Day 15

Ingleby Cross to Urra

We are back in the hills again crossing the North Yorkshire Moors, and very fine it is too. The views north across the Tees valley are terrific when it is not raining! We were caught in several short sharp rain showers today, sometimes with hail, but nothing to cause us any bother.

Our stay last night at Somerset House Farm was very comfortable and we both slept a solid 9 hours despite being only a few feet from the A19. The shower was the best yet with excellent pressure and temperature control. The breakfast was OK but not great. I much prefer fresh fried tomatoes to warmed up tinned tomatoes. The B&B is run by Ashley, a single guy in his twenties who also runs a landscaping business during the day. He is an interesting character.

We set off from the B&B soon after 9 am and, soon after passing the Blue Bell, we started climbing up through Arncliffe Wood onto Scarth Wood Moor. We soon celebrated reaching mile 144 - three-quarters of the way.

After crossing Live Moor and Carlton Moor we stopped for lunch by the way side followed by an excellent cup of coffee in Lord Stones' Cafe at the top of Raisdale. We continually overtook and were overtaken by the couple from Norfolk and a couple of posh looking women.

After the cafe, we had a succession of three steep climbs followed by steep descents over Kirby Bank, Cold Moor and Hasty Bank. We saw three school parties in various places. The first was playing football near the cafe. At the bottom of the second climb we met another that had been rolling down a slope in the field. The third was rock climbing in The Wainstones. Just after we crested The Wainstones we caught up with our Australian friends and walked with them to Clay Bank Top. They went north to their lodgings in Great Broughton, we turned south to Urra and Maltkiln House where we are staying tonight along with Mary from Michigan. Mary has a bad knee and didn't walk today, the bag van (Packhorse) brought her from her B&B in Osmotherley to here.

Here we have our own suite with a sitting room, a single bedroom, two double bedrooms and a shower room.

Liz and Mary have been down to the local church. The churchyard is covered in bluebells and looks a picture.

We have had a lovely meal here in the B&B - the nearest pub is several miles away - cooked by our landlady, Wendy. We have also had a history of the local geology from her husband, Gerry. He showed us some large pieces of jet that he has dug up from local spoil heaps that were created when there was a jet mining boom round here when Queen Victoria went into mourning for Albert.

Mary, who is a few years younger than us, entertained us with stories from back home in Michigan. It turns out that she is a lavender grower and occasionally goes salmon fishing with her husband on Lake Michigan.

This walk is becoming a sort of Pilgrims Progress. The people and their stories are becoming just as important as the walking. The people we meet always say hello when we first meet. By the second meeting we are usually talking about the walking. After that we are close friends.

Distance walked today (on the GPS) 13.14 miles. Total distance walked to date 152.48 miles.