Friday, 10th August.
Well there’s no doubt that Laskill Country House will win my prestigious ‘Even Better Than Winning 4 In A Bed Best Accommodation Of The Bay 2 Bay Walk Award’. There was nowhere I could get to on foot for a meal and I’d completely forgotten to contact them beforehand to ask for something, but the owner Mandy made me a fantastic chicken salad which went down beautifully with a couple of bottles of Black Sheep Riggwelter. She had guests / friends eating with her so I sat in the lounge and relaxed. It was bliss!
I totally forgot to ask about this!
Mind you B&Bs often come with a level of expectation to chat, so upon first arrival I was met with coffee, delicious cake and a couple from Essex who pretended to be interested in my walk even if they weren’t, and I in turn pretended to be interested in shooting. They were also at breakfast along with another gentleman, a man of few words who, when he did speak sounded incredibly like Professor Snape. It looks like I am to be haunted forever!
Anyway today the Essex couple were heading back to Essex to shoot things and Snape was heading to Port Sunlight to visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery. I enthused about the gallery, Pre-Rafaelite painting in general and Port Sunlight village. I warned him that he might want to give the area around Port Sunlight a miss. I suggested a short train journey to Liverpool Walker Gallery to see further Pre-Rafaelite masterpieces. All the while he stared intently at me, said nothing and considered at length what he was going to turn me into.
So it was raining at breakfast and I prepared to get wet for the first time in a week, but was I going to? It had stopped before I left and I checked the forecast for where I was (rain in the afternoon) and where I was going to (no rain in the afternoon). Something had to give. As usual there was a rubbish path section, this time the first half mile. I’ve noticed that when the paths are good the mileage I cover is what I expect, and when they’re rubbish it’s much more because I spend so long zigzagging around to find the best route.
I wasn’t happy with today’s route on the map. I was in the North York Moors and wanted to be on them, not messing about in valleys and on piddly lumps, which is where I was being sent. As I approached the two mile mark I came to a junction and made a sudden decision to completely change today’s walk. My thought process was roughly as follows:
1. There are 3 main types of paths I can walk on; footpaths, bridleways and tracks.
2. Very few people walk around here, so the footpaths at this time of year are overgrown. They might be rights of way but you often can’t use your right of way without a fight.
3. Bridleways are usually a mess because horses’ hooves create a mudbath, but they are dry at the moment and clear, so a good option.
4. Tracks are good.
5. If it chucks it down I want to be on the moor in the open, not struggling through a sweaty valley.
6. The original route isn’t long enough and is mainly on footpaths in valleys.
7. I need more moor.
So now my new route, devised in 10 minutes at the junction, was totally different. I was now going to be following bridleways and tracks for an extra 5 miles or so and staying as much as possible on the moor, which turned out to be pretty much the entire time. Hey presto, the best day of the walk so far!
I only had to descend twice, once to a beck and once into a pretty valley. And when the rain came I was ready. I’d climbed out of the valley and was ready for lunch. I’d seen heavy showers passing to the south all morning, but finally I spotted one that had my name on it. It was upwind and I could watch it approaching while I ate my lunch and got togged up; waterproof jacket, trousers and rucksack cover. I just sat on a rock and waited for it, which got silly in the end because I was in a dark grey world but it hadn’t started raining at all. I decided to get moving again and finally it poured. 15 minutes later it had passed and that was all I got. The next hour was overcast but after that I could see what was coming my way from about 40 miles away and it was all fluffy white clouds.
Heading my way.
Still not raining. Come on, let’s be having yer!
My main target had been the Rudland Rigg Ridge. The Moors are basically a series of very long, broad ridges running NW to SE, which means that the valleys, rivers and roads do too because they have to. Rudland Rigg went on forever and felt like the top of the world, even though the ridge a few miles to the east was higher! I noticed a road running along the top of that ridge and recognised it as Blakey Ridge. This meant something to me so I scoured the skyline north and spotted the Lion Inn, a pub on top of the Moors which is on ‘The’ Coast to Coast Walk. I was actually nearer to that walk than the one I was supposed to be on!
I walked the length of the ridge followed by the last 2 miles on my official route in glorious sunshine, the end rather a different affair to yesterday’s mess. I even recreated an event from two years ago when Jen and I escorted a beetle across a road. This time it was a snail with a yard to go to reach the other side. I needed a rest so I sat down and waited the 10 minutes it took. Only one car passed so I nonchalantly stuck my legs out into the road and pretended to read the map. And I suppose the punchline is that 20 yards later I saw another, this one just setting out, so I picked it up and threw it into the grass on the other side.
Nearly there!
I am staying in the Barn Guest House and Tearoom (oh yes!) in Hutton-le-Hole, a very attractive, quirky village with a stream down the middle of the main street and sheep all over the place. I was in time for a cafetière and slice of lemon and ginger cake before getting ready to go to the Crown Inn next door to eat and watch United play Leicester in the opening match of the new season, either on telly or on my iPad.
Stats Zone:
The original route headed due east!
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