Final Thoughts

So how was the walk for us? Hopefully you'll have picked up from our posts, our enthusiasm for this great walk, which is one of the British classics. We had a real ball walking it and loved almost every minute - we say almost, as it wasn't all plain sailing.

Arriving at Robin Hoods Bay was a particular achievement for Wooly, who achieved his ambition of becoming the first sheep to walk the Coast to Coast walk. He'd already been crowned the first sheep to walk the Cumbria Way and we all wonder where his silver hooves and unquenchable ambition will take us next

There were 3 things which made our Coast to Coast pilgrimage quite special.

The first was the excellent route, and we have the incomparable Mr Alfred Wainwright to thank for this. It is interesting that the route is not actually a National Trail, probably because Wainwright always referred to it as 'a' Coast to Coast walk, not 'the' Coast to Coast walk. He was offering a suggestion, and all walkers are free to choose their own variation. We thought his route was so good, and kept us off the roads, so we stuck pretty faithfully to it, and were pleased we did.

As it is 'a' Coast to Coast walk, the way is not officially signposted, unlike National Trails which are. However, there are lots of way markings, some official, and others very informal. Our direction indicators ranged from the traditional wooden finger posts to these traffic cones which, if you look hard, do say Coast to Coast with arrows pointing the way ...

You had to keep your eyes open, as some direction indicators were quite small and subtle, such as this one, built into a stone wall ...

The second great ingredient of our trip was the fantastic Bed and Breakfast accommodation we  enjoyed. We've talked about many already, as they played such an important part in the journey, providing a warm and friendly welcome, comfortable beds and hearty cooked breakfasts.

We enjoyed the sheer variety of accommodation and this covered both the buildings and our hosts. It was so exciting to arrive a journey's end for each day and to discover what was in store for us. We were invariably pleased, and we even got to make some new friends ...

We'd didn't select the accommodation, and we were glad we hadn't as there was no way we could have done so well. The organisation we have to thank for booking us some great places to stay was the Coast to Coast Packhorse.

This brings us to the third, and most important ingredient of our trip, and this was our choice of the Coast to Coast Packhorse to arrange all elements of the trip for us. They booked our accommodation, arranged car parking, in their 2 minibuses they transported us out to the start and back to our car from the end, and each day they picked up our luggage and moved it on for us.

It was a friendly and efficient service and it ran like clockwork. We wouldn't choose anyone else and would recommend them to anyone considering the walk. As many of our Bed and Breakfast hosts told us, they are a 'country mile' ahead of the opposition.

Thanks Packhorse for looking after everything, allowing us to get on with the walking and having one of our best walking holidays ever.

We look forward to doing it all again one day, perhaps in another 18 years!

Lots of love

George, Yorkie, Gio and Wooly xxx

Journey's End: Robin Hoods Bay

While it would have been lovely to linger over, and savour, our final few miles, this wasn't actually an option as we had a deadline to keep. We were due to catch the Pack Horse minibus to take us back to our Bearmobile at Kirkby Stephen at 4.00 p.m.

As we had nearly 16 miles to do, we'd hoped to breakfast at 7.30 a.m., so as to be on our way at 8:00, but were told breakfast was at 8.00 and we didn't feel like arguing. However, our landlady assured us we would easily be in Robin Hoods Bay by 3.30 so we decided not to worry and to take the time needed to extract the last ounce of enjoyment from our last cooked breakfast.

We were still on our way by 08:30 and it was a good job we hadn't skimped on breakfast, as it was a long and steep road climb out of Grosmont - about 2 miles of 1:3 gradient, it was a good job we were now well honed walking machines.

After the road we had moor walking to Littlebeck, then it was into some attractive woods which included this very old hermitage (it's Gio perched on the poles to check it out) ...

... and also the impressive Falling Foss waterfall. We then alternated more road walking with more moor walking which included some very squishy sections. The sea came into sight and with it the realisation that we really were looking at the end.

We approached the sea via a caravan park and found ourselves on a delightful stretch of coast path. The views were wonderful and the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It could hardly have been more perfect and quite different to the windy and stormy weather as we set off along the coast from St Bees 2 weeks earlier.

We had made excellent time, reaching the coast at lunchtime. We therefore stopped on the coast path to enjoy a leisurely lunch and to admire the spectacular rock formations.

As it was such as lovely day and it was a Sunday afternoon, there were loads of people out enjoying the coast path. We were pretty certain though that most had only walked a mile to two and certainly not the 190 miles we had walked.

The saying that all good things come to an end is never truer than with the Coast to Coast walk. As the coast path ended we found ourselves strolling down a tarmac street with lots of other day trippers getting underfoot. It wasn't quite as exciting as the footpaths we'd covered, but it was still the C to C route until ... the beach was in front of us and the path had quite literally ended.

On one side there was the fairly modern map of the route, telling us we were at journey's end, on the other was a pub with the more classic end of the walk plaque which has been there quite a few years ...

... our female minder thinks she remembers it from her first walk completion around 18 years ago.

We had the traditional dipping of the boot in the sea and we sent a postcard or two, then there really was no reason to linger. The walk was over and our minibus transfer was waiting and ready to go whenever we were, so it was hello and goodbye to Robin Hoods Bay, giving credence to that old adage that it is better to journey than to arrive. The journey was what it was all about, and we had arrived.

We'll look back and reflect, next time.

Lots of love George, Yorkie, Gio and Wooly xxx

Half Way Today

We'd thought that it had been a long day walking over to Shap, but it was nothing compared to the day which lay ahead, officially a 21 mile day over to Kirkby Stephen, the half way point of the walk. We were feeling slightly daunted, but another cooked breakfast helped lift our spirits as did Margaret cheerfully telling us that our long walk to her house the night before, meant we could shave a bit off today's total.

The first landmark of the day was our crossing of the M6. This really did signify for me the end of the Lake District section, but I was keen to explore new pastures (literally). It was quite exciting crossing the M6 on the sturdy footbridge and we enjoyed waving at the motorists hurtling beneath us and seeing how many we could get to toot their horns at us.

The speed of the vehicles made our heads spin especially as we had enjoyed an almost traffic free week and got used to a slower pace of life.

The M6, followed by a big quarry, was quickly behind us, and normal service resumed as we found ourselves once again in open country. I had to admit it was still lovely scenery even though it wasn't the  Lake District.

Gio was happy when he found another of his monkish tiles depicting rural agriculture of days gone by.

We kept up a steady pace as we had a long way to go, but it was a beautiful walk on fairly easy terrain, so we could make good progress. We did quite a bit of moor walking, passing Robin Hood's grave and crossing limestone pavements, but also passed through lush pastures, perfect for a hungry sheep like me - talk about food on the go - and also one serious quagmire.

We had one big descent down to a river which gave us some marvellous Settle to Carlisle railway viaduct views, before a big climb out of the valley. As we got closer to Kirkby, we passed through a farm yard, where Gio had a sense of deja vu when he saw the yellow arrow pointing out the way.

For a moment Gio thought he was back on the Camino de Santiago where the path throughout Spain is marked by almost identical yellow arrows.

It was strange walking into Kirkby Stephen as this, being the Coast to Coast Packhorse base, was where we'd spent our first night before getting the minibus out to St Bees. It almost felt like coming home, even though it was by no means the end of our walk.

We were pleased to find we had made good time and were approaching our Bed and Breakfast accommodation shortly before 6.00 p.m. It was a rather special B and B, we'll explain why next time.

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