Today is Thursday, June 15, and we walked from Glaisdale to Littlebeck. It was another beautiful day of warm sunshine, but as we neared the coast the temperature moderated a little and it was delightful.
As seems to have been the case recently, we started out in a delightful, cool, forest called the East Arncliffe Wood.
We walked along an old toll road and passed the toll house with this sign. Fortunately, it is now a free road and we didn’t have to pay a thing. I was, however, glad to see they gave a discount to the dead (hearse). I have to admit that I was hoping for toll house cookies.
This is an honest-to-goodness hare. We have seen a few of them. They are huge compared to our little furry bunnies at home. These guys have really long ears that stand straight up. They have long front legs that they stand on like this one is doing and they can fly. They look essentially like itty-bitty kangaroos.
We walked through the town of Grosmont, which boasts of an operating steam railroad. You can ride it to nearby towns, more as an attraction than a mode of transportation. But it is set up beautifully and there is a museum and you can view the maintenance and refurbishment yards. Here is an operating, coal-fired, steam engine.
The green ones are beautiful and the big, black one looks so powerful.
Leaving Grosmont, we climb a 1.5 mile, very steep, hill onto the top of a moor. Did I mention that it was steep? But it gets us to the top of another beautiful moor. On the way up we saw a reindeer farm with lots of reindeer and some with huge racks on them. We couldn’t get a clear picture, so you will just have to believe us. So our “Sheep of the Day” today is a reindeer. Here are more, moor views.
Descending the moor, we enter more peaceful forest. We have seen more and more of this kind of forest as we have traveled east. This is the Littlebeck Wood.
This is a C2C highlight known as The Hermitage. It was evidently carved out of this huge boulder. Kind of impressive…and kind of weird. The inscription reads: “G+C 1790.”
Our destination for the day is Falling Foss Waterfalls. There is a tea room just above it. Here are the very pretty and peaceful falls.
Did someone say “tea room?” Yum, this is one of my favorite England memories, stopping during our walk at a tea room for a “cream tea.” That would be tea with milk and a scone with jam and clotted cream. They are sooo good.
Because there are no accommodations nearby, our itinerary called for us to be picked up by a cab and driven to our night’s lodging in Robin Hood’s Bay (RHB). This is our bed and breakfast. It is delightful inside.
RHB is a charming town, much quieter and with more character than Whitby, which we visited yesterday. RHB kind of reminds me of Port Townsend. There are tiny lanes and cute shops and some nice restaurants.
There seem to be lots of gargoyles. Here is one that has perfected the art of body language that seems to say, “Go away!”
Here is another that I really like. The cobwebs give him extra character.
There is a dinosaur fossil museum here. The grandkids would love it. One of these guys actually started the C2C and just didn’t make it. One stumble and you end up in the fossil museum.
This is a beautiful view looking south along the coast from RHB. And the second is looking north. We will be walking along that north bluff as we approach RHB tomorrow.
And this is where we will end our walk tomorrow. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog and all the celebrations.
It was a great walking day. We are getting faster and faster. Tomorrow we will be really quick because we want to get back and shop before the RHB stores close.
It is going to take me awhile to really reflect and soak in this wonderful experience. What a joy and adventure it has been.
Today’s miles: 9.46. Total miles so far: 181. Remaining miles: 9.
God bless,
Coe
This is so much fun to follow along via the daily blog. So much so, that we’d like you to circle back via a different route so you could depict some of the other sights. Think you might have another 200 miles in ya?! Ha. Looking forward to seeing you upon your return!
Ohh, good idea. Might be gone a little while longer.