which we have stayed in during the whole excursion. Nevertheless we were astonished to discover that they had served 1000 meals the previous day but the pub had been packed with people from when we arrived until we went to bed. I am not sure where they all come from as there is nothing else for miles around and I am equally unsure where they all go to when the pub closes although there is a campsite nearby.

The breakfast was superbly presented and the quality of the food excellent and this establishment is highly recommended for a visit. As Tina had collected us from Clay Bank Top the previous afternoon she had to return us to the same car park thereat for us to walk along the established route back to The Lion Inn which we had just left. The journey the previous day had been difficult so we decided to try to find an alternative route for Tina which did not involve any steep hills as she would obviously be returning from Clay Bank Top to Blakey Ridge alone in the car. Inevitably the route which we found did not contain any steep hills, was much longer, but we were happy in our own minds that whilst we were walking, Tina would not encounter any unforeseen difficulties.

I had my first blister, on the ball of the left foot and Tina put a Compeed plaster on it after bursting the blister. This eased it considerably, it had only proved to be an irritant and not a deterrent. The first section of the walk from Clay Bank Top was the inevitable climb up to the ridge of the hills. The masochist Wainwright loved the hills but is obviously not so keen on the flat areas and almost every start to the day has provided a long climb. Today was no exception and although we started from Clay Bank Top at 11.15 a.m. we did not reach the ridge of the hills until an hour later.

There is very little to talk about on today’s comparatively short walk to Blakey Ridge (approx. 9 miles) because once we got up onto the ridge the remainder of the course through to Blakey Ridge was fairly flat with good paths and underfoot conditions. The only problem was that there was a strong north-easterly wind which was obviously against us and which was very cold, particularly evident when we were high up. For the first time since we left St. Bees I felt some pressure on the hamstring which I had damaged a few weeks prior to the commencement of the walk and I suddenly realised that I had forgotten to do the exercises prescribed by the physiotherapist before starting today’s walk. This was a sharp reminder to me that I could not take anything for granted and it was a good job that the walk today was a lot easier than most and, apart from the initial climb, was very straightforward.

The walk took us across the heather-clad Yorkshire Moors mainly following the line of a disused railway where the marks of the redundant sleepers could be clearly seen. The visibility was not particularly good and we did not see the outline of The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge until we were about a mile away. We saw a lot of walkers today, all either going to or had been to The Lion Inn, dependent upon which way they were walking.

Tina phoned Pat on his mobile to say that she had got back to our base i.e. The Lion Inn, at 1.15 p.m. and I was relieved that she had found it alright as anywhere on the moors is a difficult journey. Pat told her that we were making good progress and that, hopefully, we would be back at the Inn in about 1 ½ hours. We did eventually arrive at 2.50 p.m. and we were pleased with the day’s results. The area is the bleakest place in England that I have ever been to but, in sharp contrast, the pub is the busiest I have ever been in. It is full from lunch-time through to its close and I understand it is like that almost every day. It must be a “goldmine” but also very hard work and there are 32 full-time staff with extras brought in at peak times. As we were early back today we ordered soups/sandwiches and then booked a table for bar meals at 7 p.m. We are really enjoying our brief stay at The Lion Inn, had an excellent evening meal, and we are pleased that we chose this location for a two night stay.

DAY 14 – Tuesday, 27th August 2002

Another sumptuous breakfast at The Lion Inn was tinged with sadness when we learnt that a lady walker from Whitehaven had been killed at Shap and four others critically injured. Apparently two cars had been involved in an accident and one had careered into the walkers. It brings it to mind that sections of this Coast of Coast walk which takes place on the roads are dangerous but I would not have thought that the short section on the road around Shap came into that category and I suppose that fate has taken a hand and that it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We were probably a little reluctant to leave The Lion at Blakey Ridge which was a very lively place but with excellent accommodation but nevertheless we had to get on our travels again and we set off at 9.50 a.m. At our team meeting the previous evening we had decided that as it was a comparatively short run (sorry, walk) to our next location, Glaisdale, only 9 miles, we would walk an extra 5 miles to Grosmont so that the final day’s walk to our ultimate destination Robin Hood’s Bay would be reduced accordingly. The first three miles from a bleak Blakey Ridge were all on the road and proved to be more difficult than anticipated. A strong wind had moved slightly to be a very cold north-easterly and was blowing straight into our faces and made the first part of today’s walk very tiring when it should have been comparatively easy and relaxing.

After we had gone 1 ½ miles, Tina passed us on the road in her Vauxhall Corsa car having checked us all out of The Lion Inn and we flagged her down as I was not feeling too great and we took various things out of my rucksack to relieve some pressure. I was a little apprehensive about going on to the desolate moors when not feeling too well but the short break which we had coincided with the wind dropping and the sun coming out. The day got better and better and the sun shone for the rest of the day.

Although we had only had two complete days of rain, most days had been overcast and this was the first time we had had several hours of consistent sunshine. We reached Glaisdale at 1.30 p.m. and met Tina for lunch at The Mitre Tavern. We only had soup/sandwiches as we still had 5 miles walking to do to get to Grosmont. We left Glaisdale at 2.45 p.m. by a steep descent towards the Railway Station and continued through the woods alongside the River Esk. This was very pleasant and relaxing and we came to a village called Egton Bridge which possessed some very expensive looking properties.

One amusing part here was that there was an old Toll road running through the estate and there was a notice, dated in 1948, depicting the Toll charges. These included Motor Cars (1 shilling), Motor Homes (2 shillings) and a Hearse (6 pence). I am not sure how much business they derived from the Hearse but there was a church nearby so I presume they had planned accordingly!

We proceeded along the paths and roads to Egton itself and then carried on for a further 1½ miles to Grosmont where we met Tina who had parked her car on the pub car park next to the Railway Station. The steam train was in but Pat was in too much of a hurry to get into the pub for his necessary lubrication whilst Mary was still looking demure as though she was ready to set off rather than having walked 14 miles. When we had finished our drinks and Tina had got her next day’s directions from the barman, avoiding big hills which she says her car doesn’t like, we travelled from Grosmont back to Glaisdale where we had booked in at Lanes Farm (not a working farm nowadays), proprietors Brian and Julie Lake. Julie is a Leicester girl so we had local things to talk about and we all stayed in, after an evening meal, to watch Manchester United win by five clear goals in the Champions League.

DAY 15 – Wednesday, 28th August 2002

We are all “demob happy” as it is our last day’s walking to achieve our objective of walking, climbing and more climbing across the breadth of England from St. Bees in Cumbria on the West Coast to Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby on the East Coast.

We had a very pleasant, hospitable stay at Lanes Farm and a good breakfast to give us the fortification to continue our journey towards the East Coast. At the team meeting last night we looked at the alternative route of going more direct in the latter stages to Robin Hood’s Bay rather than go the extended route around the cliffs and we decided to take the shorter route.

We left Lanes Farm after a lengthy breakfast to travel to Grosmont where Tina had collected us the previous afternoon. We had travelled less than a mile when Julie Lake came after us; Mary and Pat had left their clothes at the Farm but fortunately they had packed them and they were handed over without causing us any delay.

Today was to be a reunion day as Peter and Melva (the two Australians) had arranged to catch us up. We last saw them three days ago and they were starting from Glaisdale at about 8.45 a.m. with the object of being in Grosmont by about 10.15 a.m. We didn’t see them when we were travelling by car to Grosmont but as we were approaching our starting point we did see two ladies (Christine and her mother) who started their walk at Shap and whom we had seen from time to time during the walk, although they seemed to like to walk by themselves rather than in a group. We arrived at the pub car park in Grosmont where we had walked to yesterday and put on our walking boots for, hopefully, the last time on this trip and we started off at 10.20 a.m.

Christine and her mother were just coming over the level-crossing at Grosmont and we walked with them up the 1 in 3 hill going out of Grosmont. It would have been sacrilege not to have started the day off without a substantial climb and the masochist Wainwright would have been proud of us having planned our final day to start with a hill climb. We looked back when we were part-way up the hill, to see Peter and Melva coming up behind us. We waited for them and we all walked up the hill together. When we eventually got to the top, forty minutes later, I had my drinks break and Christine and her mother carried on.

My physiotherapist in Leicester had given me specific exercises to do in a warm up prior to each day’s walk and had also told me not to dehydrate, and take drinks regularly. I have followed her advice religiously but it is noticeable that I take drinks far more regularly than either Mary or Pat. We walked on the prescribed route on paths and through the moors towards Goathland where we saw what looked like a “coffee stop” on waste ground near the side of the road, with several cars parked nearby. On closer examination, as we got near to the site, we saw that on the side of the van it said “T.V. and Camera crew catering”. We stopped and talked to the crew who were preparing for a day’s filming of Heartbeat in nearby Goathland. This really impressed Peter as, apparently, they get this programme in Australia and it is one of his favourites.

We carried on towards Littlebeck where we had to climb another massive hill, this time only 1 in 4 and I was assured that this would be the last major hill on our epic journey. We successfully climbed it, yet another hill that seemed to go on and on and made our way on our final leg towards Robin Hood’s Bay. It has been a lovely sunny day, probably the best weather we have encountered although yesterday was pleasant, and at 2 p.m. we reached a crucial point in our travels. The decision had to be made as to whether we took the long way round through Hawkser and around the cliff top into Robin Hood’s Bay or the shorter more direct alternative route to the Bay. Understandably, the West Australian Peter, who had conned his wife Melva into this expedition by telling her it was a walk around the Lake District, wanted to go the whole hog and walk the cliff-top whilst the rest of us just wanted to get to Robin Hood’s Bay as quickly as possible. Peter was quite prepared to go on his own knowing that his wife Melva was O.K. with the rest of us but Pat decided he would accompany Peter. Mary, Melva and I went by the more direct route via a public footpath a little further up the road.

We had our last look at the moors and after losing the path across the final field we saw a very welcome sign which said “Robin Hood’s Bay – 2 miles”. We crossed the busy A171 and made our way towards our destination where we finally arrived at 2.55 p.m. As we turned the corner into Robin Hood’s Bay we saw Tina awaiting us on the front of the Victoria Hotel where we shall be staying for the next two nights. We felt surprisingly good, obviously elated and sat down with our customary post-walk drinks whilst awaiting the arrival of Pat and Peter. They subsequently arrived at 4.15 pm. and we all went down into the Bay together to do the time-honoured thing by dipping our boots into the water and leaving the pebbles which we had collected on the West Coast resort of St. Bees, on the East Coast resort of Robin Hood’s Bay.

On the way down to the Bay we had seen a sign which indicated that the total mileage of the Coast to Coast walk is 192 miles (2 miles extra to our own schedules) and that certificates were available to all successful walkers in the Coast to Coast bar. We all duly collected our certificates – mine is No. 7950. We then made our way very slowly up the steep hill back to the Victoria Hotel where all six of us met for dinner and we also consumed two bottles of celebratory champagne – the end of a lengthy successful journey across the breadth of England which contains fabulous memories and many painful moments!