Lizzie's Coast to Coast Diary 2007

The last day, by now we both just wanted to get it over with and get to Robin Hood's Bay as quickly as possible, not just to make sure that we arrived in time to meet the Packhorse Mini-bus but we both now felt that we could be doing something better with our time. The sense of adventure had gone, we were just another number, our footsteps following those of thousands of others who had at some point headed off along the same route. So, this was it, the final morning repacking the cases ready for the van to pick up along with countless others.

Noises in the big hall downstairs turned our minds back to food, people were moving about, it was 8.15am, perhaps it would be safe to venture into the dining room early?

Father and son had beaten us though – they were already seated, with their wives and tucking into their bacon and egg. From their conversation we gathered that the wives and baby were following them in cars transporting all the luggage as the guys did the walk.

Another couple came down dead on 8.30am, surprised to see others already sat down and very disgruntled to “be late” muttering that “they had been told 8.30am for breakfast - no earlier”.

The large dining room was decorated in the style of a medieval hall, complete with a suit of armour in the corner of the room and a moth eaten stag’s head jutting out over the mantelpiece fully reflecting the slight eccentricities of the house but perhaps not creating a homely atmosphere for breakfast .

The previous evening we were asked to book what we would like for breakfast, the owner had been very keen, to the point of insisting, on cooking scrambled egg to go with my gluten free bread and made no mention of other options or that she would cook anything else, would that be all I could have? However noticing that the regular full English meat option seemed to have beans and fried eggs, confirming the existence of an alternative I was able to have the veggie and gluten free bits of a full English breakfast.

During 'the last breakfast' we chatted about our final route. We had been here before and knew that the first mile was a long, long climb up the road but this time we ruled out the short cut we had taken across moorland to avoid the road. The risk of getting lost again was not worth taking so we decided to follow the wagon train out along the road but planned to take an alternative route for the final few miles into Robin Hood's Bay.

So here we were – the last few miles – as we left the guest house we could see a line of people ahead of us heading up the road, spreading out as the gradient kicked in. It was the “big group” that we had followed yesterday. I soon caught up with the stragglers. A great feeling to be overtaking people on a hill for a change! Normally it is the other way around. Kev was busy taking pictures.

Over to the left we could see Whitby and glistening in the distance, the sea!!! Half way up the road at a cattle grid the rest of the big group who were waiting for their stragglers to catch up shouted hello as we went past.

Near the road was a small car park which was full of trailers – what were so many cars and trailers doing in the middle of the moors? It turned out they were filming Heartbeat!!!!

Finally off the road, the path heads down to Littlebeck and through Little Beck Wood, an absolutely gorgeous place. The big group caught us up at the Hermitage, a little man made shelter in the form of a cave. We then headed down to Falling Foss which was in full flow, not surprising considering all of the recent rain. The path then led down to the river and vanished. Puzzling! Fortunately we remembered that last year we had crossed the river by stepping stones. Had someone taken them away or diverted the path? On close inspection we could just see the stones – covered by fast flowing water! There appeared to be no way across. Fortunately we were able to back track our steps and cross the river by a road bridge and then find our way back on the other side of the river to find a path that rejoined the C2C.

The path leaves May Beck at a car park where students were having a Geography lesson and then heads up the road above the valley. We hoped that when Barbara and Ian came along they would not get lost, as, due to problems booking accommodation they were facing a final day 23 mile walk.

We had to be at Robin Hoods Bay for 3pm and, as we had previously done the guidebook coastal path route which was quite long and a bit tedious (particularly when you twist your ankle 4 miles from the end) we now decided to leave the groups of walkers taking the traditional route and followed our alternative route into Robin Hood's Bay. We were alone, guaranteed not to meet anybody else 'doing the coast to coast' and it felt great!

Instead of approaching the end along the coast from the north we headed south enjoying great views of Robin Hood's Bay, the village's little red roofed houses tumbling down towards the blue sea. Our route led through fields, a wood and then came out right at the bottom of the village next to the sea. Fantastic!!!!

We had done it!!!! Completed the C2C twice in 12 months. This time however we had mixed feelings, the challenge was watered down - literally - the poor weather wasn't the only thing that dampened our opinions. It seemed that everywhere we stopped people were intensely 'doing the coast to coast'. Had we been so narrow minded and intense last year?

As we sat waiting for our lift watching the steady stream of walkers including Todd, American Girl and the bloke from Yorkshire, wandered down towards the sea. They had made it! We knew what emotions would be going through their minds as they headed off to dip their boots in the water.

This time we had nothing to aim for, no target, if we wanted to stop and go somewhere else we could have done so without being tormented by guilt for not having 'done the coast to coast'.

The walk no longer seemed to be challenging. The fact that we set off day after day in atrocious weather and didn't take the easy option was our achievement but the overall feeling was that this had been our way of saying good bye and thank you to those people we had met along the way last year and taking time to appreciate the good will of all the guest house owners who give you food, warmth and rest at the end of each day.

Kevanliz@aol.com