The Morning After - We Emerge From The Mist

Wainwright Urges Us To Now Invent Our Own Treks.

Children Fossicking On The Beach at Robin Hood's Bay

My Foot Crosses the Coast

Thursday morning we awoke to find the mist had lifted somewhat. So we made our way downhill again to see what Robin Hood's Bay really looks like. I have to say it is a charming place.

If you think my shoes look a little clean after walking for 14 days, the last one in particular through mud and bog, this is because they are my off-duty pair. I mention that only because I am sure somebody would point out their pristine condition.

The poster a yard or two from the beach quotes Alfred Wainwright as suggesting that, when one has completed this adventure designed by him, one should go away and invent one of one's own. Admirable sentiments, but I have been there, don, that, in my 70 day walk from the Pyrenees to the Pennines.

In the short time before we left, we saw numerous buses disgorging hordes of children under supervsion. The beach is famous for fossils and jet, but if this was a normal day how long will that last?

I could not have done this walk without Gay. Not only has she followed the maps and guided us faultlessy through what is sometimes not a very clear route, but she has, as usual, acted as my "seeing eye wife"  pointing out many places where I could have put a foot wrong and perhaps come a nasty cropper. She even has to do this when we are walking on pavements at home!

WE HAVE ARRIVED, AND TO PROVE IT WE ARE HERE

Gay photographing the pebbles she carrued all tge way from St Bee's to Robin Hood's Bay

The last day was hard. I don't think I have ever seen so much mud in my life, including the last few miles along the cliff tops to Robin Hood's Bay. Dangerous in places, strengh-sapping otherwise.

I don't mind admitting this is the hardest thing I have done in my life. Much harder than my 70-day walk 6 years ago, when I was a mere 70 years of age. I don't know whether it is because I am older, because I was ill before the start and did not give myself any time to recover from that, or the state of my eyes which meant I had to concentrate on every footstep for the whole day every day most days. But it was very hard, and I think I can confidently say that I will never undertake anything like this again, unless I am confident the footing is smooth.

169 YEARS OF LIFE, 2000 YEARS OF WAR

2 days left to walk on Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk, and they should be relatively FLAT! We have reached Great Broughton and during today;s walk, which was decidedly not flat, we should have been able to see the sea. But as we have been in mist for most of the day, we have seen very little, except an endless series of long climbs and sharp falls.

Here are a few pics from the past couple of days. One is of the monument in Bolton on Swale churchyard to Henry Jenkins, who lived an immense amount of time, having been born in 1500 and pottered on until his death in 1670. He had not quite reached his 170th birthday when he shuffled off the mortal coil\

Another picture is of a police tank parked up in Reeth. The people in that part of Yorkshire must be very naughty indeed.

Just outside Richmond is the "cutout" memorial to 2000 years of war, showing soldiers from the Roman Empire, World War One, and the modern era. We are no doubt starting on another 2000 or more years of increasingly vicious and technology-based warfare.

Continuing Endeavours

More pics from the Coast to Coast. We are in Richmond. 10 days down and 4 long ones to go. And it's raining.

Gladstone in the pulpit\

Gay on another bridge

Gay on the bridge, but not of the Endeavour

The Endeavour in Orton. There seem to be more Australians doing this walk than any other nationality

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

Starting Off From St Bee's

Ennerdale. My Mother's Homeland. Heard About It All My Life, First Time I have Seen It

Gay With The Lovely Horses

We have just completed Day 7 of 14 on Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk.

The first few days were very hard. I had come straight off a viral chest infection with no time for recovery. It was very hot and humid. The underfoot was all broken stone of various sizes and my eyes, which now excel in vertical distortion, could not cope, sending the wrong messages to my brain. For the first time in my life I wondered if I could finish something I had started.

Fortunately the footing has now improved, with much more grass. The weather cooled slightly today and looks as if it will be turning quite wet for the rest of the walk, which will make it all quite unpleasant in other ways.

If you would like to support me in this endeavour, please make a donation to Pancreatic Cancer UK through my Just Giving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Vic-Heaney2