Glaisdale to Osmotherly

Thursday 2nd September 2010 

This was an epic walk as I crossed the main bulk of the North York Moors before traversing an undulating range of hills on my way to Osmotherly on the western edge of the North York Moors. After a couple of nights spent in the fabulous youth hostel in Whitby, I caught a train back to Glaisdale in order to resume my walk along the Coast to Coast Path that I’d left two days previously. I climbed up to the village of Glaisdale from the railway station and onto the open moor where the miles quickly vanished beneath my feet as I crossed the vast moor. The track through the moor led to a road, which led me to a path round the head of Great Fryupdale (fantastic name!). At this point in the walk I was passed by a long line of Land Rovers, all full of rich idiots who think it’s fun to drive onto the moor and shoot at the poor, defenceless grouse. I left them behind trying not to think evil thoughts about them and instead tried to be thankful that at least these days walkers and toffs can share the moor together. Another section of road walking led me to a white-washed stone figure, known as Fat Betty, wonderful name. . 

Opposite this strange object I took a narrow path across Rosedale Head to a road and a track opposite that isn't on the official coast to coast route but seemed to me like a good short cut as I didn't need to take the wide diversion to the Lion Inn. But as Tolkien told us, short cuts make long delays, and I took the wrong path, which after passing a line of grouse butts ends at the edge of Westerdale. So, I had to cross the top of the dale through dense reeds and heather in order to get onto the narrow path that I should have taken. This took me back onto the coast to coast route, on the track of a disused railway that is a fabulously fast route across the moor, so now the miles really disappeared as I sped along the wide flat track across the vast open moor. Eventually I reached Bloworth Crossing where I said hello to the Cleveland Way again and, sadly, goodbye to the easy walking along the old railway. A gentle climb took me onto Urra Moor and the highest point in the North York Moors, Round Hill. I stopped for lunch beside the summit and was in awe of the views that I could see around me, particularly across the vast distances of the Cleveland Plain and the Vale of Mowbray. Roseberry Topping and the Captain Cook Memorial could be clearly seen on the western edge of the moors. After lounging beside the trig point for a while in the gorgeous sunshine I set off again along the wide track over Carr Ridge and steeply down to the road on Clay Bank. Now the whole nature of the walk changed dramatically as a steep climb took me up to the top of White Hill and a steep drop took me down past the delightful Wainstones. This collection of large rocks gave me an excuse to have a bit of a scramble that was sadly short lived, especially as I was passing them in descent. If I’d been doing the Coast to Coast in the usual direction, then the Wainstones would have been tackled in the more satisfying manner. 

After crossing Garfit Gap I again climb took me up to the top of Broughton Bank, only to repeat the pattern again as I dropped down to the next saddle before climbing over Cringle Moor, and then again up to the trig point atop Carlton Moor. This pattern continued up and down many hills and each time wore me out as I climbed in the hot sun, but it was all fabulous walking, even though I’d already walked over twenty miles. The moorland tops and descents more than compensated for the tiring climbs while the highlight of this undulating traverse was the Wainstones passed earlier, but the ever changing landscape and the vast views across the Cleveland Plain were an added bonus. Beyond the trig point on Carlton Moor I passed the deserted remains of a gliding club and finally descended off the moor into Scugdale. 

The farmland in Scugdale was the first sign of civilization I had seen since leaving Glaisdale, but it was short lived as I climbed back out of the valley and into Clain Wood. This was a welcome change after the endless moorland of earlier in the day but by this time I was past caring. By this point, I had walked twenty five miles and I still had another five miles to go before I got to the youth hostel. I trudged on through the wood, up a steep, straight path and across Scarth Nick onto Scarth Wood Moor. After a final ascent up to Beacon Hill I left the coast to coast path behind and took a bridlepath that goes straight into the village of Osmotherly. In all I had walked about thirty miles in less than ten hours which is quite an achievement, but I had been able to put on a good rate of knots while crossing the moor. Once I’d left the open moor the variety afforded by the undulating hills was a welcome change despite the colourful heather never being far away. This was a great walk on a great long distance path, the coast to coast.

Roseberry Topping

Wednesday 1st September 2010 

After a morning spent exploring the connections between Whitby and Bram Stoker's Dracula, particularly in the Abbey, I took a train down the Esk Valley line to the tiny station of Kildale. I was going to walk up a popular hill in the area, but I was not going to be take the orthodox route to the bizarrely named Roseberry Topping. Once in Kildale I re-joined the Cleveland Way (but this time actually going in the usual direction) as it climbs steeply up the hillside opposite on a minor road. At the top of the hill I left the road and walked along a lovely path through woodland and eventually emerged onto the wonderfully purple-flowering heather-clad moorland of Easby Moor. At the top of the prominent hill ahead was a tall monument to Captain Cook with extensive views across the wide Vale of Mowbray westwards. 

From the monolith I headed north into a wood and dropped steeply to a car park. Across the road I climbed steeply again onto the vast heather-clad Newton Moor. A wonderful walk along the edge of the escarpment took me to the corner of the moor where striking views could be seen of a distinctively shaped hill. Roseberry Topping sits at the north-eastern corner of the North York Moors and is a prominent hill that can be seen for miles around. It accordingly attracts many visitors and is probably the most popular hill in the North York Moors so it has many paved footpaths up its steep sides, but to me it just seems like a trifle! I dropped down to the saddle and climbed the zigzagging path that climbs to the summit of this popular hill. Despite misty distant views, the panorama was quite extensive with far reaching sights. After appreciating the views I took a path down the southern slopes of the hill and walked round to a small folly on the south-western side. From there I crossed the western slopes of Roseberry Topping until I reached the path that climbs the north western slopes. I climbed this paved path and before I knew it I found myself back at the summit (I must have had bountiful amounts of energy!). After re-acquainting myself with the summit I returned to the saddle and climbed back up to the moor. Even stuck in Leicester, I had heard of Roseberry Topping before as I have friends who have been up it and they seemed to be always mentioning it. This is a very popular hill because it satisfies all the necessary requirements: it is a relatively easy to climb but is so prominent it attracts the eye, and it has a main road at its foot. Roseberry Topping is rightly a very popular hill as it is accessible to all the family. 

My return route involved another fabulous moorland crossing, eventually leaving the Cleveland Way and following a track that crosses the moor. At a tarmac road I immediately took a heavily eroded track that descends through trees to the small valley of Lonsdale where I picked up a road, which was the one that I’d taken on my outward route and so eventually brought me back down into Kildale. This was a good walk up a distinctive, if small, hill in great, sunny, weather.

Robin Hood’s Bay to Glaisdale

Tuesday 31st August 2010

Last Easter I walked along the Coast to Coast Path from the Lake District through the Yorkshire Dales and to the castle town of Richmond. Now I had the opportunity to walk along the final section of the Coast to Coast Path from the east coast to the western edge of the North York Moors. To start the walk I climbed out of Boggle Hole and crossed the low cliff top to the village of Robin Hood’s Bay, where there is a tightly packed collection of delightfully small cottages and narrow streets. After dipping my toes in the sea (actually just wetting my boots) at the actual end of the Coast to Coast Path I set off up the steep, narrow streets on Wainwright’s epic walk. Once on the cliff top path I resumed my walk along the Cleveland Way (which coincides with the coast to coast for a couple of miles) high above the sea cliffs around Ness Point. This first section (usually the last) of the coast to coast features some fabulous cliff top walking with some steep descents and ascents, in and out of inlets, accompanied by stunning views of the cliffs and the sea under clear, sunny skies. Eventually, at Maw Wyke Hole, I said goodbye to the sea and climbed up the hillside through a caravan park and into the village of Hawsker. Continued road walked took me over the busy A171 road and onto a track that climbs up to my first moor of the holiday. This was a fabulous walk through purple flowering heather as I crossed Low Moor to the B1416 road. A short walk along the road took me to another moorland, crossing over Sneaton Low Moor. 

A minor road at the far end of the moor took me down into the delightful valley of May Beck where I had a wonderful walk along a great woodland path at the bottom of an exquisite, narrow valley. Passing Falling Foss waterfall I stopped at a hollowed-out rock known as the Hermitage where I had my lunch. This is marked on my map as being a viewpoint but the trees have overgrown and now block most of the view across the valley, which is a pity as I didn’t have much else to look at as I ate. The continued walk along the bottom of the delightful valley of Little Dale took me to the picturesque village of Little Beck where another road took me steeply out of the valley and onto another gorgeous moorland. The ascent continued across a main road, the A169, as I climbed up to the top of the moor, Flat Howe, but at a lowly 289m. At this point I disagreed with the map and tried to forge me own route across the moor, but with hindsight I think I should have gone even further away from the prescribed route. 

The route at this point has seen some variations over the years. Wainwright’s original guide recommended crossing the moor through pathless heather to the tumulus atop Flat Howe before continuing to the main road (remember I’m doing this walk the wrong way round). The partial revision of 1994 has a side note advocating a strict adherence to rights-of-way by staying on the road almost all the way around the moor, and my map follows this route. Chris Jesty’s recently published second edition of Wainwright’s guide reverts to Wainwright’s original route by recommending a traverse of the heather thanks to new Right to Roam legislation. Going in the opposite direction I headed straight onto the moor from the main road but soon found myself wading through deep heather that was both tiring and frustrating so that eventually, without visiting the actual summit of Flat Howe, I gave up and headed straight towards the road which I followed downhill. Two guys who were walking behind me took a different route. They walked along a bridlepath that crosses the northern slopes of Flat Howe before reaching the road at the edge of the moor. This seems to me to be the easiest route so I don’t know why it has never been recommended before, however, given good weather and low heather, Wainwright's route would be the best. 

On reaching the road I walked steeply down to the bottom of the Esk Valley, into the village of Grosmont. The northern terminus of the North York Moors Railway is at Grosmont, which was enough enticement for me to spend an hour or so there looking at the trains in the engine shed and the ones, including a majestic 9F, that were pulling the services. I was strongly tempted to take a ride on the trains but that was not what I was there for. So I resumed the coast to coast with a short walk along the road to a track that follows the River Esk to Egton Bridge where I had to walk along the road again until I reached the southern end of East Arnclife Wood. An undulating track weaves its way through the wood eventually descending to the riverside for a final delightful, weary stroll to Glaisdale station where I caught a train to the harbour town of Whitby. One thing I noticed on this walk was that there is a lot of road walking on the Coast to Coast Path, but there are also lots of other terrain to walk through such as vast moorland and narrow tree-filled valleys. This was a really varied walk and typical of the Coast to Coast Path at its best.

Scarborough to Robin Hood's Bay

Monday 30th August 2010 

In all my travels around Britain I had never done any walking in the North York Moors, partly because there are no mountains in the area. The highest point in the North York Moors is a mere one and a half thousand feet high, but instead there are vast heather-clad moorlands and dramatic sea cliffs that do compensate for the lack of hills. It was the sea cliffs that I explored on this first day of my circular tour around the North York Moors as I walked up the coast to Robin Hood’s Bay. After catching a train to Scarborough I set off through the packed streets of the seaside resort, or as I thought of it, the tourist hellhole. I find it amazing that as a child I always went to the seaside for my holidays, and loved it, but now I can’t stand the places. The countless amusement arcades and souvenir shops were more than I could stand. Eventually I escaped and descended to the old harbour at the sea front where I quickly walked along the promenade below the mighty cliffs that rise to the remains of the castle. At the end of the promenade I thankfully said goodbye to Scarborough and crossed Scalby Beck, climbing to the top of small cliffs where I began a lovely stroll up the coast on the edge of these sea cliffs. 

The weather during my walk up the coast on the route of the Cleveland Way was rather ‘bracing’ with a stiff cold wind coming off the sea, but the sun came out later in the day to warm things up a bit. The plant life beside the path at the start of the walk was predominately knapweed and hemlock and later, on entering the national park, this gave way to more willowherb. The scenery up and down the coast was spectacular while the walking was easy until I reached Cloughton Wyke where I had to descend steeply to the inlet and then climb steeply out. This was repeated several times culminating in the severely deep Hayburn Wyke which has a delightful nature reserve at the bottom. Despite the strenuous climb I had a wonderful walk through the gorgeous dell and its abundance in plant life. It always amazes me how tiring walking beside the sea can be. One would imagine that it would be very easy, but there can often be some really steep climbs involved. Some years ago I did some walking along the Cornish coast and that is even worse than this coastline with deep inlets every couple of hundred metres. It does however make up for the lack of hills. 

This pattern was repeated as I walked up the coast until eventually I reached 'the town that never was', Ravenscar. After passing the deserted streets that never had houses I slowly descended to the southern end of Robin Hood’s Bay where another deep inlet, Stoupe Beck, had to be crossed before I reached the inlet of Boggle Hole, which is a bare mile short of the village of Robin Hood’s Bay. Rather than continuing to the village I stopped in Boggle Hole as there is a youth hostel nestled in the dark inlet. Despite the lack of any mountains on this walk it was still a tiring walk to start my holiday. The scenery from the top of the cliffs was always dramatic with some great, steep cliffs to enjoy as I walked safely above them. This was an enjoyable walk and served as a good introduction to the delights of the North York Moors and coast.