Day 10 – C2C Walk

A strange feeling this morning as we awoke with the alarm at 6am. This would be the last time we would be doing this. The last alarm call, the last fry up and the last day leaving our bags behind to walk to another town. Part of me is disappointed but I’ve also this great excitement of how this day will end. So up we get and as mentioned another full English, this being the best of the lot. It had the lot, 2 sausages, beans, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, mushrooms, black pudding and fried bread. Mark thinks I’ve become a bit of a sausage expert on this trip as every day we get different locally produced ones with some fantastic tastes. It’s the topic of conversation every morning until we get going lol.
Then it’s out the door, across the railway crossing and immediately into a 30% gradient hill for 2 miles. This is the last one though and it really shows how fit we have become as we powered up at 23 min mile pace. I think we also, both were keen to get these last few miles out of the way, non more so once we reached the top as we once again had to trek through boring moorland. Thankfully this time it was just a couple of miles and it did offer us our first amazing view of the day. Whitby Abbey and the North Sea. This really brought it home to us that we are gonna do this and it put a spring in our step.
As we dropped off the moor the spring went a little when we entered Little Beck Wood. Wainwright mentions this in his guides as a forest teaming with wildlife. What he didn’t mention was that the wildlife don’t play out when it’s raining and the whole wood is one muddy mess of ups and downs that are treacherous to navigate. That said there are two things that make it worth the walk through. The first is a giant boulder of around 12ft called The Hermitage that a George Chubb has carved the centre out of to make a cave. Above the doorway are carved his initials and the date 1790 and when you enter there is even a stone seat carved out so you can sit and view the woodland. Above the rock if you climb up are two stone wishing chairs and it’s said that if you make a wish in one you must then sit in the other to make the wish come true. Unfortunately although we saw the rock and went inside, we didn’t know about the chairs until after the walk was over. I think I’d have wished for all the bloody mud to dry up lol.
The second is a stunning waterfall around half way through called Falling Foss. It’s approx 30ft high and mostly surrounded by foliage but because of the rain that had fallen overnight and the showers today, it was in full flow and stunning to view.
The trail through the woods goes on for another mile and then starts to climb gently out towards some moorland. The views looking back over Littlebeck Wood are well worth a glance back looking like a green carpet through the valley. I just never tire of these amazing views day after day. Across the moorland we went and then came a boggy field. I had managed to keep my feet dry for all previous 9 days through boggy fields and by amending our route at times. How typical on the last day to take a path right into shin deep water. My shoes filled with water and made the rest of the day a little uncomfortable. By now though it didn’t matter as we hit the road and marched on through Hawster and up towards Northcliffe Caravan Park which is where we finally hit the coastal path. Just 2 more miles now along this path and a slight edge taken off the walk as the showers had churned up the mud again. Around Halfway down the path and the rain stopped and the views of the coves and rocks hit us. What a wonderful way to march into Robin Hoods Bay.
Just as we reached the top of the very very steep road down to the sea we came across a bloke dressed in authentic woollen WW1 uniform complete with jack boots and a hessian rucksack. We had heard about him the previous night at Grosmont but hadn’t realised just what he was doing. A chat on the hill revealed he was doing the Coast to Coast for the 3rd year running, in just 14 days, he was 71 years old and from Colne. What a remarkable coincidence and what a top effort. We put the change in our pocket into his Help For Heroes tub and all entered the North Sea together. An amazing way to end this incredible challenge.

We took our pebbles and threw them into the sea to signal the end of 10 incredible days. A photo in front of the plaque on the wall of the Bay Hotel and then inside to Wainwrights Bar to firstly sign the Coast to Coast book and then to toast the achievement with a pint of Wainwrights ale. It wouldn’t be right to drink anything else now would it?

We have walked 195 miles across three national parks in just 10 days at an average pace of 2.4mph. We both have an amazing suntan and on the blister front I incredibly have none at all but unfortunately Mark has suffered quite badly with them. Even the Compeed could keep them at bay for him.

We have met some wonderful people and seen some amazing views from the wonderful mountains and lakes in the Lake District, the simply stunning fields and rivers in the Yorkshire Dales (especially Swaledale) and the baron desolate moorland on the North Yorkshire Moors. I have tried to describe in this blog, and capture in my photographs, the views as best I can but I promise you no matter how good you think they are, it’s nothing compared to seeing it yourself. I honestly can’t wait to do this again although it will have to wait a while. The best experience of my life by far and although I’m incredibly proud of the achievement I’m also a little sad it’s all over.

So that’s it, I hope you have all enjoyed my blog and that it inspires some of you to go and do this yourselves. In the meantime I just want to ask for one last time that you consider the reason I’ve done all this, to raise much needed funds for Pendleside Hospice. You can securely donate at https://www.justgiving.com/gr4ph/

Thank you all for your support.