A look back at The Ridgeway: Coombe Hill

In this post, I look back at a memorable moment from one of my earlier walks, this time The Ridgeway in England. I hiked this trail in 2017 that took me past the monument at Coombe Hill commemorating the soldiers who died in the Boer War.

Coombe Hill, The Ridgeway, 2017.

Read about my walk on the trail here: The Ridgeway.

The Coast To Coast Walk

Photo collages from The Coast To Coast Walk, from St. Bees to Ravenscar, 2022.

Article: https://tarjeinskrede.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-coast-to-coast-walk.html.

Day   1 (15.06.22): St. Bees - High Gillerthwaite (33.3km / 33.3km).

Day   2 (16.06.22): High Gillerthwaite - Rosthwaite (22.8km / 56.1km).

Day   3 (17.06.22): Rosthwaite - Patterdale (30.3km / 86.4km).

Day   4 (18.06.22): Patterdale - Guerness Wood (30.5km / 116.9km).

Day   5 (19.06.22): Guerness Wood - Kirkby Stephen (43.7km / 160.6km).

Day   6 (20.06.22): Kirkby Stephen - Tan Hill (25.3km / 185.9km).

Day   7 (21.06.22): Tan Hill - Reeth (31.1km / 217.0km).

Day   8 (22.06.22): Reeth - Richmond (23.6km / 240.6km).

Day   9 (23.06.22): Richmond - Brompton (31.2km / 271.8km).

Day 10 (24.06.22): Brompton - Osmotherley (26.0km / 297.8km).

Day 11 (25.06.22): Osmotherley - Beak Hills (24.8km / 322.6km).

Day 12 (26.06.22): Beak Hills - Grosmont (43.6km / 366.2km).

Day 13 (27.06.22): Grosmont - Robin Hood's Bay (25.6km / 391.8km).

Day 13 (27.06.22): Robin Hood's Bay - Ravenscar (5.9km / 397.7km).

Day 14 (28.06.22): Whitby Abbey (35.4km / 433.1km).

Day 1: St. Bees - High Gillerthwaite.

Day 2: High Gillerthwaite - Rosthwaite.

Day 3: Rosthwaite - Patterdale.

Day 4: Patterdale - Guerness Wood.

Day 5: Guerness Wood - Kirkby Stephen.

Day 6: Kirkby Stephen - Tan Hill.

Day 7: Tan Hill - Reeth.

Day 8: Reeth - Richmond.

Day 9: Richmond - Brompton.

Day 10: Brompton - Osmotherley.

Day 11: Osmotherley - Beak Hills.

Day 12: Beak Hills - Grosmont.

Day 13: Grosmont - Robin Hood's Bay - Ravenscar.

Day 14: Whitby Abbey.

The Coast To Coast Walk: The weight of a stone across a country

A walk on The Coast To Coast Walk from St. Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay and then to Ravenscar in England.
15th of June to 28th of June 2022.
Distance: 433.1km. 14 days.

Below me the waves are breaking against the cliffs. Ahead of me a green meadow meanders towards the horizon, only interrupted by the steep edge of the cliffs. In the horizon I glimpse the top of a lighthouse. Above me the sky is dominated by a solitary blue sky. And somewhere across the ocean lies Ireland.

At the beach at St. Bees, the start of The Coast To Coast Walk.

It is the first day of another long-distance hike and I feel kind of exalted. Not just because of the excitement that I know lies ahead of me, but it also because it is the first walk abroad after the outbreak of the pandemic. A moment long awaited.

Gorgeous walking atop the cliffs of St. Bees Head.

According to tradition, I have dipped my shoes in the water, and I have picked up a stone. The stone will follow me on the walk to the other side of England. There I will again dip my shoes in the water and leave the stone that I have carried with me. Many a stone has in this way found their way from St. Bees at the Irish Sea to Robin Hood’s Bay at the North Sea. The reason for this is The Coast To Coast Walk, a 303 kilometres long trail designed by Alfred Wainwright in 1973. Since then, the trail has grown in popularity and is now one of the most famous routes in the world.

Great views of the Lake District from Green Gable, Ennerdale below.

On the first day on the trail, most hikers are content to end their walk at Ennerdale Bridge, just at the doorstep of the Lake District. By then The Coast To Coast Walk has impressed the hikers with the cliffs of St. Bees Head and given them a foretaste of what to come with the climb up Dent Fell, rewarding them with a 360 degrees panoramic view. I chose to cross over the doorstep and walk to Ennerdale YHA on my first day, walking next to Ennerdale Water and over Anglers Crag with rewarding views of the Lake District. I had heard a lot about the Lake District, but little I had seen of it. Only in the light of the rays of the sun breaking through the clouds from Cross Fell when I hiked The Pennine Way back in 2019.

One of the rare occassions when rain appeared during my hike across England, here from Helm's Crag.

It is in Lake District you find the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike with its 978m, but The Coast To Coast Walk does not take you to the summit of that mountain, or too close to it. However, if you wonder if there is a lack of inclines while making your way through the National Park, there is no need to worry. I walk over one pass to another as I moves from the one scenic valley to the other. Of these, Borrowdale may be particularly mentioned. Part of the hike feels just like being in the mountains back home in Norway, only that I am at a lower altitude. The landscape is bare, in an altitude where I would have been walking under the cover of trees back home. Those trees that existed here, sailed away a long time ago.

Grisedale Tarn appearing from underneath the clouds.

On the second day, I chose to cut the distance short. Not the total distance, but the part of the trail that I do. I walk only to Rosthwaite, where the descent to the small village is particularly scenic. On the way, I detour off the trail to climb up to the summit of Great Gable, to great views. When first having time in the Lake District, I wanted to make sure that I got to the top of one of the iconic Wainwrights in the National Park. I make similar detours on my hike through the Lakes, but when I later ventured near Helvellyn, the fog lay heavy over the mountains.

On the climb up from Patterdale.

In the valleys there are small pleasant towns and villages, and for many a wanderer, a long awaited watering hole after a day out on the trail. It is also in these small villages that I spends the nights in. However, in the last night in the Lake District I stayed at the luxurious Haweswater Hotel. Of the sole reason that it was the only place available for countless miles around. The evening cost me a lot and a subsequently longer walk than planned the following day, but the stay was nothing to complain about.

The ruins of Shap Abbey.

Haweswater Reservoir in itself is an interesting place. Formerly two small lakes that were dammed up in order to provide water for Manchester, which led to the two villages of Measand and Mardale Green ended up underneath the water. When the water level is very low, this is a very popular destination, where the houses of Mardale village can appear up from the lake.

The cairns at Nine Standards Rigg.

I gaze up at the ruins of Shap Abbey beneath a gloomy sky. In Shap, the Coast To Coast walkers has left the Lake District and entered a part of the trail that could be filed under the transport stage moniker. A walk made extra long for my part, but it is a pleasant walk over heaths, moors, undulating fields, The Pennines in the horizon and past the well-known stone barns announcing that the route is moving into the Yorkshire Dales.

Walking down towards Ravenseat from the Nine Standards Rigg.

The Yorkshire Dales is characterized by its undulating ridges with extensive peat bogs and heath, but there is also another distinct change after the rocky confines of the Lake District. Where that National Park is characterized by hard granite, the Dales are known for its limestone.

Sunset at Tan Hill.

From Kirkby Stephen awaits Nine Standards Rigg, which houses nine cairns in a long row on its summit. No one knows exactly who built the cairns and why they were built, but there are plenty of theories out and about.

A patchwork of colours at Gunnerside Gill.

The path after Nine Standards Rigg holds an infamous reputation for being especially boggy as they say over there, ‘put your gaiters on’ was a piece of advice I got the day before.This is one of the few sections on the trail I where I walk together with other hikers on the Coast To Coast Walk, Mike from Canada and Steve from the United States, and it is a pleasant company.

The remains of old mines at Blakethwaite in Gunnerside Gill.

The Yorkshire Dales is also home to the highest situated pub in England, the Tan Hill Inn. It is not located directly on the trail, but it is on The Pennine Way which, as mentioned, I have hiked before. When I spent the night there at that time, I had arrived at the inn in a thunderstorm and heavy rain, which even got on the national news the following day as the weather had caused a bridge in a nearby village to collapse (in Grinton, which I would pass by later on this hike). The Pennine Way and The Coast To Coast Walk crosses their paths in the small pleasant village of Keld, and the great memories from that time led to me again wandering across the heaths to enjoy a beer, good food and another night up there. For dinner I ate a Yorkshire pudding so big that I was unable to finish it off, ‘Unfinished business’ they should have called the dish. In the evening I could watch small lights in the dark far away as the runners of the Spine Race appeared.

The 'Nunnery Steps' after Marrick Priory.

Back in Keld, the trail continues to Reeth, where the walk goes through a wonderful and peculiar landscape formed by the old mines in the area. It is a patchwork of colours on the hillsides and I pass by the remains of the mine buildings, in valleys both narrow and wide. Over one of the hills the hike goes past a scenery only as bleak and pale as the leftovers of man can make it.

Richmond.

Richmond is the biggest town the Coast To Coast Walk passes through, it is also home to a castle, small narrow streets and the largest horseshoe marked in England (sadly looking mostly like a parking lot). The way there is of an easier character but provides a new variation in the scenery. For the pilgrims out there, the path towards Richmond passes by the familiar waymarks from the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

Walking through an acre in the Vale of Mowbray.

At the top of Whitcliffe Scar, the Coast To Coast walkers will find the spot where Robert Willance made his famous fall. This spot lies not directly on the trail, but I walk up to the top of the cliffs where his horse panicked and bolted over the edge and fell 61m down when thick fog descended. When he came to, he found his horse dead and his legs broken. As the legend goes, Willance survived by cutting open his horse to put his broken legs inside in order to escape gangrene while waiting to be rescued. He later became the first alderman of Richmond.

At Mount Grace Priory, the ruins of the church.

Between Richmond and the North York Moors, the last national park on the route, lies the Vale of Mowbray. Here you are a distant sigh away from the mountains of Lake District and the rolling heaths of the Yorkshire Dales. Instead, a cultural landscape forms the backdrop of the walk. A part of the trail that provides an opportunity to calm down a bit before the final undulating hills on the trail.

Verdant passage through the Clain Wood.

Strangely enough, in a way, this is also the section of the trail that contains the greatest danger of the hike. Before the Vale of Mowbray one may have lost his way on the moors when the fog has mercilessly wrapped itself around one or one can have sunk deep into a peat bog, but here before Ingleby Arncliffe the hikers has to cross a four-lane busy highway. An old American couple who came just after me made it across safely too, but had to watch one of the sunhats get taken by a lorry hurrying by.

On the heaths of the North York Moors.

The North York Moors is the last national park the hikers pass through before they can get rid of the small weight they have been carrying with them. Here, the heather is coloured purple in late summer. Out in the open moorland one finds old crosses, walks on where the old Rosedale Ironstone Railway line went, and it is here while walking on the top of the undulating ridge of the Cleveland Hills that one gets the first glimpse of the North Sea.

Inside The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge.

At the foot of the Cleveland Hills lies Mount Grace Priory. I made my way down from the trail to the ruins of the old monastery that belonged to the order of the Carthusians. Here the monks lived as hermits and only met the other monks for prayer in the church, and the food they got was served to them through hatches so that they would not meet the person who came with the food. It is a world far away from the one that we live in now.

Robin Hood's Bay, The Bay Hotel and the end of The Coast To Coast Walk.

History repeats itself, also in shorter timespans. There are fewer available accommodations directly on the route through the North York Moors National Park. And like Shap earlier on the trail, there were almost no places to sleep to be found for miles around. I finally manages to get a bed in a remote bed and breakfast at Beak Hills. In quiet and peaceful surroundings, where I got the best sleep of my walk, but had to pay for it with another long hike the following day.

The ruins of Whitby Abbey.

I have used thirteen days on the walk and it has hardly been any rain during those days. In England, that feels like a stroke of luck. Not that it has not been raining, I do remember the walk up from Grasmere underneath heavy clouds filled with water, but it never lasted for a long time. On the last day, the worst of the weather was to come, but it made no more of it than two short and heavy showers, the last just before I arrived at the cliffs next to the North Sea.

With the North Sea on my left, the last part of The Coast To Coast Walk runs atop the cliffs towards and down to Robin Hood’s Bay. Over the North Sea, I can see the rain that passed over me continue its journey across the sea, it is a lovely sight. Eventually I look down upon the old fishing village.

Walking on the cliffs next to the North Sea.

At the bottom of the narrow streets of Robin Hood’s Bay, the trail ends at The Bay Hotel. And it is here the coast to coast walkers again dip their shoes in the water and throw the stone they have carried from St. Bees into the sea. One may have to go a little way out in the shoreline to be able to do it, the tide can be far out here. Or one can get it done before you reach the endpoint, at extra high tide the North Sea can flow into the lowest streets of the village.

Outside The Bay Hotel in the warming sun, I share the last stories from my journey with the other Coast To Coast Walk hikers present before we go our separate ways again.

Standing above Robin Hood's Bay, the end of a wonderful hike across England on The Coast To Coast Walk.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and varied hiking trails in England. From the cliffs of St. Bees it passes through the beautiful Lake District, before the heaths of the Yorkshire Dales with its moors and mines send you further through the Vale of Mowbray to the heather of the North York Moors. At last ending at the North Sea in Robin Hood’s Bay.

The Pennine Way // photo gallery

A photo gallery of my The Pennine Way hike is found here:

<< Kirk Yetholm

The Pennine Way // day 20 // Auchope Rigg - Kirk Yetholm

The Pennine Way, day 20.
Distance: 11.6km (478.1km), time spent: 3:51.
Weather: Heavy rain and wind.

I wake up in the middle of the night. By myself and not from the sounds around me. For outside it is far from being quiet, the wind is raging and the creaking from the hut is intense. Rain is pounding angrily on the hut, the window is covered by water. I am glad that I decided to stay in the hut instead of my tent. I wrap myself tighter in my sleeping bag, sheltered from the deepened darkness outside.

Looking outside the Auchope shelter in the morning, it is a grey world out there....and gusty.

The window of the Auchope shelter says all about what I can expect of the walk today.

It is no better in the morning, maybe even worse. Opening the door lets in a roar from the weather outside, it is all raging grey out there. I take my time in the morning, there is no need to rush, I have only about 12km to go down to Kirk Yetholm. Still, I have to brave the weather in the end. I have had a great time in this little shelter. It is also where I leave behind the little companion I have carried with me from the start, the Lego mini-figure Pennine-Jack has found a new home.

In a sudden gap in the storm, a view from Auchope Rigg down towards the College Valley.

Stepping out of the door, I am almost instantly gone by the wind, it will be tough going today. There is a short gap in the clouds, when I leave however, giving me some good and dramatic views of the College Valley below. Although it is closing again just as quickly. The wind is fierce. Everything of paths and surfaces that I walk on is soaked. The stone slabs are turned into small rivers, even resembling tiny waterfalls, Slab Force.

A wet surface to walk on.

The force of the wind is often catching my feet, getting me out of balance. Worst is it when the path is going close to a fence with barbed wire on. Then I am afraid to be pushed into the atrocity (barbed wire fences are just that, atrocities, relics of wars), possibly ruining my clothes or backpack, or me. Only thing to do is to buckle up, wrap my rain coat more tightly around me and use more force when moving my feet. Watching the clouds blowing hard over the ridge is however wickedly cool.

Rainbows below The Schil (but where do the sunrays come from?).

The Schil.

Even in this weather, I have to make the short detour to The Schil, at 601m. The summit is surrounded by clouds and the rocky outcrops feels like ancient tombs in the mist (you should know by now that I have a highly imaginative mind). Yesterday I went in and out of Scotland, but now after the Schil I am fully in Scotland. Going down, I feel that the rain as lessened some, but the force of the wind is still making it feel like a lot of rain. It throws the water straight at my face.

This is one of the worst things I have seen on any of the trails that I have done. Here the barbed wire was hidden behind the wooden board and so I could not see it when I climbed over the fence on the stile. Only by luck did I not put my hands directly on the barbed wire.

At Black Hag (what a name again), the Pennine Way orignally went down towards Halterburn. This is now an alternative route and is also the encouraged route if the weather is foul and appalling. Which it is now, but taking that option is still out of question. I will go the main route heading over Steer Rigg and White Law.

The wet Pennine Way heading towards Black Hag.

Despite the miserable weather, I am still enjoying the walk, only have to forget or put aside that I am wet and cold. I cannot see far away, but what I see is dramatic. Nature besieged by angry clouds are always fascinating and I can see the clouds flowing fast over the landscape. The valleys below are sometimes barely visible, mostly not.

Over Steer Rigg with barely discernible views of the landscape below.

Misty and rainful Cheviot Hills.

Walking the St. Cuthbert's Way to Lindisfarne was also included when I planned how many days I would have at my disposal in Britain. Either directly from Kirk Yetholm or from the start at Melrose. After I changed to a more leisurely pace due to my troublesome feet, time ran out for that option. I had laid out a too tight a plan, although those days would always be considered a bonus. Seeing the signpost is still making me feeling sorry for missing out on it, but the good thing is that it will probably still be there if I should return.

A view through the clouds.

Looking back up at the storm.

The end is nigh, but only for my hike of the Pennine Way. The last part of the walk is on road. I have come down from the hills, with both the wind and rain abating, the colors of the walk in dark blue and green. A strange feeling. The rain changes to a drizzle. I head over a low hill and then I can see the outline of Kirk Yetholm below me. There it is, twenty days later since I left Edale.

At White Law.

The Border Hotel marks the end of the Pennine Way, just as The Old Nags Head marked the beginning. From the nag to the border, I have done it. Underneath the sign announcing the end of the trail, there is a collection of discarded hiking shoes. I go inside and sit down for a break, with a coke and coffee. As I sit inside, the sun appears on the sky outside. I think I will call that arriving in nice weather and I have to go outside to the enjoy the sensation.

Descending underneath the clouds.

When I tried to book a place in Kirk Yetholm back in Cottonshopeburnfoot, every place that I called was fully booked, except for a cottage that the Border Hotel offer. Most expensive so far, but seeing that I most likely would arrive in bad weather and in that state would not want to spend time searching for a place to stay, I went for the cottage. Lets call it some well earned comfort at the end of long hike. It is not a cottage. At least not what I associate with a cottage, it is a full grown house that I get for myself. Two storeys, one big kitchen, a backyard with a barbeque, two living rooms, two bathrooms and three bedrooms to choose from. Best of all, it has a washing machine and I get some detergent so that I can wash all of my dirty clothes. The first thing I do, of course, is to clean myself and get into some dry clothes (although the clothes I wore had begun to dry).

A world in dark blue and green.

Back at The Border, I sit down with the half-pint you get for finishing the Pennine Way (you also get a certificate of completing the way here). I see in guestbook that Eloise and Deborah finished some days before me. The Australians has arrived too. They had been adviced not to go today and so instead of getting back on the trail had taken a taxi around from Byrness. Sophie and Roxanne had on the other hand disregarded the advice. I see they arrive, both of them wet, but seemingly happy. I eat dinner together with Kylie, Tracy and Peter, which is nice. In the evening, I return to my huge cottage and spend the rest of the time relaxing.

Kirk Yetholm and the end of the Pennine Way in sight.

20 days and about 480km through the backbone of England, the slog is done. Feet aside, it has been some wonderful days. Will I do it again? I guess not, but not because I did not enjoy The Pennine Way. There are just so many other trails to do out there, and also in England. But you never know.

The Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm.

Highlights of the Pennine Way (or some of them) was for me High Cup Nick, the many waterfalls, the open moorlands, Pen-y-Ghent, exploring Malhamdale, the first day, Greg's Hut, the shelter at Auchope Rigg, the revisit of Hadrian's Wall. The best day was when I walked from Hardraw to Tan Hill Inn. Some of the letdowns was the descent from Auchope Cairn, the barbed wire fences (especially the one mentioned above), that yellow brick road, the sudden changes between soft and hard surface (from boggy paths to stone slabs), but most of all my shoes (which is not the Pennine Way's fault of course).

Cheviot Churches, Kirk Yetholm.

The Pennine Way is finished. I will not walk St. Cuthbert's Way. Tomorrow I will take a bus to Edinburgh and The Fringe, where I will spend two nights before the flight home back to Norway. Happy trails!

At the end of The Pennine Way.

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