What? It's Saturday, Day 12 already?? Get away! No it was true, we were actually on our last day. After having walked 182 miles already, the last 11 were going to be a doddle, who knows we might even enjoy them!I had opted for the floor again in the flat so I didn't have too much sleep, and we had sorted most of our gear out last night for Nat to take home, so all we were left with was pretty much our sleeping bags, and Graeme and Sharon, the landlords at The Plough had very kindly agreed to hold them for us until Nat picked up later. The guys in the pub had also agreed to serve up breakfast at 9:00am so we got ourselves ready, called downstairs to the garage to thank Don and return his keys, and headed over there. It turns out we were the only people for breakfast meaning they had put themselves out especially to serve us, how kind!

The breakfast itself was great, and Graeme made sure we had enough tea/toast/everything! There was an unfortunate incident involving an egg however. I can't believe for the third time I was to spill breakfast on me - I never do that! We chatted with the owners about last night, and what a great night it was for both us and them. They had obviously enjoyed the fruit of a crowd of hungry and thirsty party people, and we had enjoyed the hospitality and pleasantness of the relatively new pub owners. It was great that as we were eating a couple came in and asked to book a table for the night, apparently they had seen how busy and wanted a part of it! We finished our brekkie off and as I went to pay was told it was free of charge as a thanks for the great night, and what's more, they gave a donation to the Brain Research Trust. Great people - if you're out towards Whitby, make sure you call in at The Plough in Sleights and mention the ukulele night - I can't guarantee you will get a free breakfast, but I can guarantee a big smile and a warm welcome!

Anyway, back to the walk! We set off from Sleights and we immediately confronted with a series of hills which we took in our stride. We could see Whitby Abbey in the distance and the North Sea, ah the glorious sight of the North Sea. We were also pleased to the periodic road signs 'Robin Hood's Bay 9 miles', 'Robin Hood's Bay 7 miles', etc. We knew RHB (Robin Hood's Bay) was in touching distance, and there would be a crowd gathering to meet us.

We walked through a quirky little place called Ugglebarnby, there really was no stopping us today. We powered on past a track way and heard a bit of barking from behind us....great, just what we need. "Don't run" were the wise words from Dad, as he shot into the distance faster than Usain Bolt. Fortunately for us they got cold feet and stopped before they were in attacking distance.

It wasn't the only encounter of the day we had with dogs, the second being two seemingly out of control dogs in a garden we passed, only kept at bay by a flimsy fence (I was convinced they could have jumped it if they really wanted to...). To be fair, I thought we would have had a lot more problems with dogs, maybe it was the influence of Dr Doolittle which kept them at bay, who knows.

It was early afternoon when we reached High Hawsker. This was only 3 or 4 miles away from RHB so we waited there and timed it so that everybody who was meeting us would be in RHB for us arriving. It was quite an eventful stop off, we got to meet George Stephenson - the local barfly, he told us tales about how he used to run faster than horses, and about the time he was offered the chance to buy Red Rum and declined. It was funny because when he left his seat to go to the toilet there was a plaque entitled 'Bullshit Corner', well, if the cap fits! We also met a guy who was 93 year old who was still getting out for his regular drink, good on him. We had a pint (or two) and then set off on the home straight, oh after nipping back to the pub for forgetting my trusty trekking pole!

As we headed towards the cliffs we spotted Stacey & John and the gang driving past, reality was kicking in, we were almost done, people were actually coming to meet us at the end. We headed onto the cinder track (thanks for the tip off Mark), and then dropped down to walk along the cliff edge, it was a fantastic feeling, we could see RHB approaching. We had a few little ups and down, and a few more stiles before we rested on a bench just above the bay. At that I got a text, it was an unknown number congratulating us - it was Mr Angola himself - Chris on his 'holiday phone'.

It was time for the last push, we wandered into RHB at the top end, feeling like heroes. We were buzzing, we almost bounced down the hill with a spring in our step, 12 days of aches and pains totally forgotten about. RHB was busy, it was a glorious Saturday afternoon, why shouldn't it be? We had notched our 11th mile of the day and so it had took us 12 days, and 193 miles to be here to join them, and we were loving it! As we turned the corner we could see everyone, it took a few seconds until they clocked us - we heard a "THERE THEY ARE", and at that the loudest cheer went up, probably the loudest cheer RHB has ever heard! Hairs stood up on the back of my neck, in fact, my newly grown beard stood proud too! Even writing this 1 month later brings back fantastic memories of that moment and a tear to my eye. All faces were a blur for a few seconds before I could get my bearings. I went to Nat, Dad to Mam, and Ged straight into the sea!

Congratulations were flying left, right and centre. Nat had produced some celebratory posters and Joe & Isaac had made a welcome back poster (all by themselves I think!). It was a who's who of the greatest gang of people on Earth, all people we love. There were a handful of people who couldn't make it, but we would catch up with them all at a later date. I bounced from person to person like a pinball soaking up the praise (well it was my barmy arsed idea in the first place!). From Nat, then onto Mam, Matthew & Emma had brought Joe and Isaac, Stacey and John were also there with Ruby, Billy and baby Alice. Amy, Philly, Janet, Emily, Mark and Jackie who had all met us over the past 12 days were there. Frank and Sonia had come with Nat to be there. It was brilliant to see Uncle Peter and Peter who had promised to try and get there. Shifty and Hayley had even re-arranged their train back from Leeds to meet us, that meant a lot. Sue, who helped to care for Granda in his final weeks, from Ward 24 at North Tees was there, and she got a great big hug! And last but by no means least, Josie, Jayne, Steph and Hayley were there, I was really so happy to see them all - so much so that I got so filled up with emotion I lost the ability to talk, and that's only ever happened once before, at Granda's funeral. Still, words didn't need saying, a great bear hug got the message across well enough.

Suddenly I had a pint of lager in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other, I could get the hang of this! Of course, we then had the formalities to do, they were as follows:

• Sign the Coast to Coast book in The Bay Hotel
• Dip your boots into the sea
  
• Throw your stone, carried from the Irish Sea, into the North Sea
• Sit under the C2C plaque for a photo opportunity

We did all of them then sat and enjoyed the weather while recalling stories from the walk. It wasn't long before fish and chip time came, and the hike back up the hill to the car.

We had done it. 193 miles from Coast to Coast in 12 days. Nobody could ever take it away from us now. When I suggested it in August last year I am sure people scoffed at the idea, maybe it was crazy, but did people really think I wouldn't do it?

The walk would not have been such a success if it wasn't for a number of people. For the people who helped along the walk, to Don, Fr Damian, Mrs G, Guy, and Graeme & Sharon at The Plough, thanks. For the people who came and joined us for a day's walking, helped with support or turned out on a night to meet us, it was a logistical challenge, so thanks to Paul, Amy, Phil, Les, Mark, Jackie, Janet, Emily, Shifty, Hayley, Pam, Graeme, Stan, Gaye, Frank, Trish, Emily, Jack, Cameron, Foster, Kath and Martin. For those who turned up at RHB on that glorious Saturday thanks to Matthew, Emma, Joe, Isaac, Uncle Peter, Peter, Stacey, John, Ruby, Billy, Alice, Sue, Sonia, Josie, Jayne, Steph and Hayley. For putting themselves out on a Friday night and making sure the whole of Sleights knew we were there, thanks to Graham and Roz. For one of the three musketeers who crazily signed up to do the walk with me, and for the bloody good cups of tea and breakfasts, thanks to Ged. For being the best long distance fan, for spreading the word in the far flung regions of Angola, and for kitting me out good and proper on our many jollies to Go Outdoors, thanks to Chris. For the millions of food parcels, and the stream of clean clothes, as well as the eternal support both on and off the walk, thanks to Mam. For being the second musketeer, for joining me in practising the long walks prior to the Coast to Coast and for showing there's life in the old dog yet, thanks to Collo. And then finally, the biggest thanks of all to the number one support driver, having clocked up more miles than anyone on the trip, who is always there to assist us with murder drills or infinite knowledge of escaping tricky situations (mountain lion attack, surviving a falling elevator etc), who is ALWAYS supportive of every crazy idea have, thanks to the best wife in the world, Nat.

Sorry for the exhaustive list of thank you's, but it needs to be said. When I get chance I will transfer all of this to my Coast to Coast tab for ease of viewing, and hopefully add more pics from John and Ged.

Day 12 over, no more to go! 193 miles clocked up in total. All in the memory of Granda.

It was the start of Day 11, the penultimate day of the walk, and we were really geared up for it. We had about 30 miles left of the walk and had 2 options - first was to walk half way (Nat had again offered to pick us up where we fell and drop us back the next morning), or go for it, the 19 mile walk straight past Glaisdale, past Egton Bridge, past Grosmont and into Sleights. In order to leave us an easy day tomorrow, we decided to put all our eggs in one basket and go the whole 19 miles.

We grabbed breakfast in the Lion Inn (I may well have slopped something down my t-shirt, I can't remember now) and headed off. It was a nice day, ideal for walking and we seemed to be leading the group today.

We walked along the roadside for a short while noticing Ralph's Cross and then into the moorland, any aches, pains, blisters etc forgotten about, the idea of only having one more night away from our own beds driving us on. There were a few minor ascents and descents, though nothing too taxing, in the main the walking was pretty good.

We encountered a friendly group of women who were walking the Coast to Coast over several weekends, obviously work being an intrusion to some of them. We also came across a couple of guys who would not have been out of place in Little Britain, and a father/son combo who had camped wild behind a building on the moorland.

Kath & Martin wanted to meet us in Robin Hood's Bay on Saturday but couldn't make it, so they decided to meet us up for a part of the walk instead. Due to the terrible weather yesterday we thought today might have been a better day to meet, so, after a few phone calls between us (mainly me trying to work out where exactly we were!) we finally met up, on a bit of track before Glaisdale.

As always, it was great to meet up with friends and family on the walk, and today was no exception. We carried on into Glaisdale, and it was there we decided to stop for lunch. The Donegan's were even armed with coffee/coke/sausage rolls and more - wish we could have met them up every day! We decided against buying an ice cream, and while Kath drove on to meet us in Egton Bridge, Martin joined us for another few miles.

We stopped for a Beatle-esque photo shoot at Beggar's Bridge before heading through the woods - Martin being an expert at this walking caper. It wasn't too long before we were out of the other side and heading into Egton. Here we met back up with Kath and visited the Catholic Church of St Hedda. If only all churches could stay open all day like St Hedda's! We called in and looked around, an unexpectedly fantastic church which even held relics of the Blessed Nicholas Postgate. Having signed the guestbook we bid farewell to Kath & Martin and set sail. The next stop - Grosmont.

After leaving Egton Bridge we walked along an old toll road and following the path led us all the way to Grosmont. We knew we were in the right area as we had heard the steam trains passing. It seemed like a nice village and thought we wad have another break, this time in the pub next to the station. I got a photo from Nat showing her, Amy and Paul in the car, setting off to meet us in Sleights.

A nice break meant only one thing - aching legs. As it was day 11 and we were bordering on 'superfit' status, it didn't take long before we were back in the stride. Good job too, as there were plenty of ups and downs to be had on the walk into Sleights. It was water off a duck's back though - we had walked for nearly 11 days, and had racked up 175+ miles - a few hills weren't going to bother us now. Dare I say we even powered up them?! OK, we stopped less times than we would have had to this time 11 days ago.

Saying all that, the hill into Sleights is a bugger! So much so that someone very kindly plonked a bench at the top. Well, it would be rude not to have five minutes.

Tonight's accommodation was very kindly provided by Don, a 'good Catholic lad' who I knew through work, he was allowing us to stay the night in his flat, which he wasn't using at the present. Fortunately for us it was right opposite a pub, hurrah!

Not 100% sure where we were going we saw Paul appear out of the blue, and no sooner had he appeared, than he disappeared again. We knew he had gone through a cut so we followed it up and we were met by the most wonderful sound - The Wild Rover - played on pipes and drum by our friends Graham and Roz. It was fantastic, we were instantly buzzing by the sound, we were being piped in! Not only was it the sounds, it was the look to, as when they came into view there they were in the whole caboodle, perfect (well, Graham's legs were a bit dubious but...)! Not only was this a total surprise, but it turned out Mam, Pam & Graeme were there too, as well as Nat, Amy and Paul. With all this gang there was only thing to do - the thing we do best - have a great night!

It was all very emotional - even the neighbours came out to see what the fuss was all about. After the hugs and kisses subsided, we dumped our bags in the car and headed for the pub. It turned out to be one of the best nights in memory. Nat had brought my ukulele, and Graeme and Roz had brought theirs. It wasn't long before we had took over the pub and were eating, drinking and generally being merry! It swelled even more when Trish, Emily, Jack and Cameron came, as well as Foster.

We had called into the pub (The Plough) a couple of weeks before when we first picked Don's keys up, and we threatened to return on this very night. We were made extremely welcome by the owners daughter and she said that we could pretty much do what we like as long as we were spending money - and we did!

The pub was buzzing, regulars peering over from the other side of the bar to see what the racket was. Mam had asked if there was a chance we could go over for breakfast tomorrow morning, and to our surprise they said yes, fantastic. We had a cracking night in the pub, including a recital from a regular, who we thought was going to complain.

All things had to come to an end though, and so did today. It was 19 miles nailed with relative ease. Thanks to everyone who made it a very memorable day, particularly Graham and Roz for putting themselves out for us. Only 1 more sleep until an element of routine came back! 11 days down, 1 to go.

Day 10. It was Thursday, and the Saturday finish was in touching distance. The weather had not eased up from yesterday, it was so bad none of us even had shorts on! After walking earlier in the week Shifty had decided to come back for another 'jolly' outing. He arrived bright and early up the bank to the Lady Chapel and we started loading up the car for Nat to take home. It was then that the first problem of the day occurred - with all of the gear going home there wasn't enough room for the four of us to get in the car too, but thanks to Nat's Auntie Teresa she was able to dump the gear at her house in a nearby village then come back and drop us at our finishing point yesterday. She would then go back to pick the gear up and take it all home. You don't realise what went on behind the scenes!

It wasn't long before we were on the road again, Nat dropping us back at the top of Swainby bank. Part of today's walking would be following a section of the Cleveland Way, another long distance walk. The rain had made a waterfall down some nearby steps and the mist had made visibility very poor, you could barely see 10 foot in front of you. Shifty donned his waterproof poncho but it wasn't long before he realised he wasn't going on the log flume at Flamingoland and it became a victim to the weather. We encountered a number of ups and downs in the morning of this walk including Carlton Top and Clay Bank Top. Fortunately a lot of the way was paved with steps, but unfortunately the steps were soaking wet and every one a potential hazard. A combination of the dangerous steps (I had visions of me slipping and twisting my knee so close to the end) and the pulling of my thigh from Day 7 meant it was a long and arduous task getting down the steps as well as getting up them. As always though, it didn't matter, we were a team and what time we lost on the ups and downs we made up for on the flat.

According to the guide book there was a cafe built into the side of a hill, but amazingly enough we missed it! It wasn't that we took a wrong turn or anything, we literally could only see what was directly in front of us. We didn't have time to start searching for it, we wanted to crack on. We did, however, hear various animal noises throughout including one I've never heard them sing in the 'Old McDonald' song. It was kind of like a shrill Ewok, I actually thought it was the dinosaur from Jurassic Park and any second it was about to pounce in front of me, open it's wings and spray poison right over me.

Rumour has it that people had petitioned to force the North Yorkshire Moors Authority to put more signs up as a lot of people were getting lost on this leg of the walk. With this weather I was not surprised, it could quite easily have been used for the setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

It was approaching lunchtime, and we were approaching the Wain Stones, a collection of large Bronze Age rocks. We seemed to be faced with a choice of routes - up and over the stones or around them on the side of the hill. We set off walking around them but it wasn't long before we realised it wasn't the safest route. We walked so far on the slippy terrain until things got too hairy and we were having to jump across sections. On a slanted hillside, with only a little room for manoeuvre and no room for error we were out of our depth. It wasn't safe to carry on this way so Shifty volunteered to back track and see if there was another route.

The time passed and Shifty hadn't returned, maybe THE BEAST from Tuesday had tracked him down and eaten him, maybe he had got lost in the mist, or sprayed by the dinosaur. But at that Shifty seemed to come from nowhere about 20 feet above us, he had found a way to get us out. We cautiously back pedalled a bit and clambered up to meet Shifty before deciding it was definitely time for a lunch break. Shifty had earned his pips for that day and was thanked for his efforts, no more so than by Dad who still had clumps of the hillside in his grasp, reluctant to finally let go of it.

It was a tale of two terrains today - the morning was spent climbing up and dropping down, whereas the afternoon was a long flat trek. It may well have been flat but it felt like a hell of a long walk. The pathway was quite defined but was strewn with puddles, and the last 7 miles followed and old disused railway line, so easy to navigate. It was a case of head down and walk for this section with the weather being so bad. It was during this time that I decided to unleash my secret power, so fed up with picking which stones to jump on through the streams I opted to just walk across the water instead, it really was an act of magic.

Under normal circumstances I'm sure the Lion Inn would come into view as you walk the track but with limited visibility this wasn't to be, and it took a fortuitous look at the GPS to realise that we needed to turn left at a poorly marked sign for the Lyke Wake Walk, a move which saved us an extra 2-3 miles and having to go back on ourselves. It was to be our final uphill of the day and as soon as we got to the summit we realised the pub, and our accommodation for the night was not far away. Having only seen 4 or 5 people all day it was nice to finally see civilisation again. We sat in the foyer and removed our boots, the steam oozed from them, a sign of a good walk!

The pub was a lot bigger than I had previously thought - I didn't realised they had a restaurant part too! We were shown our room and then returned for a few drinks - the first round being all hot drinks!

It wasn't too long before we were met up again by the gang. Mam, Nat and Uncle Frank arrived and then Hayley came a little later. We only had one more night after tonight so we sorted our gear out accordingly, then relaxed for the night having a meal, few drinks, and a good bit of social.

Day 10 was now over, leaving 2 days to go. It was 14 miles today but in horrendous weather.

Day 9 had arrived - hooray for day 9! We awoke in Osmotherley Lady Chapel and Ged was on with his breakfast for 3. Despite some electrical malfunctions we all managed to have a little something, though I think mine was the only warm one! It was a good nights kip in the warmth, with use of toilets too, despite the old rattling noises and the phantom door knocker. It was nice to be somewhere for more than one night as we were not messing about so much on the morning.

Mark was joining us this morning, and he drove us to back to Danby Wiske so we could pick up where we left off yesterday. We had four days left to go and the route was quite flexible, today we decided to walk as far as we could, and then pick up again wherever we left off in the morning.

Right from the off it was a grim day, and we were doing a fair bit of field walking, great, bring on the mud! I had noticed a potential alternative route to Wainwright's which avoided travelling south to Osmotherley, I suspect he had put it on the route for niceness and accommodation purposed, but we had already been there and done that. I will come to that a little later though.

We did come across an interesting chap on this day. He was a solo walker and overtook us when we had stopped off for a break. We did catch him up though as he was stood by himself waiting to cross a stile, he must have been there ages. When we asked why he hadn't crossed the field he admitted he was terrified of the cows chasing him, he had been listening to some horror stories of cow stampedes and had obviously terrified him. We passed the field with him and the cows never even flinched. He pulled away but we were to catch up again in similar circumstances later on.

There were plenty of gates and stiles to contend with today, and it was heading down a slippy bank to one of these that Dad took a tumble which resulted in the death of one of his trusty walking poles. I was then faced with the dilemma - do I whip my phone out for a pic of him laid out or run over to help him up? Being the good son I am it was the latter, no good for the blog I know!

We carried on further and again met the Cow Man, and let him join us crossing. Funny enough, a bit further on the walk we came across a field where the cows had all huddled around the stile looking as if it was impossible to get over. Step in Dr Dolittle (Ged) who, like Moses, parted the cows and we crossed.

One farmer clearly had a sense of humour as he had attached rats and skulls to his fences, very good. It was a little further we passed a dog which was going mental. It was chained to the side of a barn and was barking and jumping like crazy, if it escaped from that chain then one of us was for a pouncing. Fortunately though it never did, but I'm sure one day it would.

We passed a railway track, but that was nothing compared to the dash across the A19 we had to do, which sounds quite spectacular, and all books say the most dangerous part of the walk, but despite the poor visibility of the day, we still managed to get across with relative ease, and we didn't have to wait too long.

After crossing the A19 we headed into the villages of Ingleby Arncliffe and Ingleby Cross, where we stopped off at the Blue Bell Inn for a break. We had met up with Mark & Felicia again, and were joined in the pub by the crowd from Wyoming. It was, by this time, atrocious weather, but we were still determined to wear our shorts, the bad weather wasn't going to stop us! The wearing of shorts prompted one of the Wyomings to question us - "Aren't you guys cold?" to which we replied "Nah, it's not too bad this weather, you should see the winter!". We proceeded to leave the pub at this point, to which we all shouted "Bloody hell it's freezing!" Cue the roars of laughter from the Wyoming massive.

We then headed on and took on my alternative route. It was cutting out Osmotherley totally and heading through Scarth Woods. By this time the mist had really dropped, and the ground was really boggy. Perhaps there was a reason the route doesn't go this way I thought as we set off up the hill. It was bad terrain, and at one point we were deep into the mist and you couldn't see over the edge of the hill. This part, for me, was more dangerous than scampering across the A19 - one slip on the muddy incline and you were gone, but the worst thing was you couldn't even see where you were going to fall!

We decided to call it a day and break off whenever we could, somewhere suitable for Nat to pick us up for the day. We would have to take a little detour to head into Swainby. 1 mile the signpost said, well it it must have been the longest mile ever, there is no way it was only 1 mile from where we were. As we were heading down into Swainby we noticed a car tucked away in the mist. Was it abandoned? On closer inspection, it looked like a couple were in it, and, well, perhaps the less said about it the better. They obviously never expected anyone up there in these conditions!

By now it was absolutely lashing down, nevermind though, we were in Swainby - there must be loads of pubs. Well, there was a few, but they were all shut. SHUT!! Unbelievable, what kind of a place was this where all pubs were shut through the day. Here we were, sat outside a pub in the soaking rain waiting for Nat to pick us up, we must have looked desperate. The best bit was when Nat text to say "why don't you go in the pub, you nutters?". As if we were ever going to voluntarily sit outside a pub, no matter what the weather!

As always, Nat the hero arrived and we went back to Danby Wiske so Mark could pick his car up. We were then heading for Osmotherley but as soon as we left Mark we drove past a car with what looked like a dead body in the driving seat. Intrigued, Nat reversed so we could look in again to check. At this, the 'body' woke up and we had to keep reversing back to Mark so it didn't look so obvious!

We decided to call into the Queen Catherine again for a couple of drinks before we took the long awaited fish and chips back to the digs for tea. In the pub we met Mark & Felicia for the last time and they were thrilled when Dad & Ged presented them with a couple of Wainwright glasses we had managed to 'acquire' from the pub "OH MY GAWWWD" (in your best American accent) was their exact reaction.

The great news was that Nat was kipping over with us tonight, the terrible news is that we were all subjected to a full Nat special murder drill. Procedures, emergency actions, escape routes, the whole caboodle!

It was a terrible day weather-wise but we had pressed on a little further making the last few days a little shorter. That was Day 9 over, only 3 to go! Another 14 miles done.

Day 8 arrived and we were looking forward to a good pub breakfast. Shifty and Hayley had come to meet us this morning - Shifty was walking with us, Hayley offering the support vehicle for the day. We had filled our breakfast menu in the previous night and were on our way down. Only problem was the door to the dining area was locked. Hmmm, we had a walk out for a bit, came back and it was still locked. It was a little after the agreed time of 7:30am when the cleaner arrived. She had the look of despair on her face but at least she opened the door so we could get our seats. Joining us was an already irate Scotsman who needed to get to Barnsley, he clearly was in no mood for hanging around. The poor cleaner was apologising and offered to make us tea after inviting us to help ourselves to the cereals. As the Scotsman took the cornflakes they dropped all over the floor, that didn't help. By now it was 8:00am, and we had decided to go to the Wetherspoons pub over the road for breakfast. I was squaring up for the stay with the cleaner (in the absence of anyone else - don't worry I got a receipt), less a £15 discount for breakfasts when the owner stuck his head through the door "sorry gents", then disappeared again. It was a shoddy performance, the owner who was obviously the chef as well, was blearly eyed after a heavy session the night before, and I got the impression it wasn't the first time the cleaner had to run the show. Nevertheless we went to Wetherspoons, had a great breakfast, which I managed to slop down my shirt (but we won't talk about that).

OK, back to the walk. One of the options for today was Richmond to Osmotherley, but having walked that before I vowed never to do it again, so I opted for Richmond to Danby Wiske. Having left the pub we seemed to go entirely the wrong way around the market square before coming out about 10 metres on the other side of the pub. Nevermind.

We had a good pace going, and as always, it was nice to have somebody else walking with us, Shifty this time (who incidentally enjoyed it so much he came back for another day later on!). Within an hour we were at Brompton-on-Swale and we decided to treat ourselves to a lottery ticket. We never won.

We pushed on from Brompton-on-Swale to a little village called Bolton-on-Swale. It was a nice little place with an old water pump in the middle. We veered left into the churchyard in search of the legendary Henry Jenkins tombstone. It wasn't too hard to find, it was the biggest there. Apparently he lived to be 169 years old...honestly! There were a couple of benches there so we decided to stop off and have our lunch, yes, in the graveyard.
 
After lunch we moved on and passed through Catterick and into a series of fields, where I was fortunate enough to put my hand in birdmuck while crossing a stile (and we still didn't win the lottery!). We later encountered what could only be described as 'THE BEAST', that's Shifty's words not mine. As we walked along a country path we seen something in the distance hurtling towards us, ok, at that point you could have been forgiven for thinking it was a pitbull terrier running at us. Naturally, we assumed the 'shitting yourself' position - that is Dr Dolittle (Ged) at the front with me, Dad and Shifty cowering behind. To be fair, Ged stood his ground and as this creature came closer Shifty shreiked out "It's a beast!". Well, it was still approaching but didn't seem to have blood dripping from it's fangs like we expected, and it finally came to about 10 foot away and turned out to be not so much a beast as some kind of pathetic terrier. It actually took one look at us and started to retreat, hell I even got close enough to take a photo!

We survived the beast experience and marched on into Danby Wiske. Having witnessed the depressing landlord once before at the White Swan, I was fully expecting the same, but it wasn't quite so bad, and his business partner was working, who actually was very pleasant! We sat down and I tasted my first, and by no means my last, pint of Wainwright Ale, very tasty. It was also our first encounter with Mark & Felicia, a couple from Chicago who were also walking the C2C but in more days than us, and a large gang of walkers from Wyoming.

Fr Damian from Osmotherley had very kindly allowed us to stay for two nights in the Lady Chapel there, this being our first of them, so Nat picked us up from Danby Wiske and took us to Osmotherley where we would meet up with Mam and Hayley too. We got our gear set up in the Chapel, and, after a song from the Three Tenors, we headed to the Queen Catherine for a couple of drinks and a bite to eat.

The pub was a great choice - more Wainwright Ale, and everybody had something to nibble, the highlight being Col's Steak & Ale Pie, which was more like one of Desperate Dan's famous cow pies - it even had the horns I think. Ged was in for a treat too as Trish, Emily, Jack and Cameron had come over on a surprise visit to see him.

We were closer to home now than we would be when we finished! Day 8 out of the way, we were two thirds done, only 4 days to go. Nearly 15 miles added to the clock.

Day 7. It was important for us to get out of Keld early as it was our longest day, 22 miles in total. Most sane people do the Coast to Coast in 14 days or more, only superfit types or nutcases do it in less. I'm not quite sure which catergory we fall into, though I have never described myself as superfit before. As we were doing it in 12 days, this was one of the days where I had opted to double up. Wainwright walked Keld - Reeth and then Reeth - Richmond, I decided it wasn't so unmanageable to do it all in one day. In the run up to the walk we had tried both of these days and knew they were both about 11 miles, and actually quite pleasant. We knew where we were going and there was a good half way stop off at Reeth.

We managed to get the early start we craved for setting off from Keld at 7:30am. It was a bit chilly this time of morning but it would improve later in the day and turn out to be a great day for walking, just what we wanted.

It kicked off with a steep uphill walk through Keld and it wasn't long before we were back walking alongside our old friend the River Swale. If you are looking for a section of the walk to complete then from Keld to Reeth would be the one I would recommend - 11 miles, not too many ups and downs as well as fantastic views. All of a sudden the Coast to Coast started to become a pleasure!

It wasn't long before illness struck Ged again and he was sick, but fortunately it was one of them where it was better out than in and we were back on our travels. It made the difference having had a dry run as we were confident of where we going without a need to look at maps or GPS, it meant we could pick up the pace and hit the 3mph mark.

It wasn't long before we had passed Crackpot Hall and Ivelet Bridge and found ourselves sitting in the Queen's Jubilee area of Gunnerside. It was 6 miles over already, we tucked into a little snack and headed off again, we would be in Reeth in no time!

Despite the great weather and pleasantness of such a walk I found myself hit with a bout a lethargy (even more so than normal!) and I was dragging my heels with a mile or so to go into Reeth. Maybe it was the thought that most other people doing the C2C would just be about finishing for the day and enjoying the afternoon and evening in Reeth, whereas we would be stopping for a short break and then having to do another 11 miles.

We made it to Reeth just after 1pm and it turned out they were having a village fair, which meant only one thing - a big game of quoits (apparently!). They seemed to be taking it very serious, and looked like a game I could get into - not very energetic and played just outside a pub. The village square was very busy and we stopped for lunch on a bench outside the Black Bull, it looked decent inside, we sat directly outside the restaurant area with people waiting for their meals to arrive. Not sure the window seat was the best choice today as Ged decided to unleash his feet in full view, picking at his blisters, applying his cream and cleaning the cheese from his toes. Still, I am sure they enjoyed the meal when it arrived.

After the break, all of my lethargy just seemed to disappear and we were all raring to go for the second half of the day. Having walked Reeth to Richmond previously in the snow I knew this time would be a lot easier. We passed through Grinton and came to Marrick Priory, it was at this point on our dry run where we went wrong, missing out a stile to the 375 or so Nuns Steps. Unfortunately we found them this time and we headed up, once we were at the top we knew there was a lot of fields to come but it was relatively flat. After a few stops and a lot of huffing and puffing we made it to the top, it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.

We passed through the fields, some with an overbearing smell of garlic, and eventually came to the dreaded downhill walk to the village of Marske. It was a tough and long downhill which played havoc with my thighs after it was over, the twinge was to stay with me until the end of the walk and I felt it on most downhills thereafter.

We stopped for a breather in Marske before conquering Applegarth Scar and Whitcliffe Wood and making it into Richmond. We were staying in a pub (great planning), and as we entered Richmond it looked like a scene from 'The Walking Dead', it turns out there was some kind of fair there as well, and it was strewn with underage drinkers sozzled on a bottle of Lambrini and a few cheeky Jagerbombs (ah those were the days!). We made it into the pub at about 7:30pm, a whole 12 hours from start to finish, and were greeted by Nat, Mam, Amy and Philly.

We all had a few drinks and grabbed something to eat back in the room, which was massive for a double. It was a 3 in a bed night again (I mean me Dad and Ged - nothing to do with alcohol filled teenagers in the streets of Richmond!) but I opted for the floor, and to be fair the staff in the hotel did provide extra pillows/covers etc, but still, the thought of Dad and Ged's feet hovering above my head for the night meant I slept with one eye open anyway, and it wasn't the greatest nights sleep.

It was over, the 22 mile beast was tamed. I have no doubt the idea of Granda, now joined by Alan, willing us on kept us going today, as well as our reminiscing with stories of Alan making us all the more determined to make the C2C a success.

Day 7, in memory of Alan Mawby, was over, only 5 more to go, Robin Hood's Bay was well within our sights.

After having the best nights sleep to date, Mrs G filled us with a tasty breakfast (and plenty of tea), and before we left made sure we accepted a donation from her for our fundraising efforts. A very nice gesture, which just added to the already legendary status of her.

We had a new face joining us today in the form of Les. He had already been on a day out training with us in the past but it was his first encounter on the full C2C. We packed up his car and set off walking. It was only a 12 mile walk today but rumour had it the area up towards the nine standards rigg was always boggy, meaning a very good possibility of slowing us down.

As always, most people you passed greeted you with a "hello" or a "morning", and it wasn't long before we were over 'Frank's Bridge' and on the uphill towards the nine standards. In my head it was always walking from Kirkby Stephen eastwards which meant we were on our way home, and so it proved a couple of miles in as we passed an official marker indicating the half way point, hooray! We kept walking what seemed to be an eternal uphill until the nine standards were in sight. Things then started to live up to the boggy rumour, but it was nothing compared to what we were to come across later in the day.

It wasn't too long before we reached our first target of the day, the nine standards. These were man made cairns which looked impressive from afar and even better up close. It was, I suppose, Kirkby Stephen's equivalent to Roseberry Topping, and there were similar numbers at the top too. We stopped off here for our lunch and made our phone calls before heading off for the second part of the day.

The next part was split into sections depending on the season. We should really have taken the red route but inadvertently took the blue one. It was no surprise that we encountered terrible conditions. We had to be careful we didn't get sucked into the ground such was the boggy terrain. From skipping across the marshes to balancing on pieces of wood in becks, it was any method possible to avoid a covering. It was today we very much appreciated our walking poles as they felt in front of us whether or not we were about to be sunk, Les relied on his twinkle toes and his Billy Elliott agility to get by.

After plenty of marsh dodging and thanks to the GPS we made it down to Whitsundale Beck which would then meet up with the very young River Swale, a river we would see plenty more of on the walk. We followed the route right along, occasionally having to cross one side of the beck to the other, until we approached Ravenseat Farm. It was at this point we started to see more walkers again (presumably having taken the red route). It was also at this point Les felt the need for sun cream - a little too late I'm afraid as he was red raw. By now we were only a few mile from Keld but we were down to sharing Les' energy drink. It was today my drink bag finally split and was beyond help. It was because of these factors that coming across Ravenseat Farm was even more pleasurable. There was a cabin converted to a toilet which we all took advantage of and then we were welcomed by the heavily pregnant Amanda, the farmers wife. She came just at the right time and offered us teas/coffees and home made scones. We all tucked into something or other while she held court telling us of the celebrities who had stayed with her, Julia Bradbury and Elle McPherson among them. She also told us she was appearing on Ade Edmondson's The Dales on the Monday after we got home so that was one to watch out for.

We cracked on walking and it was only 3 miles or so to go, and buoyed on by Amanda's hospitality we soon arrived in Keld to the delight of the welcoming committee - Amy, Mam, Janet and Emily. The campsite looked pretty full, and we were in no mood for pitching up at this time, so thanks to a shrewd bit of haggling, we found ourselves in an ensuite double room for the night, with the use of a communal kitchen/living area. Ideal as we wanted an early start in the morning. We managed to get ourselves suitably packed so there was no need to meet us in the morning, we could just leave when we were ready. Jan dropped Les off at his car (then never wanted to see Keld again), and he returned to the pub for a nightcap with us.

It was tonight we received the devastating news that Alan Mawby had died. He was a great friend and a top family man, a very close friend of Granda's. The news was a shock to us but it would go on to serve as further inspiration for the days ahead. 

That was 6 days down with the same again to go. Only 12 miles today, but we didn't half work hard for them.

We didn't have much of a sleep last night, mainly because we were kipping underneath a railway bridge (not advertised). When I did stick my head out of the tent I was greeted by the sight of a frost filled field and a handful of chickens mooching round. I had no objection to the chickens other than they were allowed to roam everywhere, which in turn meant the outdoor shower and toilet were now filled with what can only be described as chickenshit! Undeterred though, we cracked on and got ready, today was to be another long day.

Mark and Jackie were walking with us today and were also ferrying our gear to tonight's stop in Kirkby Stephen afterwards. They arrived in good time armed with sarnies/pies/sausage rolls and more, all ready for the day. We had now left the Lake District and were going through our second national park - the Yorkshire Dales. I then made what I think was my first mistake of the walk (apart from starting it obviously) in that I turned right out of Shap instead of left. It was 3/4 of a mile or so further down that we realised, but instead of turning back we decided to head towards where we should be and meet the path at a later point. We crossed over the M6 motorway and through a series of farm tracks. At one point we seemed to be looking for a stile where there wasn't one. According to both the GPS and the book there should have been one into a field. Fortunately for us a local farmer seen us musing and came over to help, pointing us in the right direction and advising us that the route had been redirected to the new route, ahhhhhhh that explains it.

We encountered plenty of fields today, with plenty of sheep in. A couple of times we noticed a lamb had gone astray into an adjacent field, so our resident sheepdog Mark done his best to reunite them with their mams. It was like watching Hugh Hefner run round the Playboy Mansion trying to grope his bunny girls. It did the trick though!

The heat was pounding down on us today, we could have filled one of the disused quarries with sweat! Mark helped me out by carrying my pack for a while, it was nice to be able to air my back for a change.

It was great to have Mark and Jackie out with us today, it was a hard day. I think terrain-wise it was my least favourite, it was quite a lot of the same all of the way through. Ged was suffering with his blisters on this day more than any other, and I felt quite dehydrated with a combination of the heat and the fact my water pack had now sprung a leak.

We seen our fair share of wildlife today and even watched Mark try and catch a lizard - he's a spritely one that one (Mark, not the lizard!). Despite the same terrain we did come across the ruins of an old Roman road, and (whether you believe it or not) Robin Hood's Grave, although there wasn't a marker as such, it was just, in some quarters, presumed his body was laid to rest there.

We were lucky enough to come across one of the main characters of the walk today as well, although we never found out his name, but this is more or less how the conversation went. (You must say his part in a high pitch voice with a broad Yorkshire accent for full effect.)

Him: "Aye up"
Us: "Afternoon, you see any dead bodies up there?"
Him: "Ain't seen no dead bodies but I seen trig point - is that a dead body?" (pointing to Ged laid out on the verge)

And so it went on, I realised as I was typing that it's not as funny as it was on the day, but we certainly won't forget it!

We thrashed on with the day, every step becoming a slog (for us 3 anyway - Mark and Jackie were masterful at this walking game). Ged had become acquainted with a number of trees throughout the day with his now infamous 'Papa Shangos'.

All of the pain of the walk was instantly relieved though as we approached Kirkby Stephen, and our host for the evening, Mrs Graham, came onto the High Street to meet us. I had read great things about Mrs G, and we were not disappointed. She welcomed us into her dining room where we met by a great big piece of cake each, "I always look after my walkers" she proclaimed, and instantly became Col's new hero. She seemed genuinely interested in us and we drunk tea and exchanged stories. She told us her husband had died only 2 months ago and she was just getting back into the swing of things businesswise. It was a piece of cake and 4 cups of tea later before I was able to get up to my room. After the last few nights of camping and double beds it was a joy to have our own bed, and when we tried them out they seemed to gobble you up whole like a giant water bed.

It was Champions League Final night so I had a walk into the town with Dad while Ged stayed and bathed his aches and pains away. We had a good night in the local pub, and managed to even grab a bit of tea on the way back to the hotel.

Today was a struggle, helped massively by Mark and Jackie, thanks. I wouldn't recommend anyone to do that leg of the walk, but I would 100% recommend that you stay with Mrs Graham at the Lockholme B&B, a truly fantastic lady.

That's now 5 days down, with only 7 to go, and another 20 miles clocked up.

Day 4 was upon us. So far we had racked up 37 gates, 9 stiles, 11 bridges, 4 cattle grids and had lost 2 toenails between us. We were lucky enough not to have a visit from the badgers through the night, well, not one we were aware of anyway. Ged had his trusty stove out and on the menu today was an all day breakfast, from a tin. Very tasty it was indeed, and just what we needed for the 19 mile trek we had ahead. I had spent some time plotting today's route, it wasn't exactly as Wainwright had planned, but what it lacked in height it made up for in length.

The campsite had a shower block on site which was great, Dad and Ged having checked it out first being the early birds. As I went in it reminded me of one of the many horror movies I had seen - typical kind of generic camping block, soulless and quiet - well it was by the time I made it there. As I stood in the shower thoughts flashed through my head of the usual baddies - Freddie Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Norman Bates, would I meet my demise on the Coast to Coast Walk? I think this is the effect of living with Nat for so long, and then guess what happened next?! Yes!! You guessed it, all of the lights went out! Well I had never got dressed so quickly, it must have been within 10 seconds I was dressed and out into the campsite pretending to be as calm as possible. Safe to say I survived the incident and got ready. I hadn't quite got to grips with this camping malarky, my phone was suffering from a real lack of charge, though my GPS had preserved its battery quite well.

We were once again met by Paul and this time he had his Uncle Billy with him. We stuffed all our gear into his boot and he dropped us at the Patterdale Hotel, our starting point for the day. It was great starting the day there as Pam & Graeme, along with Stan & Gaye were, by an absolute coincidence, staying there the previous night. We passed by and noticed the 4 of them sitting at the breakfast table, then pressed our noses against the window like kids at a sweetshop and having spotted us they all came out to greet us. It was only day 4 but to receive the hugs and kisses gave me a very slight insight into what it must be like on the last day when we arrive into Robin Hood's Bay. After a quick briefing of events so far they presented us with a couple of bags - Kendal mintcake and ginger - to keep us going. Thanks again guys, they worked an absolute treat!

Then we were off for good. It was a long day ahead, with a lot of road walking. It's a bit boring but we can get up to 3mph on the roads. Only after we had set off did we realise we had left one of our most important items in the back of Paul's car - the walking poles. £ for £ probably the most useful bit of kit we had. Nevermind, it was too late now and we needed to get on.

We followed a track for the first part of the day, right along Ullswater Lake, it was rocky in parts. The wind was phenomenal. Again, it was due to the adverse weather we stayed on this route. I didn't realise the lake was so big, nor did I realise there was a ferry across it!

It was certainly not the most pleasurable day of the walk. In fact, on our feet it was one of the toughest (again, due to the roads). We passed through Howtown and a bit further on were accosted by a familiar car...it was Paul! He had tracked us down and was able to pass on our walking poles, hurrah! We trekked on further and passed a couple of caravan sites. This was an odd experience as there were loads of people just going about their holidays, and here were us, walking past in our knackered states looking like Compo, Foggy and Clegg! I felt like shouting "We are doing the Coast to Coast you know", just to try and justify our now withered state. We soldiered on further until we made it to Pooley Bridge and rested for a bit. It was here I noticed a signpost for Tirril (home of the dubious lager).

Our feet were on fire, blisters agogo, particularly Ged who had lost the blister lottery. We had a group hug, fist pumped a bit and done the Thornaby haka (ok, slight exaggeration), but we did motivate ourselves to set off again, it was hard but we were soon on the home straight to Shap. Nat was having a few days in Ullswater camping with her family and was coming to meet us so that was a good incentive for us to crack on. We passed a few villages on the way but none stranger than Knipe (pronounced Neep apparently), which again brings me back to my horror movies, particularly Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

We knew we were not too far when we reached Shap Abbey (which I was a little disappointed with), and we clocked into Shap village at some time around 8:30pm. It had been a very long day, but we seemed to be handling the aches a little better. It was great to once again have a welcoming committee in the form of Nat, Cody, Summer and Paul. A hot drink seemed to take all of our problems away.

We stayed at the New Ing Lodge, which, having seen the reviews, seemed quite good. I think the main problem in this place was that we were campers and not B&Bers. We were almost frowned upon immediately when we arrived, and sent to the back of the garden like the lepers of the outdoor world. They had advertised a bar and free WiFi, great (or so I thought). The bar turned out to be open for a total of 20 minutes and the WiFi password was given, and then 20 minutes later switched off. When asking for anywhere to eat I was told everywhere was shut but he would make me beans on toast (it was his speciality he claimed) for £4. At that point I would rather have caught one of the free range chickens roaming outside and stuck it on Ged's stove than pay him any more money than I had to. Hungry and fed up I went back to the tent. So much for my big night out in Shap!

Day 4 was gone, a mere memory now, only 8 days to go. So far we had racked 66 miles up, a third of the way there. Here's to tomorrow!

And so it was day 3. It was nice to wake up in a bed, and also enjoy the luxury of a toilet and shower. We all took full advantage then headed down for breakfast. There was only 5 of us there for brekkie, we were joined by two other coast to coasters - Richard and Dave from Northumbrian Water - just when Col thought he had escaped work for a fortnight! We had the usual coast to coast banter with them and Dave told us how everyone in Northumbrian Water knew him - cue the vacant look on Dad's face. It was the big reveal time, we told them Dad worked at NW and hadn't heard of him...gutted! After a bit more conversation they were unsure if we were pulling their leg or not, how could they not believe we were all church goers?! No sooner had we finished breakfast than we were welcomed by a mighty sight, that of Paul Holt, he had very kindly offered to do support for days 3&4 and had received his full briefing from Nat, which he recited word for word! We done our daily swap overs with the gear then bid him farewell, for now.

The day got off to a bad start for me - I noticed a leak in my water pack, and as I went to fix it the mouthpiece fell into what I can only describe as sheepshit! Never mind, it was day 3, I was a fully confirmed outdoor type now, I wiped it off and got on with it.

We felt the benefit of the extra walk to the far end of Stonethwaite yesterday as the path we needed today was only round the corner from our B&B. It was a long, steady walk up Greenup Edge, but it was good to get it out of the way early in the morning, when we seemed to be at our best. It was very rocky terrain, but quite a manageable walk. We were overtaken by a 70+ year old with a club foot who told us we were nearly at the top of Greenup, but Lining Crag was still to come. Still, it couldn't be that bad....could it?

We arrived at a plateau and stopped for a breather, and then we noticed the mountain rescue helicopter was hovering not too far away from us. Had they been tipped off, or even seen us walking before - turns out it wasn't for us though, we weren't giving up that easily!

We noticed in the distance people seemed to be scrambling over rocks to get up a mountain. Were they coast to coasters? Did we have to do that? Turns out the answer to both questions was YES! We didn't sign up for that!!

This was it. Ahead us stood Lining Crag, and the most dangerous part of the walk. We were over 2,000 foot in the air, and the wind was picking up - not only in the sky but in our shorts too! It was hand on rock time as we scrambled up. Within 30 minutes the weather had changed from sun, to rain, to hail, to snow, to severe winds. I stepped on one rock, it disappeared under my foot, guess I wasn't going on that one then. It was a case of trial and error and find a route you were happy with. The wind was a particular problem so it was body close to the rocks and short steps. It was at this point that my Dad exposed his real alter-ego, The Human Fly, clinging to the rocks for dear life. Not only worried for his own safety, but for that of us all.

It was a heart pumping experience but we made it to the top. It was at this point Ged knocked out what would be the best cup of tea of the whole walk, it was also the time to get one of my favourite photos of the walk, with the 3 of us huddled at the top of the mountain with a cuppa, our smiles hiding the nervousness of the last hour or so. It was one of the rare times we could get signal so we made our calls, literally from the top of the world!

We rested for a bit tucking into our lunch before setting off for the next part. We were heading down into a valley which was to stretch for miles before arriving at Goody Bridge. As we were descending we were caught up in the a blizzard, it was horrendous! Fortunately we were able to take refuge behind a great boulder, but it wasn't quite enough to avoid a soaking, and the hailstones leaving their mark on our battered faces. It also made the terrain very boggy, which slowed us down quite a bit. Despite this, we counted ourselves lucky that it happened on the way down and not on the way up!

It was a long slog through the valley, having to weave through bogs and over rivers, but we finally made it out just after 4, and were welcomed again by Paul. It had taken a long time to get where we were, and we made the snap decision that it would be dangerous to stick to the planned route over another mountain. We decided to take an alternative route to Patterdale which still included a lot of ups and downs, but there was a large element of road walking which we felt was safer, and we were faster walking on the road.

Eventually we made it to the Sykeside Camp, and our home for the night, where we were warned to keep our belongings close as badgers tended to stray onto the site. We were battered, bruised and exhausted from today's adventure but we had made it. After pitching up we went to the on-site pub for a couple of drinks and a general wind down. It was here I first experienced Tirril Lager (not too bad despite what they say), and I managed to get some onion rings and a bowl of cheesy chips, all for under a fiver - bargain!

Another 15 miles in the bag and we had suffered from terrible weather today. Still, 3 days down, 9 to go!