Coast to Coast Final Stages With 4 Intrepid Petersfield Ramblers
Day 15: Clay Bank Top to Blakey Moor
How to sum the day up in three words – mist, moor and rain.
We set off from the road where we finished last night, climbing steadily up along Carr Ridge up to Round Hill at a height of 454 metres, which is the highest point in the North York Moors. Gone were yesterday’s wonderful views, replaced by swirling mist allowing us to see about 20 metres ahead. At this stage of the moor there were some sheep. Later on, the moor became wetter and not capable of feeding them. As we walked along several sheep were baaa-ing loudly and as we watched two lambs appeared out of the mist, ran to their mum and had their breakfast/ mid-morning snack!
The path along which we walked was very well marked and looked like it had been deliberately made as part of it was banked up above the moor. Research later showed that it was in fact a railway, bringing iron ore off the moors for smelting locally. The remotest part of our walk was at Bloworth Crossing, where two lines crossed each other, both carrying iron ore.
The mist continued as we walked, no coffee stop-too wet and no place to rest- in fact no stop at all. Before we knew it were were turning over the pages of our mapped route to find we were on High Blakey Moor and not far from our destination. Occasionally the mist swirled away and we gained insight into the views we might have had. Several times we met with large boards bearing the name of a, presumably local, family marking out their area for grouse shooting.
We then met the gentleman from yesterday, with two dodgy knees making his way to the Lion Inn, our finishing place also. He was more verbose today, telling us he came from Seattle specially to do the Coast to Coast path and how he was enjoying the challenge of it. Then came our little side path to the Inn, not clearly marked but one travelled by many Coasters on their way to a refreshing cup of tea or pint. Following the rutted, bumpy path we came out to a road. No pub! Had we gone wrong? Then consulting maps, we realised it was just along the road but in the mist we couldn’t see it. Thankfully we took off our wet layers and settled down for a hearty bowl of leek and potato soup, discussing the soggy 9 miles that we had just done. Tomorrow the sun is due to shine.
Author & Photographer: Lynne Burge