Egton Bridge to Robin Hood's Bay - Walk and Ride!

Date:                         Saturday, 10th September 2011
Start:                         Egton Bridge
Finish:                       Robin Hood's Bay
Distance:                   11.3 miles walked, 525m ascent - the rest by mini-bus!
Time Taken:              6 hours (approx)
Companion(s):           HumperLumper, Nod2, Donna, Frankie, Yamyam and Yorksgal

Route Map:

Today was the final day of walking for HumperLumper (Rich) and Nod2 (Andy) on their Coast to Coast 2011 crossing and (secret) arrangements had been made for a few of us to join them for the day so that we could congratulate them in person on their completion of the entire route.

It had originally been planned that I would meet Rich's wife, Donna, and their puppy, Frankie, in Robin Hood's Bay and would keep them company on a circular walk route which would see us joining the guys on the last few miles of their walk back into RHB.  However, these plans were changed when Donna discovered that Yamyam (John) was also intending to join in on the 'last day events' and that he was willing to collect them in the early hours of the morning and drive them to RHB instead of having to travel by train and then by bus.

It was agreed that the early arrival time in RHB would mean that we could all travel by taxi to Egton Bridge, the start point for Rich and Andy's last leg of the route, and we would all be able to enjoy a full day's walking together provided Frankie could manage the full 15-16 mile route.  (As expected, this proved to be a little over ambitious for a 5 month old puppy but he did manage to complete a much longer distance than I thought he would!)  In addition, at the last minute, we also had to make arrangements to meet Yorksgal (Ruth) in RHB too as, having walked with the guys on the previous day, she had stayed nearby overnight so that she could join in with today's walk too.

So, everything went according to plan and we met in the car park in RHB and the taxi duly arrived to transfer us all to Egton Bridge in good time to surprise Rich and Andy at the start point of the day's walk.  As you can no doubt imagine, Frankie got rather excited on seeing his Dad approaching and it took a little while for everyone to get ready for the off.

Striding out at the beginning of the day on our way from Egton Bridge to Grosmont...

Arriving in Grosmont for an early refreshment break on the station platform whilst admiring the steam trains....

Heading steeply out of Grosmont we went up to Black Brow and across Sleights Moor...

...before corssing the main road....

....and then rejoing the moorland path....

.....to reach the track which would lead us down to Little Beck.

At this point there is a small church which provides facilities for you to make a hot drink - just leave a donation - so another rest stop was in order...

Continuing on our way, we headed through the hot, humid and muddy woodland passing a few interesting sights on the way....

....until we finally arrived at Falling Fosse waterfall.....

...where we enjoyed a spot of light refreshments and light relief....

The walk had to continue though so, we climed out of the woodland....

.....to reach the road which would lead us to another stretch of moorland crossing......

It was as we crossed this moorland that Frankie began to let us know that he'd done enough for one day....

....so we let him have a little rest and recuperation break and we enjoyed the views and the scenery....

....we could see Whitby Abbey and the sea from here...

....but it was time to make arrangements for Frankie to be saved from having to complete the full walk distance today.  So, Rich made a phone call to one of his new found Coast to Coast friends and it was organised that Frankie and Donna would be collected by mini-bus from the point where this path met the road, just before heading down into Hawsker.

It wasn't too much further for us to walk to the collection point and, fortunately, Frankie recovered enough energy to make it without needing another carry....

I decided to keep Donna and Frankie company on their return journey to RHB and the others continued on their way with the rest of the walk and, on reaching RHB, Donna and I enjoyed a refreshing drink whilst Frankie enjoyed a well earned rest.

Richard and Andy completed their C2C just before 6pm, which was slightly later than planned due to the fact that Andy and John had taken a wrong turn at one point and added an extra 5 miles or so to their route, but for some reason.....I failed to take the most important photos of the day!  Arghhh!!!

However, a very pleasant couple of hours ensued whilst refreshments were enjoyed by all outside Wainwright's Bar :-)

My weekend continued with an impromptu overnight stay in RHB and, on Sunday morning - after making sure that Andy caught his bus to begin his journey home - Rich, Donna and I took Frankie for walk on the beach.....

....and then had a brief trip into Whitby for lunch.....

Having returned the others back to RHB, I then had to head home :-(

Another brilliant weekend, thoroughly enjoyed. The walk and the company were excellent and the weather was kind to us throughout.  Thanks to Rich, Andy and the others for allowing me to join them and share in their special weekend. :-)