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Our Coast to Coast Journey – Ita, Lori and Diane
Day 1
St Bees to Ennerdale (14 Miles)
We arrived at St Bees on a damp morning – 1st July 2010. We went through the ceremony of dipping our toes (well the toes of the boots sufficed) and picked up the pebble to be delivered to the sea at Robin Hoods Bay almost 2 weeks later. Then with some apprehension about the journey ahead and the number of miles to be covered on some days, we set off up along the head land of St Bees. There were 14 miles to be covered to reach Ennerdale Bridge. The drizzle we set off with turned to persistent rain for the afternoon and we pressed on to reach our overnight accommodation at Low Cock How Farm, 1 mile before Ennerdale Bridge.
Day 2
Ennerdale to Rosthwaite (14 ½ miles)
After a home cooked meal, boots and clothes duly dried by the landlady and a good night’s sleep we left Ennerdale bright and early the next morning for another 14 ½ mile stretch destined for the Royal Oak at Rosthwaite. A bright and dry day we enjoyed the walk along the north side of Ennerdale Water, stunning scenery brought us to the remote Black Sail Hut. After a stop for lunch there was a stiff climb up to Honister Pass past the slate mines followed by a final descent into Rosthwaite, with stunning views to Scaefell and Great Gable. This stage brought us to the heart of the beautiful Lake District.
Day 3
Rosthwaite to Grasmere (9 miles)
Another bright day and sun shining we departed the Royal Oak, our aim today was Grasmere and a plan to take the high route to get there. We decided to do shorter mileage on this section because of the climbs involved. They started with a stiff climb up Greenup Edge followed by more up and down over, Calf Crag, Gibson Knot and Helm Crag to finally descend into Grasmere early afternoon. After some refreshments we visited the much acclaimed gingerbread shop, had a look around town and made our way to our B & B, Ivy Deane on the Keswick Road. We had learned that the following day’s weather forecast was horrendous, high winds and driving rain, hard to believe on such a good day.
Day 4
Grasmere to Patterdale (8 miles)
Today we had to climb from Grasmere to Grisedale Tarn and our plan was to take in the peak of St Sunday Crag and then descend into Patterdale. The weather forecast proved absolutely correct. Wind and driving rain from the outset was the order of the day. We reached Grisedale Tarn and were certain that an ascent of St Sunday Crag was going to be impossible given that fact that we could hardly stay on our feet at the tarn. Not many photos were taken (hard to take photos when you can’t stand upright), although we managed a couple on the way down into the valley, just for the records of course! Despite this we reached the Lion Inn in Patterdale at 1.00pm, 3 hours ahead of our bags (which were being transported separately by Sherpa Van – don’t say it!!). Every radiator in the rooms were covered with our wet gear for the rest of the evening.
Day 5
Patterdale to Shap (16 miles)
Next morning the weather had improved and things looked better. After a good dinner in the Lion Inn, Patterdale and an ample packed lunch we departed on our biggest distance to date – the 16 miles to Shap. The day started with a climb to Boredale Hause, along to Angle Tarn and up to Kidsty Pike, the highest point on the route. Then a descent to Haweswater, a long trek along by the edge of the lake and the finally 5 miles over pastures to Shap. Our accommodation in Shap was The Greyhound, which we discovered was at the far end of the village street which was 1 mile long and it sure was the longest mile of the day, however, all was well when feet were rested and a good dinner provided.
Day 6
Shap to Kirkby Stephen (21 miles)
Today the distance was even longer and we comforted ourselves with the knowledge that we were taking the next day as a rest day. Leaving Shap very early we first reached the footbridge which took us over the M6 motorway and also meant that we were leaving behind the Lake District. The rest of the day took us over a mixture of pastures and moorland to finally reach Kirkby Stephen. In Kirkby Stephen we had the best B & Bof whole trip – Fletcher House .
The scenery in this section changed from the drama of the lakes to beautiful countryside, pasture and moorland. It is at this stage of the journey that we come to the Yorkshire Dales. The walking became easier and we knew we had some long days to come later on.
Day 7
Kirkby Stephen to Keld (12 miles)
Refreshed by a day off we left Kirkby Stephen with Keld as our next stop. This is the point where we are starting into the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. The first part of the day was a good climb up to Nine Standard Riggs, the purpose of the imposing structures known as Nine Standard Riggs is really unknown. We descended from Nine Standard Riggs to Ravenseat, a nice spot for lunch after which we continued on to Keld and our accommodation at Park House Bunk Barn, which has to be the best Bunk Barn in the country. There after a relaxing afternoon and a good meal provided by Heather we retired for the night.
Day 8
Keld To Reeth (11 miles)
This section brought us through Swaledale, still in the Yorkshire Dales. We chose to take the high route through the now abandoned lead mineworks. It was interesting to view the remains of a bygone mining era and to imagine it in its heyday when there was a lot more going on than a few walkers passing through. Reeth was a busy village surrounding a large green area, very pretty Yorkshire village. We stayed in a small B & B off the Green called Walpardo. We met up with other Coast to Coast to Coasters in the evening, shared experiences as we did lots of times along the way and this was a great part of the journey
Day 9
Reeth to Richmond (11 miles)
In contrast to the previous day this day we mostly followed the river Swale to Richmond, along riverside paths, through pastures and along country roads. By this stage we had become used to the many varieties if stiles, gates and walls which we had to negotiate our way over and though, some easier than others. Our accommodation was the Old Brewery Guesthouse in Richmond.
There was plenty of wildlife to see along the way, including partridge, pheasant, grouse, deer and on this section we disturbed a lapwing which made plenty of noise until we moved on.
This section also saw us leaving the Yorkshire Dales to next cross the Vale of Mowbray
Day 10
Richmond to Ingleby Cross (23 miles)
This was the first of 2 almost marathon days. Today was 23 miles to cross the Vale of Mowbray and was when we had some concern about the distance to cover and how would the feet cope. We made an early start so that we could take plenty of rest stops. There was very little climbing on this day. The rights of way saw us walking through large crop fields which after such a long dry spell are certainly in need of some rain, however, we hoped not for the next few days. Early in the day we passed through Catterick bridge (famous racecourse) Or accommodation was at the Bluebell Inn, Ingleby Cross.
Crossing the Vale of Mowbray brought us to the North York Moors and the Cleveland Hills. This was a change of scenery once again. We found the Coast to Coast had such a variety of scenery, every day a new surprise.
Day 11
Ingleby Cross to Blakey Ridge (20 miles)
Today we had 20 miles to do and while the feet and legs were tired at the end of the previous day we did recover well after a nights rest and dinner at the Bluebell Inn. One room even had a foot spa! We knew this day would be tough given that it was 20 miles long and 3000 ft of climbing. We comforted ourselves with the thought that the beginning of the day would see us through all the climbing and one we reached Clay Bank Top it would be all plain sailing or easy walking (according to Wainwright himself) until the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge would appear. The climbing over Live Moor, Calrlton Moor, Cringle Moor and Cold Moor was wonderful and could almost equal the Lake District for good views. The last 8 – 9 miles was level walking over the moors and without doubt the Lion Inn was a welcome sight as were staying there. It is a very remote location indeed.
Day 12
Blakey Ridge to Grosmont (13 miles)
Leaving Blakey Ridge we continued through the North York Moors to Gosmont. This was a very pleasant section with the purple heather in bloom leading to Glaisdale and finally to Grosmont where we were lucky to see the steam train departing the station which was right next to our accommodation – the Station Tavern.
Day 13
Grosmont to Robins Hood Bay (16 miles)
We made an early start with the aim to get into Robins Hood Bay early afternoon so that we could spend some time celebrating our achievements of finishing the complete Coast to Coast. Leaving Grosmont we had a punishing climb out of the village. We pushed on through Littlebeck and had a short break after a pleasant section through woodland. Finally after Hawkser we had a lunch stop in mind at the headland before the final 3 miles along the headland into Robins Hood Bay.
In general we had a great time on the Coast to Coast. We met lots of people along the way, also doing the journey, some taking slightly longer than we did.
We found that while there are a lot of people doing it it is not an entirely waymarked route. Marker posts are intermittent and sometimes we found when they were most needed they were not there. We had no navigational difficulties but we did take great care to use our maps and a guide book to assist us.