There is a war on, you know!

It was the War Weekend in Pickering last weekend. I’d hired an outfit for it, but the success is in the detail and the accessorising. I knew I had a scary amount of 1940’s stuff, mainly my mum’s but also some of my aunt’s since clearing out her house this year, so I had a good old rummage around and found brooches, a string of pearls scarves, gloves, a couple of handbags, a pair of sunglasses, an umbrella, and a little hat of my mum’s*.

Putting all of these together with my rather fabulous dress and jacket from Costume Hire, I added the shoes, and a fur stole, also from Costume. The only thing I couldn’t do much about was my hair, which is just too short to get into a 1940’s style. J went one better, and got her hairdresser to do hers. It looked fabulous!

As we walked along a York street to the car, we did get a few odd looks. Ahh, no one takes the trouble to wear a smart hat these days, do they? Such a shame.

Arriving in Pickering we walked down into the town with K & V. We were soon spotting others in costume, and I realised just how big an event it is. The whole town was transformed. There were encampments, jeeps, old cars, and most of the shops were decorated. And there was every type of military uniform you could think of. There were land girls, and policemen, a chimney sweep, Army, Navy and Air Force, South African forces, even someone from the Russian Navy. There were ARP Wardens, housewives, spivs and spies.

We posed by vintage cars, jeeps and lorries, one chap admired my crazy sunglasses, and many admired J in her red suit. Eventually we found a space in a tea shop where we could get some lunch. As I looked around, at all the ladies in hats drinking tea, we all looked so smart. The people not in costume were the ones who looked out of place.

Up at the castle we met a detachment of soldiers, and then headed down to the station. Once you are dressed in costume, and standing by a steam train, well of course you immediately go all Brief Encounter. It was just a shame that we didn’t have a ticket to travel to the other stations up the line, to encounter the German army at ‘Le Visham’ and the Home Guard at Goathland. Ah well, another year.

We browsed the stalls in the station car park, exclaiming over the style (and the price) of the Forties outfits and hats, and both J and I squealed at the sight of the National Dried Milk Tins, which for both of us, had been the ‘sugar tin’ in our childhoods.

Eventually, when my feet were starting to give up in their original Forties shoes, with their original leather porous soles, we went back to K & V’s to a dinner of delicious corned beef hash, and wartime music. Fantastic!

*In the ‘hat suitcase’ – yes, I have a suitcase which is just full of hats

Did I mention that I'd completed The Cleveland Way?

As I began writing about it in January, when we began with some short sections, and then tailed off, it would be remiss of me not to record on here that J and I finished the Cleveland Way on 30 August 2010.

Impressed? Well, I am, though I knew we would do it if we set our minds to it. It took considerable effort, mind, and most of our Sundays over the Summer, and we did it in 16 stages. One of the most challenging aspects was sorting out the logistics of where to leave cars. We encountered all kinds of weather, sometimes 3 kinds in one day (though I missed out on the day with the snow), but it didn't stop us. We are, indeed, intrepid walkers now.

The best things about it were definitely the fantastic views, of parts of the Yorkshire countryside and coastline that you can only reach on foot, the sense of achievement when we completed a particularly strenuous section, and of course, the tea shops, pubs and cafes we found along the way. Some sections had better eating and drinking opportunities than others. I remember one day heading home in disgust as we couldn’t find an open tea shop at the end of our walking. Along the way we visited 6 pubs, 8 tea rooms, 3 hotels, and 4 restaurants, some of them more than once.

In the spirit of the Handbag Walkers, then, I present:

The Handbag Walkers Awards for walking, eating and drinking on (and slightly off) The Cleveland Way

Most scenic section

A difficult one, as so many parts of the walk were beautiful, but I think Swainby to Clay Bank, and perhaps Runswick Bay to Whitby were the most stunning. It was wonderful along the coast to be able to look back, and think that we’d walked along all of the coastline that we could see.

Most strenuous

Swainby to Clay Bank – 4 hills in one day, up one side, down the other, and then up again, but worth it for the views.

Most boring section

Definitely Black Hambleton, from Sneck Yate to Square Corner. A long moorland stretch, but without the view over the escarpment, as there was a stone wall on that side. A long and boring trudge until we reached the descent towards Osmotherly. Bizarrely one of the busiest sections of the walk.

Best Tea Shop

There were quite a few, ranging from the Black Swan Patisserie in Helmsley to Lord Stones Café at Carlton Bank, which I would call a ‘biker’s café’, only it’s clear that isn’t what it wants to be.

I really liked Wit’s End at Sandsend, and also Coast Gallery and Tea Shop in Cloughton, which was a real find

Best Pub

(I feel I should only count pubs where we actually had a meal here, rather than those we visited for a drink, so the Blacksmith’s Arms at Swainby gets an honourable mention for being a nice pub that I’d like to eat at, rather than one I have eaten at)

We had a few Sunday lunches on our travels, visiting the Fox and Hounds at Slapewath twice, but I think my favourite was The Bay Hotel at Robin Hood’s Bay, where we sat in the window, able to see the sea, and I packed away a whole Sunday lunch, and then regretted it when I saw the hill that I had to climb as we left the village.

Best Fish and Chips

Mariondale, Robin Hood’s Bay. Possible because we were both shattered and starving by the time we ate, so never has fish and chips been more welcome. But I think they were pretty good.

So that was it, 110 miles. Our longest walking day was around 10 miles, our shortest about 3, but we did it. And we’ve even got the certificate to prove it.

The end, Filey Brigg, August Bank Holiday Monday, in what felt like a gale. Hardly the balmy Summer breezes we'd hoped for for the end of the walk.