22: Off we go to Scotland

Picked up our teensy weenie little car - a Peugout 107 - from the station at York (only 18 miles on the clock), packed in our luggage, said our farewells to Pete, Mandy, Narelle (will see them in Paris in a few days) and Pheebs, and off we set northbound.  We took back roads where possible and actually went through some of the places we walked through - funny seeing the c2c path and the walkers when you are in a car!  

Stopped at a few little towns along the way, including Masham which has the Theakstons brewery.  Didn't do the tour as Joe not quite the fan of their beer as Pete is, but the town very cute.  They were setting up for the annual sheep show over the weekend - I would have liked to stop as it looked like fun, but we are still a bit too far south to stop for the night.  We also stopped at very nice little castle ruin, can't remember the name now - need to check the map!

Had trouble finding somewhere to stay - Barnard Castle and Staindrop were all booked out, but we found a room at a Days Inn at a service centre just off the M1 at Bowburn - not scenic or with any personality but clean and functional.

Off again on Saturday morning, with laundry on our minds - almost out of clean clothes!  Found a laundromat at Morpeth so we stopped and had breakfast and a bit of a walk around town while we waited.  From there we went to Berwick Upon Tweed - what a great bridge that town has! 
 

We crossed into Scotland and made our way around the coast and found our way to Haddington - had a quick drink there, then made our way to Coulstoun - Joe very excited about visiting the family home which has been in the Broun family for over 900 years!  What an amazing house, set in the middle of a 2000 acre property - elephant tusks lining the stairways and lots of stuffed things, but also some lovely antique furniture!

We had a great dinner with Ludovic, the Laird of the property, Cameron and Freddy - great hospitality.  Loved sleeping in the four poster bed in the Rose Room - could have done with a stool to help me reach the bed though!  If you are in Scotland and looking for somewhere to experience life in a period Scottish country home, then you should consider staying at Colstoun



Next morning we backtracked a bit to North Berwick to Tantallon Castle, a wonderful ruin on a cliff face overlooking the North Sea.

The Castle overlooks Bass Rock - no people there, only thousands of sea birds - the island is covered in them and their guano.  Apparently in the 1800's the young gannets were the principal produce of the area, with their flesh described as "excellent if skinned and cooked like a beef-steak" & gannet eggs were a delicacy which often graced Queen Victoria's breakfast table!  If you have the time, go to the Scottish Seabird Centre where you can view what's going on with the gannets & puffins through live webcams on the Island.

Back in the baby car and onto the A1 to by pass Edinburgh, over the impressive Forth Road Bridge (a bit eerie as there were grid things beside the lanes where you could see through to the water {a long way} below), and up the coast stopping at a few little fishing villages along the way.  Stopped at Pittenwheen for lunch, hoping to get fish and chips overlooking the harbour, but nothing open, so we walked up the hill into town and had lunch at a little cafe/chocolate shop.  Yummy soup, sandwich and hot chocolate.  From there we went to St Andrews and had a look at their castle - not that big, but impressive in where it was built right on the edge of the cliff.

By this stage Joey was nearly beside himself with excitement about being so close to that revered birthplace of golf - St Andrews Old Course.  They were setting up for the Royal Dunhill tournament and we were able to walk around wherever we liked - Joey VERY impressed by this.

Headed from St Andrews to Stirling - no accommodation booked so we checked Lonely Planet for a couple of recommendations and found a really nice place within walking distance of the castle - we'll visit there tomorrow.

We walked up to the castle to get there around opening time.  It's built on a giant hill in town, with great views and is well preserved (& not in ruins).  You can understand why they built it were they did and why it was so hard to attack - getting up that hill unseen would have been impossible. 

Monument of William Wallace at Stirling Castle, overlooking his memorial in the distance

Off we go again on our way to Edinburgh - had booked into the Haymarket Hotel a few nights ago, but had only a very sketchy idea of where it was and the suburb not marked on our map - yes very helpful!  I had been thinking this might be a nasty, driving around looking for a needle in a haystack experience...  But hey, the road from the airport to the city took us right to where we wanted to go, and there was the hotel right on the corner - amazing!!   Found out there was no free parking nearby so decided to take the baby car back early since everything we wanted to see was within easy walking distance and the bus to the airport was only a five minute walk away, so dropped it off and headed into the city. 

We did a bit of a walk I had found in Lonely Planet that took us through some of the old parts of Edinburgh - little back lanes and around the bottom of the castle.  As always I can fiind interesting stuff to photograph...

  

My apologies to vegetarian readers, but this looked delicious.

21: Robin Hoods Bay then back to York

No cooked breakfast for us today given that there will be no serious walking - we have our figures to consider!  Cereal and toast only, then off down to the Dock to do the end of walk rituals of dipping your (preferably booted) toe into the waters of the North Sea and 'liberating' the pebble carried from St Bee's Beach.  Of course we also had to take a few group pics.

The walk might be over but there is still holidaying to be done - back up the hill, get our bags and off to the bus stop, where Fangio takes us the quickest trip between Robin Hoods Bay and Scarborough ever recorded. The bus is standing room only, full of poor old pensioners going shopping, and this guy is on the mobile to someone, driving the bus one handed at breakneck speeds - great fun!  Then an uneventful (by comparison) train trip to York. 

Spent the afternoon looking at York Minster (with a stained glass window the size of a tennis court), walking the city walls, visiting the Viking Centre and exploring The Shambles - York is a great city with lots to see and do.  We found a great little market in the middle of the old section of town featuring produce from Yorkshire - sampled some great artisan cheeses, hand made bread with butter made in front of us, smoked kippers and very delicious ice-cream made from rich yorkshire milk (probably from those fierce man-eating cows terrorising poor Pheebs).

Oh, and I saw a couple of good signs today....

 

20: Egton Bridge to Robin Hoods Bay

Our last day of walking - everyone up early for breakfast - Phoebe said she didn't sleep a wink last night she is so excited about this being nearly over - yes you may assume she has not enjoyed this experience quite as much as some of the rest of us!

Injury count:
Narelle - nothing to declare
Mandy:  2 blisters on day one, all good after that
Peter:  Quad tear - now hobbling down hills
Joe:  Nothing to declare - pre-existing injuries holding up well
Jenni:  5 black toe nails (not all on the same foot), Right 'Noble Toe' not happy
Phoebe:  both knees causing issues (esp downhill), early loss of morale never to be re-gained during walk!

So off we set on our last day of walking, through the rather elegant Manor House - Joe tried to get us an invite for breakfast when he was chatting to the Laird at the pub last night, but he didn't quite grasp Joe's aussie humour...  so we walk on by till we get to Grossmont - not quite as scenic as Egton Bridge, but possibly more well known as tourists and rail enthusiastics flock here to catch the North York Moors Railway - more commonly known these days as the Hogwarts Express!  Luckily we were just in time to see it arrive and depart!  I think it may be run by a bunch of old chaps who just love steam engines - they were all done up in their old time uniforms and looked like they were having a ball.

The guide book warned us not to be fooled into thinking that this last stage of the walk was a 'mere formality' and we now found out why - the hill out of Grossmont was particularly nasty - 30% grade that seemed to go on an on...  Pheebs enjoyed some help from Joe who pushed her up most of the way.  

Today's walk seemed to be a summary of everything that we've had before to just re-acqaint us before the finish - nasty hills, hard on the feet roads, forests, cute towns, moors, heather and of course a walk across England wouldn't be the same without a bit of bog to squelch through! 

We had a nice stretch of forest to wander through - Little Beck Wood - and we happened to find a new little tea house had opened since the guide book was written so stopped for a cuppa, biscuits and cheese, and maybe a slice of ginger cake (or two).  Suitably refreshed - well until Joe told us we had another 16km to walk to Robin Hoods Bay - we headed off again and finally caught sight of the sea.  But of course, as we've found on nearly every other day, it can take forever to actually reach the town, and today was no different - we seemed to circumnavigate RH Bay for hours!  Serious loss of morale was exprienced by most. 

Phoebe's loss of morale being revived by a giant choc chip biscuit

But we made it!  Just as it was starting to rain - we had thought today was going to be rain free,  but no, had to don the raincoat for the last few hundred metres.  Dropped our gear at the The Villa Bed and Breakfast and headed down to the dock to meet up with Gary and Scott (QLD Boys), Mike and Sue (English couple living on the NSW South Coast) and one of the guys from the WA 4.  A few congratulatory bevvies may have been enjoyed by all; Joe had the biggest chicken dinner that could be imagined, then we all trudged up the very steep hill to bed - very happy that we do not need to walk very far tomorrow!

We will dip our toes into the North Sea and throw the pebbles that we've carried with us tomorrow!

19: Blakeys Ridge to Egton Bridge

Woke up this morning to the sound of grouse - kind of a cross between a kookaburra warming up, a frog croaking and a duck quacking!  There are lots around - poor things should keep their heads down as it's the middle of the shooting season here.  Out of our window we could see these naughty lamby's who invited themselves into the hotels picnic ground!

A great days walking today - started off a bit overcast and we had a bit of rain, but who cares on the second last day of a long walk?

Off we set along the top of the moors along the road, then across the top of the ridge through lots of heather.  Quite flat for most of the day, till around midday we started to drop down a bit. 

Apparently we are in Harry Potter country - Gothland Station - Hogsmead in Harry Potter Land is quite near and we might go there tomorrow on our way.  We are also in 'Heartbeat' country - the pub we are staying in was Greengrass' local.

We had lunch at Glaisdale - we had made good time today so we stopped at the pub and had a real sit-down lunch instead of a sandwich by the side of the path (or huddled under the eaves of shepherds hut). 

Then a leasurely stoll through a little forrested path along 'pack pony' steps, put in place for pony's to carry stuff from the village to the monastery, into Egton Bridge - a very cute little town with some lovely old buildings and a great church (St Hedda's) with beautiful stained glass windows and the relics of Nicholas Postgate, a martyr executed in 1679, for continuing to practise his faith.

And a little piece of trivia for you: apparently Egton Bridge is the setting for the oldest surviving gooseberry show in England, established in 1800. The show is held on the first Tuesday in August each year by the Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society and this year saw 7 Society records broken!  Wow, that would have been a big event in this sleepy little village! 

Tonight we're staying at the Postgate Inn - Joe and Pete nipped down to the other local (in the pic above) - mmm yes this may be something of a pub crawl around Engand but we do need a reward after a long days walk!.  They came back very excited - they had met the Laird of Egton and his wife who had been out organising a hunt today - all decked out in the shooting gear.  A shoot with them costs two thousand pounds a day and there are 55 people working on a shoot - you even have someone to load your gun for you.

We intended to have dinner at the Postgate Inn, but the food prices are really high, so back down the road to the other pub.  Of course we had to walk back via the stepping stones over the River Esk - tricky after a night at the pub and when only one person in 6 has a torch - but fortunately all arrived back at the Postgate dry.

Only one days walking to go!!!

Phoebe looking very excited about having to only walk one more day

19: Great Broughton to Blakeys Ridge

Happy Birthday Lindsey - hope you had a great day and sorry we missed you when we rang.  Sounds like Mitch was cooking up a storm for your birthday dinner.

We had a late start this morning as only a short days walk - only 15kms today!  David from the hotel dropped up back up to where we finished last night and off up again - we seem to always start the day with a bit of a climb - only about 400 - 500 metres today, so a piece of cake!

The sheep here are very photographic!

Weather good when we started, and again a lovely walk.  Once we reached the top of the ridge we followed an old railway line (made into a path - no tracks left) along the top of the moors.  Heather in flower everywhere and lots of grouse.  Some lovely views back into the valleys.

Tonight we are stating at the Lion Inn, built on the top of the moors and would have been on the railway line when it was operating.  Apparently the pub dates back to the fifteen hundreds - they must have been much shorter that people are now as even I am bumping my head on doorways!  The bar/restaurant is like a rabbit warren of caves, all very dark, but the rooms are quite nice (but tiny).  When we arrived there was a helicopter parked outside - someone must have been flown up for lunch!

Quite cool and really windy now, but I suspect that it's always windy here!


Looking up towards the Lion Inn

17: Danby Wiske to Ingleby Arncliffe

Forgot to post this post the other day so another one out of order...

The weather a bit dull today, and the route promises to be a bit of a flat trudge.  Wasn't long before the rain started so jackets on (again).  We passed mainly through paddocks or on lanes through farmland.  The others not so keen on this flat walking but I quite like seeing the farms, what is planted and what they are using all these great old barns and farm buildings for.  One dairy farm we passed through had all the calves separated from their mothers and housed in little 'kennels' - had to go over and have a bit of a play with a couple but they were more interested in sucking my jacket!

We got to Ingleby a bit earlier than expected so had lunch at a servo on the A19, then after taking our lives into our own hands trying to cross the A19, headed into the village to find our B&B Somerset House - realy lovely place and nicely set up, but owner seemed quite over having guests, hardly spoke to us and was out of lunch ingredients because it was the '"end of the season" - quite a change from some of the other places we've stayed at.

Pheebs and I stayed and read, while Narelle and Mandy went to look at the local Priory (known for its ancient drainage system) and Joe and Pete went to the Bluebell Inn for a pint (or 2).  Apparently the owner of the pub was a steeplechase jockey and his son is the current chanpion jockey.

The boots got a bit muddy walking through the farms today

18: Ingleby Arncliffe to Greater Broughton

Not so great breakfast this morning - expectations were high but not delivered! 

Had a great chat with a guy at the pub last night who was a 'beater' for grouse shoots - he gets paid 40 pounds to wander around the moors scaring grouse out of the heather.  Apparently the price to shoot a grouse here this season is 100 pounds - that's a lot of money for a bird - plus a cartridge costs you around 1 pound.  This is not a sport of the common folks!

Anyway off we set this morning through the village and up past the ? house.  The guy who owns it is a guy from the US who owns the worldwide patent for the softdrink gun dispensers in pubs. 

Up and up through the forest with great views back over the village, then up and up further along a roman road to the top of the moors - absolutely beautiful - weather clear and warm and the steps not too steep - perfect!  There were several quite steep sections, but the views were worth it, and somehow they didn't seem so tough today - I think the legs are finally getting accustomed to this hilly country.

Lots of grouse around (and shooters in the distance - it's the middle of the grouse season apparently).

A bit of rain at the top, but not enough to be too difficult, then a nice walk through a pine and oak forest till we make it back the main road.  Pete, Mandy, Narelle & Pheebs stopped along with way for a cuppa at a tea house, and Joe & I continued on.  We got to one point where it wasn't obvious which way to go, so Joe waited there for the others while I wandered on, knowing that it wouldn't take Joe long to catch me up.  Anyway on and on I walked and no sign of Joe (or anyone else) so I was starting to think that I'd managed to miss a turn, when another guy wanders along so I attach myself to him (safety in numbers!) till Joe finally catches up.  Apparently Pete's pulled a muscle in his leg and is taking it slow and Narelle and Mandy have taken the high route.  Of course phone reception up here is not so good, so keeping in contact is not easy.   Finally met up with Pete and Pheebs who had already rung the hotel to arrange our pick-up. 

David from the hotel collected us and brought us back to Wainstones Hotel (& will take us back to where we stopped tomorrow morning) - a frustrated F1 driver i think...  I'm sure the speed limit was about 80 miles an hour less than he drove! 

Now in the bar with Scott and Gary (QLD), Kevin (Traralgan), Joe, Pheebs and Pete (with ice on his leg).  Waiting for Narelle and Mandy for dinner - they walked the high route to the waintsones so are bit behind us.

Pheebs and the 'Silver Fox' Scott

Gary and Kevin

16: Richmond to Danby Wiske

Day 11 done and dusted - we can't believe we are on the last 3rd of the walk - over 200km finished.  My feet are living proof of the kilometers completed (i think about 22 today) - the poor Noble Toe is suffering tonight and I now have 4 black toenails on my rightfoot:  very attractive!

Anyway enough of my ailments and on to the walking - a little bit boring today - all flat with no significant hills and quite a bit on roads, but some through farms which was good.  Misty rain this morning, but not enough to need the raincoat on all day. 

Said some farewells to other travellers today as a lot a continuining further on today as they are on the 14 day tour, not the 16 day we are on.  Lots of emails exchanged and hope we can keep in contact.

Danby Wiske is a tiny little village and we're staying at 'The Schoolhouse' with Doreen and the very chatty Frank.  It's always interesting chatting to the B&B owners and hearing their side of what it's like.  They are an older couple and starting to find it a bit tough coping with all the laundry etc themselves, but it didn't seem like there was enough profit in it to send the washing out to get done.  It seems like their customers are all C2C walkers and given the weather and shortness of the walking season, they are kind of locked into working like crazy for the 'season' to earn enough to carry them over the rest of the time.

Had a nice dinner at the pub just across the green with all the usual suspects.

15: OK, this is more like it!

We've just had two great days walking - from Keld to Reeth, then Reeth to Richmond, through the typical picture book English Countryside.  Even better - the weather has cleared, the wind and rain have stopped and the sun has even shone!  For the first time since we have started walking I have gone down to one layer - incredibly today I walked in shorts - and Phoebe got sunburnt!!  Lots of 'nature' about to photographs - toadstools, rivers, grouse, pheasants and very cute sheep & cows (must remember to tell you the Phoebe cow story later)

This area was the lead mining capital of the world apparently, and there are lots of mine entrances still visible (the shafts have been blocked) and the land near some of them is still denuded of vegetation years later from the poisons released during the mining process.

We started off walking yesterday as a complete group, then Pete, Narelle & Mandy took the high road up to the top of the moors to check out the old lead mines, & Joe, Phoebe and I took the low road which followed the River Swale throught the loveliest meadows and fields, and through little towns farms.  We loved Gunnerside where we stopped for a cup of tea at the pub (tea house was closed) and met the very friendly Sid the Cat who had a serious milk addiction and who was almost drinking out of our milk jug! 

Those of you who know Phoebe may know of her Cow phobia (similar to her spider phobia!), anyway just after she has braved several largish examples along the road, I did a very impressive impression of an enraged cow thundering along the road - poor Pheebs nearly had a heart attack - and so did I from laughing!!

Pheebs, Joe and I arrived at Reeth about 3pm and various other walkers wandered in over the next couple of hours.  Reeth seems a bit more touristy than some of the places we have been through (& is a bit larger) and has a few cute shops.  One had a great range of stuff made locally - soaps, art, jewellery, jams etc - all nice quality - Pheebs bought a couple of pictures of typical Yorkshire countryside which she posted back home.

We had a great dinner at the Black Bull with all the walkers we have been meeting up with over the past week.  The poor staff at the pub had to call in extra help to cope with us all. 

Thursday 15th Day 10 walking
Another sunny day - wow - two in a row!!
Off we set over some great typical english countryside, till we saw a sign for Elaines - so in we go for the best raspberry jam on fruit scones!  Much ooing and ahhing about the excellence of this jam - plus the generally lovely surroundings. 
 

Then we spotted Elaines hubby with the weirdest animal possible - body of a pig, wool like a sheep, head like a cow - its a Texel (sp?) sheep and this one is a prizewinner - kind of so ugly he was handsome and had quite an attitude.

More walking through lovely fields and bits of forrest till our next meal break - bikkies, cheese and tomato overlooking the river.  Joe improvised with three walking poles & my 'gorilla' to make a tripod for a group photo - is there nothing this man cannot build?



Made it into Richmond mid afternoon - we're staying at the Pottergate Guest House with the lovely Barbara as our host (who has a very nice window box display).  Had a wander around town, then Joe left me at one of the pubs (with free wifi) while he checked out the rest of the town and who else he could find to chat to (I'm being a bit boring just sitting here blogging).  Dinner at the 'best thai in town', but rather ordinary and expensive by Marrickville standards. A nice change from pub food though.



Raspberry jam + Scone + tea = 2 happy girls

Oh, and Peter may have had a tantrum this arvo when the pub they went to wouldn't serve him a beer outside because it was after 5pm!  Then the restaurant wouldn't take his Visa card - Richmond is now officially on his s*$# list !!!