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.
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.
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