Day 24 - Getting to London

Distance Walked: some,  Time Taken: on and off all day, # Beers: none

I miss Yorkshire.  Below is the view from my window this morning in Robin Hood's Bay.  The second photo is the view from my hotel window here in London.  I'm back in a city full of people and buildings and cars.  Everyone is busy, rushing about.  It feels like my days hiking across the country were a lifetime ago even though I only finished yesterday.

 

 

I tried being chatty to the hotel receptionist when I was checking in but he was all brisk efficiency.  Failure to chat would be so rude in Yorkshire.  Almost everyone I encountered there was friendly and talkative.  Also, they continually refer to other people as "love" or "my lovely".  I know all these endearments are just rote and meaningless but for outsiders it feels very sweet and kind.

After all our farewells last night, we met up again at breakfast this morning.  All the hikers that is.  Paul and Richie the Head Badger were staying at another hotel so we didn't see them.  After we finished eating, we did a round of goodbyes again.  Liz left first, followed soon after by Aaron & Robin and then Mark.  Sue was only halfway through her breakfast so I felt I couldn't leave her to eat alone, so I stayed for another cup of coffee.  Finally I left the hotel.  Only to meet up again with everyone at the bus stop!  Mark, Aaron & Robin were across the road as they were headed for Filey but Liz & Sue were going to Scarborough like me so we all got the bus together.  Also on the bus were an Australian couple we'd met regularly on the trail as they had the same itinerary as us.  When I got to Scarborough I said goodbye to Liz and Sue for really the last time as they were catching a different train to me.

The train trip down to London was largely uneventful - for me.  I had a connection in York and it was delayed leaving by 30 minutes and was almost an hour behind schedule by the time we reached London.  The railway in the UK are run by different private companies.  The announcer for one company just said the delays were due to a trespasser on the tracks.  Another company just plain came out and said it was due to someone being hit by a train.  Both apologised for the inconvenience we were experiencing.  It was nothing like the inconvenience the poor sod who was hit by the train was experiencing.  I could claim back half the (not inconsiderable) cost of my ticket.  However, the only repayment options were PayPal, a UK bank account or a donation to a charity.   I opted for the charity.

It felt a little sad to be sat alone on the train eating my sandwiches and a muesli bar from my packed lunch stash instead of sitting on a rock in a field with the rest of the group, laughing about Aaron's lunch order.  He only got what he ordered twice out of 16 days.  We got along so well, it really made the hike more enjoyable.  We mostly walked in silence and in single file, but it was encouraging to have someone else to pant with at the top of a steep hill or grumble with over a particularly soggy, boggy bit of moor. 

Mind you, I was really lucky with this group.  We just clicked.  I've been on group hikes twice before that haven't turned out so well.  Once was a hike on the Spanish island of Mallorca.  We all got along well enough, but some of the hikers were significantly slower than the rest of us.  This meant we ended up getting to our destination each day so late there was no time to look around the town/village before washing up for dinner.  I never really got to see much of the island.  The other time was a hike in Japan.  Again, all the people were decent enough but we had differing senses of humour which is awkward.  Also, one woman was so very organised and punctual she made me look lacksadaisical.  Another women couldn't stop faffing about to save her life.  Our morning departures were always delayed and often tense.  My group for this trip all had similar senses of humour and attitudes to punctuality.  Perhaps I shouldn't tempt fate and just decide never to do a group hike again.

I'm staying in a hotel near Paddington station as I'll be taking the Heathrow Express early tomorrow morning.  I went for an amble about the area.  It was clearly once a pleasant, even upmarket, neighbourhood.  Now it is all cheap hotels, cheap cafes and restaurants and shops selling cheap tourist tat.  I had dinner at a burger joint I'd eaten at (for some reason) the last time I was leaving London.  I didn't remember anything much about their burgers but I recalled that their tiramisu was surprisingly decent.  Sadly, I must have misremembered as their burger was Harmless but their tiramisu was Dull.  If there was any coffee or marscapone or marsala in it, it was in so small amounts it was undetectable.

 

Day 23 - Grosmont to Robin Hood's Bay

Distance Walked: 22.4km, Time Taken: 6h 31m, # Beers: 1/2 pint Wainwright Ale, 1/2 pint Saltwich Nab

FINISHED!!!!

 

Excluding the 10 metres or so I skipped when I didn't walk/flee across the A19 motorway, I have walked from one side of England to the other.  All 192 miles (307km) of it.  I'm glad I did it but I will never attempt something like that again.  I am so tired and all my joints are not happy with me. 

It is a shame Badger Adventures don't do more guided walks though as I've had a great time on this one.  Paul, Tim and Richie the Head Badger are all such kind, friendly and fun people.  The organisation of this trip has gone flawlessly.   I cannot praise them highly enough.

 

 

We had good weather today.  It was a bit windy but it was often sunny.  More to the point, there was NO RAIN.  I am so glad we did the big climb out of Grosmont yesterday afternoon.  I'm not sure I could have managed it and the rest of the walk today.  As you can see from the route map, we didn't take the most direct route to Robin Hood's Bay.  The first 5 or 6km were lovely as we were walking through a forest, alongside a stream.  The water levels were still quite high from the rain over the last few days but had subsided somewhat.  Imagine how much of a torrent there must have been over this waterfall to impale this tree trunk upside down at its foot.

We stopped for lunch at picnic benches near a (sadly closed) cafe glorying in the name Midge Lodge.  Why?  There was a nearby car park as the walk along the river is quite popular.  We met a man who asked us where we were going.  When we said Robin Hood's Bay he said "Oh, you've only got 4 or 5 miles to go then".  Actually, at that point it was closer to 10 miles.  He then asked us if we were doing the C2C and over how many days.  When we told him 16 days, he said "Oh, so you are only doing 4 or 5 miles a day then." when we actually usually did 10 to 12 miles, and on occasion up to 15 miles.  He reminded me of the rabbits in "Watership Down".  They could only count to 4.  Any larger number was just "a lot".  This man can clearly not conceive of walking more than 4 or 5 miles a day.  We were polite.  We didn't laugh at him.

The next 10km were just dreary as we were up on the moors again (more moors) and it was soggy and boggy underfoot.  No more moor walking for me ever.  We met up with the Badger van at Hawsker and Aaron joined us for the last 5 or 6km down the coast into Robin Hood's Bay.  We all dipped our toes in the North Sea and threw the pebbles we'd picked up from St Bees beach into the water.  As it was high tide, this was a little dicey but we had to do it. 

We had the obligatory beer at the pub overlooking the bay, the imaginatively named Bay Hotel, and signed our names in their C2C book.  Many photos were taken and then we staggered back up the hill to our hotel.  This town is built up a very, very steep and narrow bay.  Our hotel is at the top of the hill of course.  I forgive it because my room here is gorgeous.  It is shaped like a giant bow window with my bed in the middle section and fabulous views out over the sea from the others.  I'm sleeping with one of my windows cracked open so I can hear the waves.  I even have a bathtub with my very own rubber duck.  It has the hotel name on its bum.  Do you think I should keep it as a souvenir?

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant.  It is trying to be fancy and mostly suceeding.  We had the full 3 courses this time because why not?  I started with the chicken liver parfait which came with pickled raspberry and summer herb butter as well as toast.  It all worked surprisingly well so You Could Eat It.  For main I just had the steak & ale pie which was Harmless.  For dessert Victoria Queen of Puddings.  It was described as vanilla sponge, lemon custard, homemade berry jam, torched meringue, toasted almonds and jet black vanilla ice cream.  The ice cream was just plain vanilla dyed black as this area is famous for its jet.  It was very odd as I kept expecting it to taste like licorice.  The whole thing was just too many ingredients.  However, because my room is so wonderful, I'm feeling generous and will call it Harmless.

Dinner ended with all of us getting certificates to prove we DID IT along with many kinds words and speeches.  Mind you, we'll be meeting up again tomorrow at breakfast.

Tomorrow I go back to London, then back to Australia and then back to normal life.  My feet will appreciate it but it seems quite a dull prospect.

Day 22 - Rosedale to Grosmont

Distance Walked: 20.5km, Time Taken: 5h 8m, # Beers: 1/2 pint Black Sheep

The weather today was Miserable.  We had heavy rain and strong winds and low mist/clouds.  The first 10km were along the moors.  We could barely see more than 20m in any direction.  I had my Garmin watch set to vibrate when we'd walked a 1km.  Without that we would never have known we had covered any ground.  It was like walking in a bubble.  We couldn't see any changes in the landscape.  In a bizarre sort of way this was Type 2 fun.

By the time we'd dropped down into Eskdale the rain had basically stopped and we were sheltered from the wind.  Richie, the Head Badger van man, met us at a pub in Glaisdale village and Aaron and Robin called it a day.  Paul, our guide man, insisted we all get into the van and eat some lunch to fuel up for the rest of the day.  I wish we hadn't as we were soaked to the skin by that stage.  We were warm enough when we were walking but got cold quickly sitting in the van. 

After lunch we covered another 8km through Eskdale.  There was no wind and only drizzle, but we kept up the brisk marching pace to keep warm.  On our travels we picked up a very friendly golden labrador who kept us company for about 1km or so.  This part of the day was definitely an improvement over the morning's effort.  Except the one point where we had to go under a railway bridge which was a little flooded.  The water came to mid-shin on me at the deepest point.

We got to our destination for the day, Grosmont, at about 1:45pm.  Way too early to check in.  Paul and Richie suggested we walk an extra 3km along the path out of Grosmont to get a climb out of the way and shorten what would otherwise be a long final day.  What they failed to mention is the entire last 3km were uphill, sometimes seriously uphill.  

The only pleasing part of this extra bit was passing over the Esk Valley railway line by Grosmont station.  On the railway bridge near the station there was a crowd of people.  We pretended they were there to watch us go by and cheerfully waved to them.   Quite a few waved back.  They were actually waiting for a steam train to go by.  

We had our 2nd to last dinner here at our hotel and fortunately for Paul they had custard.  For main I had duck breast with bramble sauce and mashed potatoes.  The mash was lumpy but the duck was good.  For dessert I had boozy bread and butter pudding with custard.  I only ate half my jug of custard.  I offered the extra to Paul but he is beginning to find the joke a little tiresome.  We must make sure to make more custard related jokes tomorrow.