Too Old Codgers

After the warmth and jollity of the previous evening in the bar and dining room, we were disappointed by the coolness of the Station Tavern in the morning and another below par breakfast.

The bright blue sky that greeted us as we emerged from our overnight stay revived our spirits and reminded us of the first morning of the C2C – neat bookends to the walk. We meandered along the station watching several steam trains making lots of steam and smoke, shunting, and tooting. It seemed everyone, trains included, was having a great time in the sunshine.

'North York Moors Railway steam engines'

'Mary on Grosmont station, smiling after stopping to smell the roses'

But we had a serious walk to do so we set off at 9.30 up a steep 1 in 3 slope on a road towards the coast. At the top of the hill we had our first view of the North Sea and Whitby – almost there! But Wainwright wasn't giving up yet. Instead of staying on the road to join the A169, the C2C route takes a short cut across 200 metres of squelchy, gooey peat bog on Sleights Moor.

'Mary finishes the climb from Grosmont'

'Squelchy, gooey Sleights Moor'

'Whitby and the North Sea'

A short way down the A169 we turned down a path, then a track, then a road to the charming little village of Littlebeck. Out of Littlebeck the path followed May Beck through woods past the Hermitage, a tiny chapel carved out of a rock, to Falling Foss (waterfall) and Falling Foss Tea Garden operating from Midge Hall. All of the current C2C gang turned up in dribs and drabs at the tea garden, and all partook of tea, scones, jam and cream. We all set off at about the same time.

'Fellow C2C-ers at Falling Foss tea garden'

'A very happy David at Falling Foss tea garden'

After a muddy crossing to the other bank of May Beck, the path through the woods beside the sparkling stream was the most beautiful little section of the whole C2C. The group of C2C walkers emerged from the woods to straggle along the road and then across Sneaton Low Moor, described in the guidebook as 'slightly boggy' – one walker sank to their knees in the swamp. Wainwright's sadistic streak showed in his taking the C2C away from Robin Hood's Bay across the Graystone Hills, described in the guidebook as 'very boggy'. We decided to take the road to Sneatonthorpe as an alternative, and the views over Whitby from the road were superb.

'Beautiful May Beck'

'C2C-ers straggle across Sneaton Low Moor'

'Mary and David enjoy the views to the North Sea from our detour'

The walk through Hawsker and the caravan parks was uninspiring, but then we were on the cliffs at the edge of the sea. And the walk along the cliffs towards Robin Hood's Bay (called 'the Bay') mirrored the cliff top walk on day 1 at St Bees. On the way through the Bay down to the sea, we left our rucksacks at The Wayfarer B&B, then attended to the end of C2C rituals of wetting our boots in the North Sea, throwing our stones from St Bees into the sea, and going into the Wainwright bar to sign the C2C record book and have a celebratory pint or two. We should also have had our picture taken beside the C2C sign outside the Bay Hotel, but our camera battery and two spares had all been exhausted.

'Graham reaches the North Sea and smiles'

'Cliffs north of Robin Hoods Bay'

'Robin Hoods Bay comes into view'

'Mary accompanies other C2C-ers down to the Bay'

'Graham throws his St Bees stone into the North Sea'

'David and Robyn with the too old codgers at the end of the walk'

We returned to our room at the Wayfarer to shower and change – an even bigger room than our previous best at Lovesome Hill, and with a sea view.

'Mary gazes out to sea from our Wayfarer room'

We had arranged to have dinner in the Wayfarer's bistro with some of our C2C friends to celebrate our completion of the walk. We began by sharing a bottle of French champagne, then went on to sample the seafood menu for a very enjoyable dinner. The very happy celebration was tinged with regret that our C2C was over.

'View from our window next morning -the dawn of our post-C2C life'

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