Thursday 16th September
The accommodation gets 7/10, gaining points for a good bar and an extensive menu.
I am having a problem with the weight of my haversack on my
shoulder blades, as I have had problems before, I brought some foam to put
between my shoulder and the straps but it does not seem to be helping. The
haversack does not have a strap across the chest so we decide to visit the
Walkers Shop in Osmotherley to see if we can get a strap. The lady was very
helpful and said I needed to loosen the shoulder straps in order to put the
weight of the sack on my hips, this I did, as she did not have any straps to go
across my chest she tied some boot laces which seemed to do the trick. She would
not take payment but I told her that people paid good money to be tied up. I
thanked her and said I had enjoyed the experience. This shop is the only one I
know where you can trade in your old boots for new, assuming your boots are
resalable. Well worth a visit for the walker.
View of
Roseberry Topping on the horizon 12 miles away, but the Cleveland
Way will take us 22 miles to reach it tomorrow
Today’s journey, although not long is quite arduous with a lot of steep climbs immediately followed by descents, we walk through South Wood and across Scarth Wood Moor before meeting our 2 walking friends from Northampton again, we push on but take a wrong turning in some woods, but to no avail, ahead of us a deer runs across our track, making it a worthwhile detour. We retrace our steps back onto the correct route and climb Round Hill, Gold Hill and then past the landing strip for the Carlton Bank Gliding Club, such a desolate place and today it is still blowing a hoolie as we are now at 1338 feet. We descend steeply onto the minor road where a detour of only a few yards from the Way we find Lords Café, adjacent to the car park and built into the hillside, its quite possible to miss it if you stick to the waymarked route but it should not be missed as they do anything from a cup of tea to a 3 course meal. A 30-minute break gives us strength to tackle the next climb, Cringle Moor, but as we approach Broughton Plantation we decide to take the easier route through the woods rather than the climbs of the Wainstones and Hasty Bank. Our accommodation this evening is at Maltkiln House at Urra a small village about a mile from the Way, and yes it is uphill most of the way. It seems that there are far more uphills than downhills on our walk, defies logic.
At our accommodation we are joined by another couple, a Canadian man and wife this time, who are doing the Coast-to-Coast walk in 14 days, makes our walk seem like a stroll in the park. We retire to our room early to watch TV where Middlesbrough are playing a UFEA cup match, they won 3-0, so we can sleep contentedly in our beds tonight.