To the Edge of the Moors

We enjoyed our stay in Danby Wiske. It's an optional stopping point on the Coast to Coast - many go straight through to Ingleby Cross - but if we had done the same, we would have missed some real treats: the fine ales in the White Swan, the sword dancing and a lovely stay with Frank and Doreen at the Old School House.

The other advantage is that you don't have too far to walk the next day. We were in Ingleby Cross at lunchtime ... 

... where the Cross is quite prominent, as is the local pub, which provided a welcome diversion.

We sat outside with our drinks as it was a fine day. We watched a man across the road from the pub swapping cars in his drive. They weren't any old cars though, they were classics. The Morris Minor was moved out of the drive and parked outside the pub, right beside it. We got chatting to it's driver as he was a friendly sort. And just look who was sitting in the back seat ....

... what a fine figure of a bear he was and he fitted the car so well he looked perfectly at home. We got permission to sit in the car so as to have a chat and we felt very small in comparison. Our new friend was a gentle giant though, and kindly offered us a lift, but of course we declined, as we planned to walk every step of the way. 

We didn't stop in Ingleby Cross, as most Coast to Coast walkers do, but walked on a bit further, then diverted off the main Coast to Coast path to overnight at Osmotherley. This is a good place to stay as there is a variety of accommodation and a choice of pubs and eating places. 

On our afternoon's walk, which took us to the edge of the North York Moors, we got very close to a trig point.

This was quite exciting as a) it signified a return to higher ground after a lengthy, but not unpleasant flat section and b) it was a trig point to feature (soon!) on our sister blog, Bears on Trig Points. 

We all looked longingly ahead to the high ground of the moors before turning round to go into Osmotherley. We were all looking forward to the next section of the walk. 

Lots of love, Wooly, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx

Richmond and Beyond

After Reeth came Richmond.  We were quite excited as we approached Richmond as it has a lot of interesting history and we were arriving early with plenty of time in hand to look round.

However, and sorry Richmond, it was a bit disappointing and we found little to do there. We did get the feeling that Richmond has fallen on hard times and around the castle walls was evidence of a significant street drinking problem. Our Bed and Breakfast, Frenchgate, however, was another good one, with fabulous conservatory views, and we had a peasant pub meal and a good night's sleep. What more does one need?

The next morning we reached another important milestone, this being the crossing of the A1. Actually we didn't cross it, we passed under it, which wouldn't normally be worth mentioning, except for the fact that our female minder reported vivid memories of crossing over the A1 on her previous Coast to Coast walk. She found it hard to believe that she had unknowingly gone 'off piste' before.

Being keen racing fans, as many of our readers will know, we were quite excited to find that the C to C route took us right past Catterick racecourse. Sadly there was no racing on that day, but as we had not yet ticked off Catterick, we stopped off to have a bit of a sneak preview.

By now the terrain was pretty flat so it was easy walking to Danby Wiske where we were to stay for the night. The village is blessed by an excellent Bed and Breakfast in the Old School House, where Frank and Doreen proved to be lovely hosts. There is also the White Swan Inn which offered a great range of real ales and served up a good meal later on. As we sampled our first beer, at about 3.30 p.m.  we were pleased to be re-acquainted with some fellow C to C walkers. They were not stopping overnight and were doing the long 23 miles to Ingleby Cross, so had a long way still to go. They had blisters and were very envious of us, who had finished walking for the day, as they really did not want  to set out again. We tried not to feel smug - actually we didn't, as they were lovely Australian ladies and we were quite worried for them.

Quite by accident we'd picked a good night to be at the pub, as the local sword dancing club, of which the Landlord is a member, were practising in the pub that night. 

It was very entertaining and the music was good too. We like having authentic entertainment for free, and of course, being adventurous bears, we couldn't resist having a go. We took care to keep our paws  clear of the blades as we needed them for the rest of the walk. 

Lots of love

George, Yorkie, Gio and Wooly xxxx

Alls Well that Ends Well

So there we were mapless, guideless and pretty much clueless as to where to walk. Fortunately this is where staying at good accommodation pays off. We popped down to see the friendly owner and explained our predicament. Suddenly it was not a problem at all. He went through his own set of maps and came up with the 1:25000 map of the area, which he was prepared to lend us.

Phew, what a gent and a true holiday saver. We now had a map showing all possible paths from Keld to Reeth. The nightmare had well and truly gone and the sun had come out, in more ways than one.

There was only one (small) problem and that was that the Coast to Coast route wasn't marked on the map. Once again though, fortune was smiling on us, and Michael (of the big breakfast fame) and his friend, were outside sorting out their gear. They lent us their guide book so we could see the 2 route options and mentally transfer them to our map. As it was a hot day, our friends were going to take the river route rather than the moorland option. We thought this might be a good choice, but decided to make the final decision when we reached the parting of the ways.

As we chatted, Michael's friend told us he had left his waterproof jacket at the previous night's stop, and we felt better when we realised that we weren't the only ones mislaying vital gear.

We set off in high spirits, looking forward to the day's walk. The Swaledale scenery was amazing and the sun was well and truly out. All was well with the world.

When we got to the old tractor which marked the parting of the 2 routes to Reeth ...

... we stopped for a little play on it and decided to have a photo. Our simple request for a photo resulted in a squawk, similar to the earlier, 'we have no map' one. This was because we had no camera. Our female minder decided it must have been left on the dressing table in our room and forgotten in the confusion and panic of dealing with the 'no map' situation.

Our noble male minder said he would go back to the Lodge and collect it. It was about a mile and it wasn't flat terrain. Our female minder waited at the tractor with us and the rucksacks. No sooner had our male minder disappeared from sight, when she started to think more logically about where the camera could be. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that it wasn't back at the Lodge, but had been packed away in the overnight bag, along withe the map. She tried to phone but there was no signal and anyway the other phone was with us in the abandoned rucksack.

Although he made good time, it was a long wait for our male minder's return. As predicted, the camera had not been left at the Lodge. By this time, the morning was half over, so we decided to take the more straightforward river route, rather than the moorland route, which some of us had walked twice before anyway. There was some other logic to our thinking. It was a very hot day, and there was a pub marked on the river route, but not on the moorland route.

Sadly, when we got to the pub it had recently closed - for good, not just that day. However, the walk along the Swale was superb and, at times, gave us some much needed shade and the opportunity to paddle.

Some of the route was across lush pastureland, with lots of gated stiles as in our picture below.

Now, I realise that I might be a fairly compact sheep, but I couldn't help wondering if the gates were really necessary. Only a rambo sheep could climb up those steps and then he'd probably be too fat to squeeze throughout the gap.

As we neared Reeth we had to do a river crossing using some ginormous stepping stones. Just look at the size of them compared to us. The distance between them might have been fine for humans but we had to pole vault between them. True we could have hitched a rucksack lift, but it wouldn't have been as much fun.

We liked Reeth when we arrived as it was full of pubs and had a nice green and good facilities including a Post Office so we could post the borrowed map back. It was a 5 minute walk to our Bed and Breakfast where we discovered our hosts had only moved in a couple of day's earlier. They couldn't have been more welcoming though, and it was another great stay. The icing on the cake was unzipping our overnight bag and finding both the missing map and the camera.

We weren't going to make that mistake again. As an interesting twist, the lady in the Post Office knew the owner of Keld Lodge, so we had a pleasant chat about what a nice man he was.

Lots of love, Wooly, Gio, George and Yorkie xxx