Wednesday 15th September
Our accommodation gets a 6/10, losing points for no
en-suite and gaining points for a good breakfast and a warm welcome.
After a hearty full English breakfast we make our way to the Tourist Information Centre at Sutton Bank to have our passports stamped, we will require a minimum of 6 stamps to qualify for a certificate to say we have completed the walk, the certificate will more than likely be put away and never looked at again. The TIC does not open until 10-00am and it is only 9-45am but after knocking on the doors we manage to get our cards stamped.
As we are principally doing the walk as an achievement, we
are not visiting places of interest on the walk, therefore we do not take the
leg of the walk around to the White Horse, having already missed seeing Rievaulx
Abbey. We both live or lived in the area and have visited most of the
places of interest along the walk, but to a stranger visiting the area for the
first time we would recommend taking time from the walk to see the many
interesting sights en-route.
View from Hambleton Hills with Gormire Lake in foreground,
Thirsk & the Pennines in the background
Our walk today takes us along the Hambleton Hills giving us
breathtaking views westward over the Vale of Mowbray, as it is a clear day,
still windy, we can see the town of Thirsk and the Pennine Hills. Plenty walkers
out today, we see a party of about 25 Ramblers from Newcastle we also see 2 male
walkers with a lone female walker about 50 yards behind, we said to her “you
are not with them are you” to which she replied “par for the course”. Our
offer to join us was not accepted. The
descent into Osmotherley is quite torturous, being stone steps cut into the
hillside, not good for the knees. On reaching our accommodation, the Queen
Catherine Hotel, we have a tidy up then a pint shandy to revive ourselves then
go for a walk around the village to see what is on offer to eat. But nothing
takes our fancy so we decide we will eat at our accommodation. Before returning
to our hotel we see a very old looking shop which looks as if it has not opened
for many years, but the door is slightly ajar so Brian puts his nose in and
finds a little old lady just closing, it appears to be more like a museum than a
working shop as it has rows of small mahogany draws, just like the old chemists
shops. We withdraw but are intrigued by the ambiance of the shop.
The intriguing shop in Osmotherley, step into the door and you step back 100 years in time.
Brian says we
must visit the local public conveniences as they are nationally recognised and
have received numerous awards. The award is the Loo of the Year awarded in 1990,
1995, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. 
The
toilets are looked after voluntarily by a lady in the village who checks them
2-3 times per day and puts fresh flowers on the window cills. On display are all
the awards they have received, with press cuttings and photographs. The most
interesting thing to me was the post-it notes stuck on the walls with comments
made by visitors, you are encouraged to write your comments as a post-it pad and
pen are supplied. A few of the comments made on post-it notes were :- “First
time I dared sit on one”, “Would like to stay longer”, “Just passing
& finished up p***ing”, “Simply the best”, “Made the waiting
worthwhile”, “What a relief”.
We had our evening meal in the Queen Catherine and retired to bed to rest, not feeling too bad at this stage but having only done 7 miles the first day and 12 miles today this was only a warm up for the days to come.
A walker passing the time of day!.