Saturday 11 August 2007

Day Twelve: Osmotherly to Blakey Ridge



Date: Wednesday 25th July 2007
Mileage: 21 miles
Weather: Rain to start then overcast and windy later

We met two interesting characters in the bus shelter at Osmotherly as we were leaving this morning. Within five minutes of leaving the B&B the rain started so we quickly nipped into the shelter to put on our waterproofs. The chaps looked liked knights of the road and we chatted about our trek and walks which they had done. Today they were catching the bus as they didn't like the look of the weather - a bus sounds tempting. I glanced at the timetable and there was a bus to Lord Stone's Cafe - 6 miles down the trail - as if!

There were a lot of ascents and descents today in fact there were five big hills to climb. The views should have been panoramic and wonderful but we couldn't see them as we walked through clouds for the most of the day. Very occasionally the clouds lifted for a couple of seconds and we glimpsed the patchwork of fields, farms and settlements laid out below us. It was like moving through a tunnel up in the clouds with just the footpath ahead of us and purple heather on each side. It was very easy walking underfoot as most of this section is paved now due to erosion (this section of the walk doubles up with the Cleveland Way). However it was very windy so we needed our jackets and hats on which made me, at least, very hot. Someone later in the day (in the pub) said he felt like a boil-in-the-bag meal he was so hot - I felt the same. Lord Stone's Cafe was a very welcome break and I enjoyed the mugs of tea and cake. Later I spotted a teeny, tiny baby shrew - so cute with his long nose. Also saw lots of grouse - not long until the glorious 12th.

Clay Bank Top was a bit of disappoint - just a bench - which was very useful for sitting on as we ate our packed lunch. This is the recommended finishing point for today's walk - but there's nothing there and no pubs or B&B's nearby so we soldiered on to Blakey Ridge and the legendary Lion Inn. Now more hills and moors but we had a view as the clouds lifted and we could see all the route we had walked today - now we could see how high up we had been. We could see the scale of our ascents and descents, the moors and the Wain Stones which we clambered over without really knowing what they looked like. One thing we did spot on this section - under a stone on one of the cairns was a piece of soggy notepaper. D had a look at it and found that it contained messages from Coast to Coasters to others doing the trek - what a band of brothers we are.

The next section of the walk was along a disused railway line through moorland. Around every bend we were hoping to see Blakey Ridge but every turn we came to we saw just more heather and sheep. At last we spotted it in the far distance - huzzah. The thought of a long cold drink added almost a spring to our step as we hastened towards the beckoning delights of the Lion Inn. We caught up with the Leicester duo and we urged each other on to cover the last mile or so.

What a great pub and such a welcome sight after twenty-one miles. As we entered the car park sheep scattered in all directions - they'd been rummaging through the bins behind the pub. This is a very isolated spot and it was quite a shock to walk into the bar and find that it was very busy. All the tables were full with people eating their pub meals and the bar staff were pulling pints like there was no tomorrow. Cheers!

Our B&B across the road from the pub (the only other building here) was very luxurious. Our bedroom was huge with an enormous window giving uninterrupted views of the landscape - just the stark moorland, sheep and the sky - marvellous.