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.

The Cleveland Way - Part 3

Let’s face it, it was always going to be a bit piece meal. It’s a linear, but not a sequential, walk as far as we’re concerned, by which I mean we will probably jump around a bit depending on which bit takes our fancy. I’m already playing catch up as J and V walked one week when I had to go to rehearsal, so I’ve only just done my first 10 miles, in three separate stages.

This time, we started from Osmotherley, and had the advantage of convenient husband, (V’s) and sometime honorary handbag walker, K to meet us in the pub and collect us at the far end, so didn't have to move the cars around.

I’d done the first part of the walk last summer, when it was a lot less muddy, but emerging from the trees and looking out across the still snow topped moors to Roseberry Topping and beyond, the view gave a sense of scale of the thing we’re doing.

It was all very well marked, and there were a lot of other walkers. For once I too looked like a serious walker, as my handbag had been replaced by my bright blue back pack (only because I decanted into a smaller handbag for hols, and haven’t ‘upgraded’ again since). V managed to get a bit of shopping in by buying a dozen eggs from a farm en route. It was slight less eventful than last time, i.e. no evil turkey (though there were a couple of cockerels and some hens which I gave a very wide berth).

After about 4 miles we detoured, and headed into the village of Swainby, discovering a very nice pub which we’d like to return to. This time we just had tea, but they had a lovely range of food on offer. I'm still thinking that this is really all about what surrounds the walking; the food, the drink, and the shopping.

The Cleveland Way - Part 2

We did the second stage* of the Cleveland Way on Saturday. It was eventful. Firstly, we were quite late setting off. Are the timings of ‘serious’ walkers affected by hairdresser appointments? Well, those of handbag walkers are.

Two new haircuts later, the three of us set off in the early afternoon heading for Rievaulx and Cold Kirby. It was probably a mistake to rely on V’s satnav to get us there, as initially it didn’t seem to recognise Cold Kirby as a place, and wanted to send us towards Harrogate. When I entered Rievaulx as an alternative, it took us via some winding back lanes. I kept reverting to the map to check if there was a better way, and ended up ignoring it completely. It also got foggier and foggier the closer we came to our destination.

Eventually we got there, and we all piled into one car to head to Rievaulx as our starting point. At this point I realised I’d forgotten my socks, and my pashmina. We parked at Rievaulx amongst horse boxes, and started our route, initially along a road.

We hadn’t gone far before we encountered The Turkey, in the middle of the road. A big, very scary, bird, which had somehow escaped Christmas, and wasn’t going to let us past easily. I tried to hide behind J, but she would insist on taking a photo of it, which only attracted its attention.

The others got past. I couldn’t, and for a few moments thought I would have to go back to the car. Eventually, as it clearly wasn’t going anywhere, I climbed over the fence into a field, and gave it a very wide berth, all the time checking to see if it was coming after me. I finally managed to rejoin the others two field later by scrambling through the hedge. I was a bit shaken.

After that, the walk took us through a valley, which we all agreed would be lovely in better weather. About this point, J wondered if she’d left her car keys in the other car.

‘Well, I’m not going back past that rampant turkey’. Thankfully, a quick check revealed they were in her rucksack.

The walk up the valley side was tiring, and then the final stage across open field, with the view obscured by the fog, just made me long for a cup of tea.

We reached the car in Cold Kirby having only done about 4 miles, but we were pretty tired, and looking forward to cake. As it was getting late, we headed for Sutton Bank Visitor Centre for the nearest tea shop, only to find that it had closed 20 minutes earlier. Have they no thought for handbag walkers?

There was no option for it but to head back to Helmsley, and the patisserie tea shop in the Black Swan Hotel. With mud on our boots, we weren’t exactly dressed for it, but they didn’t seem to mind. And the tea and cakes there are lovely.

I’m really not sure how we are going to manage when we have to walk the long barren stretches of moorland.

*This is our second stage. We have yet to complete the recommended first day of walking in the official trail guide

The Handbag Walkers Guide to the Cleveland Way

Last year, we did the Ribbon Walk. It was challenging, but it made us get out and walk, even when we didn’t really feel like it, as we had to ‘train’ (I remember how I scoffed at the very idea at the start), but we did it. And we’ve managed to keep going since, though not with quite the same level of intensity. Winter isn’t the best of time to walk as it is a) cold, b) tends to be muddy (or, this year, snowy), and c) gets dark early, but we’ve still been out there.

This year, our project is to walk The Cleveland Way. All of it, all 110 miles. Not all in one go, of course, but over the year. We’ve done a lot of bits of it, but this time we want to complete it. We probably won’t do it in the right order, and there may be quite a few logistical difficulties, but that’s the plan.

As it’s a linear walk, we’ve already realised that it’s going to take a bit of organisation, for example, we have to leave a car at each end of the section, so we have to decide how far we can walk in a day. It’s not a good idea to get stuck in the middle, as there’s not a lot of public transport to be had. There’s also other minor issues, like making sure you have the right equipment in the right car, i.e. don’t leave your camera, your map, or your socks in the car at the end.

We did our first section on Sunday. Helmsley to Rievaulx. We were going to go further, but it was a bit rainy, and the path was very muddy, (and we’d forgotten the book). It’s a walk we’ve done numerous times, though usually there and back, so it actually seemed quite short. There’s a good tea shop at Rievaulx Abbey which does an excellent, and filling, bowl of hearty soup.

Of course this is going to be the alternative guide, with recommendations of all the best places to stop for refreshment along the route. Though, looking at the map, there are one or two sections where we may have to *gasp* take sandwiches. There will also be shopping. We finished on Sunday with a walk round Helmsley, J bought a lovely pair of boots.

It’s started well.