Day 11 - Danby Wiske to Osmotherley

Day 11 - Danby Wiske to Osmotherley

12 miles
Start: 9:30am
Finish: 3:45pm

Camped at Cote Ghyll Campsite, 15 minutes walk from Osmotherley (an excellent campsite with great facilities). Ate at the excellent Golden Lion at Osmotherley, where I had one of the best steaks I've had in years. The quiz night competition resumed, and sadly the ladies won, which means ladies 2 blokes 0!

Route: Danby Wiske, flat North Yorkshire farmland, A19, Ingleby Cross and Osmotherley.

A much better day, as the escarpment of the Cleveland Hills gradually came closer and closer throughout the day and the walking terrain was more varied. We then reached the very busy dual carriageway of the A19 (an exciting crossing!), beyond which we walked into Ingleby Cross and  the North York Moors National Park, where we stumbled across the excellent Joiner's Shop coffee shop (which had only opened 3 days previously) - very welcome coffee and scones. It was then an easy 2 miles through woodland to Osmotherley, and back to lovely villages, green fields and rolling hills. We are now on the edge of the North York Moors! 

Just 3 days to go...

Day 10 - Richmond to Danby Wiske

Day 10 - Richmond to Danby Wiske

15 miles
Start: 9:30am
Finish: 4:30pm

Camped at the White Swan at Danby Wiske, although I was 'upgraded' to the hut in the camping field, which turned out to be a damp and leaky shed!  Had my worst night's sleep, but you can't appreciate the good times without the bad (I would have had a better night's sleep in my tent in the rain, but by the time I had thought of this it was raining and past midnight, so I just pulled my sleeping bag over my head and tried to sleep). Ate at the White Swan pub, which had a good selection of beer and my crumble and custard was good.

Route: Richmond, Catterick, Bolton-on-Swale, miles of boring roads, Danby Wiske.

Not a good day's walking. Drizzle all day. Long detour around the A1(M) roadworks, litter-strewn paths in places, miles of boring flat road walking, hardly any points of interest along the way (the church at Bolton-on-Swale was the highlight, as we got a cup of tea there). It is not a walk anyone in their right mind would do for pleasure, other than as part of walking from coast to coast. And to top it all I slept in a damp and leaky shed. 

The walking has to improve tomorrow...

Day 9 - Reeth to Richmond

Day 9 - Reeth to Richmond

11 miles
Start: 9:30am
Finish: 3:30pm

Stayed at Pottergate Guest House at Richmond (a B&B at last!), and ate at La Piazza Italian Restaurant at Richmond (excellent). 

Route: Reeth, Marrick Priory, Marske, Swale Gorge and Richmond. Spent an hour walking around Richmond, its market place, castle, town wall and the Royal Georgian Theatre.

Our third day through Swaledale, to one of England's finest towns - Richmond. The 'original' Richmond (of all the Richmond's in the world), as its names comes from Norman French 'riche mont' - 'strong hill'. This was the first Norman castle to be built in stone in this country. 

Richmond feels like a metropolis, compared to the villages and hamlets we've stayed at along the way so far... Rosthwaite, Patterdale, Keld and such like (as they say in Yorkshire!). So many people, lots of traffic and a choice of shops (not to mention 4G)!

The flatlands of the Vale of Mowbray beckon for the next two days....

Day 8 - Keld to Reeth

Day 8 - Keld to Reeth

11 miles
Start: 9:30am
Finish: 3:30pm

Stayed at Orchard Campsite at Reeth, a lovely quiet site set amongst old apple trees. Had pizza at the Buck Hotel at Reeth, which also serves a good pint!

Route: Keld, Crackpot Hall, Swimmer Gill, Gunnerside Gill (lead mines), Old Gang Mines, Calver Hill (detour) and Reeth

Another fabulous day through Swaledale, heading up along the 'high route' across the old lead mines, with a detour to the summit of Calver Hill high above the confluence of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, before heading down to Reeth for afternoon tea. Walking doesn't get better than this!

Keld is also halfway along the Coast to Coast, so we're now counting down the miles rather than counting up! Robin Hood's Bay is within our sights...