Day 106 – Runswick Bay to Robin Hood’s Bay

Mike has joined us again for this outing, and the four of us rendezvous at York station to catch our cab (pre-ordered for 10:35) back to Runswick Bay – although the word “cab” doesn’t adequately convey the nature of the transportation. The BMW in which we were taken to York on day 105 was a bit of a squeeze for four passengers and so Mike has ordered a people carrier for today. But the vehicle which picks us up is more akin to a mini-bus and, indeed, bears the words “Executive Coaches” on the side. We therefore enjoy a considerable amount of space, which is just as well because the driver follows a few more country roads than we experienced on our last trip, so the journey takes somewhat longer. We arrive at Runswick Bay at 12:15 and, with the tide going out, are able to set off along a slipway and onto some shale at the top of the sands to reach a break in the cliffs about half a mile away. This leads to some steps which climb steeply up the hillside to reach the appropriately named High Cliff. We stay on the cliff top – with occasional diversions through farms, fields and, briefly, along a disused railway track – for an hour or so, and then walk down through trees to reach Sandsend. Here, appropriately, we get our first beach action of the day and, because we’ve struck lucky with the tides (not for the first time), we’re able to walk round a headland and stay on the beach for a good two or three miles until we get to Whitby. Alongside the harbour, we encounter the temptation of crab sandwiches, which is not resisted. Equally, having heard that it will take a few minutes for the sandwiches to be prepared, we don’t resist the temptation of whiling away that time by having a pint at the nearby Ship Inn. Duly refreshed, we collect our sandwiches which are eaten as we cross the swing bridge over the mouth of the River Esk and before climbing the Church Stairs (199 of them) up to Whitby Abbey. The coast path runs along the perimeter wall of the Abbey and eventually leads to a holiday park. On leaving the park, we rejoin the cliff top path but, as this continues, Ben becomes uncomfortable with its proximity to the cliff edge and decides to take an inland route which can be accessed from a former Fog Signal Station near Whitestone Point. Gary accompanies him and they walk along a road and over some fields to get to a cycle trail near Hawsker which runs pretty much parallel to the coast all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay. Meanwhile, John and Mike stick to the coastal route and, although this dips down to/rises up from a number of streams, it’s slightly shorter than the inland diversion and they arrive at our overnight stop, Fernleigh B&B, around 6 o’clock and about 20 minutes ahead of Ben and Gary. We are introduced to the comforts of Fernleigh by our hosts, Chris and Jane, which include drizzle cake and bottles of water in the lounge/breakfast room, and millionaire shortbreads in the bedrooms. And when we reconvene in the lounge before popping out for supper, we discover that we also have access to a decanter of sherry which we decide that it would be churlish to ignore by way of aperitif. Chris and Jane have suggested the Grosvenor as a good pub food place to eat, and it’s certainly popular when we get there. All the tables are occupied, but it looks as though some people are coming to the end of their meals and so, for the second time today, we have a drink while we’re waiting, and it proves to be a wait of only a few minutes before a table is available. We’re told that the popularity of the pub this evening is in part explained by the prospect of live music which is due to start at 9 o’clock. The band are setting up as we finish our meal (which matches up to the advance publicity given by Chris and Jane) and, rather than supplementing the bottles of white and red already consumed with music filling our ears, we repair to the Victoria, an equally friendly pub along the road down to the Bay, for a double sticky each. Then back to Fernleigh for a very good kip.     

Day 105 – Redcar to Runswick Bay

The distance to Runswick Bay is about 17 miles and involves several climbs. Strong gusting south-westerly winds are also forecast, although Ben is at pains to point out that most of the walk is in a south-easterly, and sometimes easterly, direction so we shouldn’t be going directly into the wind. However, to reach Runswick Bay in time to meet our pre-ordered taxi at 2:30 will necessitate an 8 o’clock start, and breakfast is available at O’Grady’s at 7. In yet another break with tradition, Mike orders beans with his full English. It’s been a very good place to stay and we’re on our way, with a complimentary bottle of water (flavoured) each, in time to get back to the sea front just before 8. The exertions of yesterday, and perhaps the prospect of those of today, have created a slight weariness within the team, but thankfully the first five miles are flat and scarcely affected by the wind. John is keen to spend as much time as possible on the sand (or shingle), but the rest of us stay on the sea front until the end of the first hour when we join John on the beach at Marske and continue to Saltburn. We now have our first climb – some steep steps onto the cliff edge path, followed by a relatively gentle ascent to Hunt Cliff. Here we encounter the predicted strong gusts of wind but, as forecast by Ben, they tend to be from our right rather than in our faces. For a while, the path runs alongside a railway (a mineral line serving a potash mine further down the coast) but then moves back to the cliff edge. We come back down to sea level at Skinningrove, and go through an old jetty and the village itself before again going up some steep steps to the top of the hill on the south east side of Skinningrove and then climbing the hillside to reach the cliff top at Hummersea. Thankfully, this is followed by a reasonably flat mile or so before we have to climb again to reach Rock Cliff which, at 203 metres above sea level, is apparently, the highest point on the east coast of England. It suddenly strikes us that this is our first cliff top walk of any length (with intervening descents and ascents) since the South West Coast Path, but our climbing for the day is not over. We come back to sea level at Boulby, and walk through Cowbar into Staithes where a steep lane leading out of the very attractive village, and a track to our left, lead us back up to some hillside fields and the edge of a farm. To rejoin the coastal cliffs, we need to walk along a fenced path of about 150 yards in length between two of the farm fields. This should be a grass path, but it is almost entirely filled with what looks and smells like slurry. John’s comments about the farmer as we spend nearly 5 minutes squelching our way through the muck do not bear repetition. Needless to say, much of the next half an hour is spent walking off piste wherever we can to find some long grass which might take at least the surface dirt – and some of the smell – off our footwear. Our attempts are reasonably successful and we’re soon through Port Mulgrave (without, despite its name, having to descend again to sea level) and approaching Runswick Bay shortly after 2 o’clock. A hotel comes into view where the end of the track meets the road at Runswick but, unfortunately, this is the Runswick Bay Hotel (and is closed) rather than the Royal Hotel where we’re supposed to be meeting our taxi. We need to go down a hill to the bay itself where we find our driver waiting. It’s not quite 2:15 and he’s perfectly happy for us to go to for a drink before we leave. The Royal takes a bit of finding (it nestles among some tightly packed cottages) but we have time for a pint and a change of footwear before returning to our transport at the appointed time of 2:30. A very cosy drive over the moors and through Pickering to York is accomplished by our Romanian driver (what’s Romanian for Colin?) in just under 90 minutes which enables us to have a farewell drink with Mike in the York Tap at the station before John’s train leaves. Ben and Gary manage to squeeze in a further half before their train leaves 15 minutes later. First walk of the year, and 35 miles accomplished. Not bad.      

Day 104 – Hartlepool to Redcar

The first two walking days of 2018 are in mid-April due, among other things, to Ben having secured some work at Roehampton University during its Spring Term. However, given that we’ve only just entered the first relatively settled period of an otherwise very wet so called spring, this is probably a blessing. Ben and Gary travel to Hartlepool on a direct train from London and en route meet up at York with John (who spent the night with his son in Birmingham) and also Mike Jopson who lives just outside York and is joining us for these two days and possibly for some future days in the area. We arrive in Hartlepool at 11:10 and are back at our 2017 end point by 11:30. Mike hasn’t chosen the most scenic of sections to start his walking experience with us. We get about an hour of beach action between Hartlepool and Seaton Carew, but then need to move away from the sea in order to get through industrial Teesside. Initially, this involves crossing some dunes and Seaton Carew Golf Course, and then around five miles alongside the A178 to Middlesbrough. Apart from crossing the road on several occasions (and John taking two or three interesting diversions along unofficial and rather damp grass paths) in order to keep as far away as possible, but not very far, from haulage traffic, the only point of any note is the sighting of several seals in and alongside Greatham Creek which we cross about half way along the road. Subsequent study of a local map reveals that this is not a million miles away from an area called Seal Sands (eat your heart out Chris Packham) which, despite its name, still seems to be in the middle of a huge industrial estate. Anyway, at long last – i.e. shortly after 2:15 – we turn off the A178 to reach the Tees Transporter Bridge. This is a gondola suspended by cables from the main beam which can carry about six cars plus pedestrians across the Tees in 2 or 3 minutes. For us pedestrians, this comes at a cost of a mere 60p each, so we decide not to bother asking about concessions. On the south side, we go around a small dock leading off the river and pass the Riverside Stadium which we think might be the first professional football ground which we’ve seen, whilst walking, since we left Poole Harbour 7 years ago. A couple of hundred yards after the stadium we turn right, cross the Middlesbrough to Saltburn railway line, and then turn left – resisting any temptations of the Navigation Inn – onto a narrow track. However, although we are now thankfully away from roadsides and on what is the start of a section of the England Coast Path, our surroundings still aren’t particularly picturesque. To our left is the railway with what look like disused steelworks beyond, and the coast even further beyond. To our right are a series of storage depots, with fuel pipes running outside them, and a particularly malodorous biofuels plant. But after 90 minutes or so, we’re on the outskirts of Redcar and, having crossed some fields, we reach the Cleveland Golf Links and our first view of the sea since leaving Seaton Carew over 4 hours ago. Unfortunately, the tide is in (can’t have everything I suppose) so there’s little opportunity for any evening beach action before we reach our overnight stop, O’Grady’s, a pub with rooms 200 yards from the sea front, at about 6 o’clock. We’ve walked almost 19 miles in around six and a half hours so it’s perhaps not entirely surprising that, in a break with tradition, we have two pints before freshening up. For £35 per night B&B, the rooms are incredibly good value. Supper is also excellent, particularly the cod – which may or may not be from Whitby – and is washed down with a couple of bottles. Ben retires before stickies, and the rest of us have just the one double Talisker each before climbing the wooden hill at 9:30.