Lori, Dan, and I wanted to see how rugged England could be, and we were surprised that there are some pretty dramatic mountains carved by glaciers, especially on the West Coast in the Lake District. One unusual aspect of this trip is that a pub was usually available at the end of each hike to tip a pint.
Here's a short treatise on the political divisions of the UK. The largest components are countries such as England, counties such as Yorkshire, and towns and cities such as York. Britain consists of the countries of England and Wales, Great Britain adds Scotland, and the United Kingdom adds Northern Ireland. The counties get confusing though. England has 48 ceremonial counties but 84 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly), whatever that means. Locals don't know either. Scotland has 33 counties, Wales has 22, and Northern Ireland has a reasonable count of 6 counties that are easier to memorize.
After enjoying the captions below, you can view larger versions of the photos by clicking on them. This will open a new tab in Google Photos. Use its menu to start a slideshow, or select a photo and press the Info button to view captions and maps.
I find that the embedded AllTrails maps don't always show up. Sometimes refreshing the page several times helps. If it doesn't, just click on the "Bill Wohler's Activity" link in the upper right-hand corner to view the map on its own page. The link to the map name often takes you to the curated trail, which can differ slightly than our actual trek, but offers comments and photos from others.
We took a route that others did not. We flew direct to Dublin and then on to Manchester. That route turned out to be faster than going through Heathrow or more remote cities. We had a decent lunch in the Dublin Airport along with a Guinness. We completed our journey in a prop plane over the Irish Sea to the Manchester airport and walked to the Radisson Blu Hotel. Dan arrived while we were still in the lobby. We had a beer in the M-Bar in the hotel (see photo) and later had dinner at the Collage Restaurant, also in the hotel.
We saw this poster in the bar in our airport hotel and learned that Manchester was the hometown for the Buzzcocks! |
On our first day, we took a walking tour of Manchester. We took the train into town, which was a nice, quiet, fast electric train like the ones coming to Caltrain back home, hopefully soon. We walked from Piccadilly Station to the Manchester Central Library and then from Manchester Central Library to the Corn Exchange. On the way, we had a yummy lunch at Pieminister Deansgate. We then walked from the Corn Exchange back to Piccadilly Station. We enjoyed some tasty pizza at Rudy's Pizza Napoletana on Portland Street before hitting the train station.
The trains are commonly canceled in England because the drivers decide they don't want to come in, so we ended up taking an Uber back to our hotel near the airport and had a nice conversation with the driver who is from Eritrea.
A sculpture that recognizes Vimto, a soft drink that originated in Manchester |
Lori poses with a sculpture of Alan Turing, who devised a machine to use the mathematics created by the Poles to break the German 'Enigma' code |
LGBT Queen Bee |
Sackville St. |
Chinatown |
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A stained glass window at the front of the Manchester Central Library commemorating Shakespeare |
The oh so quiet reading room in the Manchester Central Library |
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Having lunch in Pieminister, Deansgate |
Inside the Barton Arcade |
The "Gentlemens Saloon" where the barbers have tattoos, and the gorilla wields a "No dickheads" sign |
The Moon Under Water in the building of the former Deansgate Picture House cinema is one of the largest public houses in the United Kingdom |
The Old Wellington dates back to 1552 |
The building of the Manchester Cathedral began in 1421 |
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Lori poses in front of the
National Football Museum |
The worker bee is one of the best-known symbols of Manchester |
One of several murals in the Northern Quarter |
Some cool posters in a stairwell at the Afflecks Arcade including The Smiths and Joy Division who hearken from Manchester |
We met the rest of the group (Emma, Joy, Michael, Robert, Shannon, Chris, Steve, Sarah), guides (Tony and Stanko), and driver (Peter) in the lobby of the hotel. From there, we drove to the Ratty Arms for lunch. Fortified with our pints, we dipped our toes in the Irish Sea, pocketed a pebble from the beach, and headed off across the Muncaster Fell. A fell refers to the the mountains and hills of the Lake District and the Pennine Dales. We were introduced to new flora and fauna native to the region.
We spent the night in the lovely Sella Park Country House Hotel where we also had dinner.
Our intrepid group starts its journey from the
Ratty Arms |
Lori and I at the start of our journey across
England |
We will follow those acorns for a couple of weeks |
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Herb Robert growing inside a post near the Roman bath houses |
Great wilowherb near the Roman bath houses |
We'll see European meadowsweet often during our
journey |
Unfortunately, we'll also see ragwort often in our
journey as well |
The purple foxglove, which brings me back to New
Zealand, as I saw many during my trip with my parents in
1993-4 |
The butterfly bush |
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The Muncaster Church near the Muncaster Castle |
Many of our "trails" were dirt roads between walls, often covered with ferns or berries |
Cross-leaved heath was the first heather to greet us |
I'm looking good, but we haven't yet climbed
that hill/mountain behind me |
We often saw the European mountain ash |
A quick shot of an adder as it slithered away |
Our room in the Sella Park Country House Hotel |
The comfortable grounds of the Sella Park Country House Hotel |
The Sella Park Country House Hotel |
Our morning hike ended with a tour of the Eskdale Mill followed by lunch at the Boot Inn.
The afternoon hike took us past some very old cow'uses, which combined living quarters and shelters for cows, and Burnmoor stone circles. We learned that a garth is a field.
Steve and Sarah were always holding hands and it warmed my heart |
This was the first of many signs that didn't stop us |
The first old stone bridge we would cross |
Peter, Stanko, and I stroll under the old oaks |
The two lines at the base of the chimneys indicate where the old thatched roofs would have been before they were replaced by a "modern" roof |
There's a bridge, but it's much more fun to
jump from rock to rock |
The group poses by a very scenic river |
Lori and I pose in front of the river and bridge |
The remote St Catherine's Church |
Moss and grass (and possibly herb Robert) grow in the
walls surrounding the St Catherine's Church |
Inside the St Catherine's Church |
The stained glass windows of the St Catherine's Church |
The sheep of St Catherine's Church keep the grass trimmed |
More maidenhair spleenwort in the rock walls |
Our group gathers to tour the Eskdale Mill |
European black elderberry produces both elderflower
liqueur and elderberry wine |
The Robinson's Boot Inn in Boot where we stopped for lunch |
Lori makes the climb after lunch |
Bill leads the B-team after lunch, where B stands for beer |
Bill poses in front of some very old co'uses |
That evening, we were given a tour of the Muncaster Castle and had dinner with owners. I found that Yorkshire tea is delicious.
The group poses for a photo in front of the
Muncaster Castle |
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A picture frame in front of the Muncaster Castle |
Our leaders are framed in front of the Muncaster Castle |
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Text from the Roman era found on site |
We are greeted with bright red paint and family portraits |
The wildcat is the Pennington family crest |
At my spot at the dining table with Peter Pennington |
The menu |
The servers wear gloves! |
A bust of a former madame in front of the lovely view of the Lake District mountains |
We feast with Peter and Iona Pennington in their dining room |
We feast with Peter and Iona Pennington in their dining room |
A couple of books, one handwritten, the other with a handwritten preamble, fin the library |
The octagon library with thousands of old books |
A couple of books, one handwritten, the other with a handwritten preamble, from the early 18th and 19th centuries, in the library |
Peter Pennington points out the portraits in the library |
Peter describes one of the many treasures of the library including this apothecary box of tinctures and potions |
One of many rooms with portraits |
A print of Turner's Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 |
Panels that are purported to come from the Temeraire |
Ewan Pennington sets off a charge |
Boom! |
We began the day with a photo-op by the Wastwater and a visit to St. Olaf's church, the smallest parish church in England. It was there that Joss Naylor was freshly buried. He was a well-known fell-runner and friends had run over 30 miles to attend his funeral here. And then they ran home.
After the hike, we checked into the Skiddaw Hotel in Keswick and got pho at Little Saigon.
Lori in front of Wastwater in front of the iconic Great Gable and the target of our day's hike |
And we're off! |
First stop was St Olaf's church |
A great fell runner, Joss Naylor, was very recently buried here; friends and fans ran over 30 miles to attend his funeral |
Inside St Olaf's |
There were so many rocks, the walls weren't enough, so they just piled them up |
Our path traverses the front of the Great Gable |
Lori pauses, but near the bottom |
Bill climbs |
We scramble over some rocks, but the efforts of others in the past to form a trail make the route easier |
Lori pauses again, but at the top |
A stretcher box at the pass that can double as an emergency shelter |
A stretcher box at the pass that can double as an emergency shelter |
Tony hangs with the locals |
Lori takes a break just before lunch above the Sprinkling Tarn |
Lori, Bill, and Tony start the descent from our lunch spot |
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Our (relatively) small room in the Skiddaw Hotel in Keswick |
The Skiddaw Hotel in Keswick |
The center of Keswick |
We picked up our picnic lunch at the Booths supermarket in Keswick. This meant that we weren't having a pint with lunch. We then toured Dove Cottage (see also Wikipedia article) at Wordsworth Grasmere, where William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth lived.
After the hike, we had a beer at the Patterdale Hotel and then checked in at the charming Macdonald Leeming House. We had a lovely dinner in the hotel. I had the mushroom soup and risotto.
Ferns and plants grow out of this wall near the Dove Cottage |
The room where William Wordsworth and later his wife Mary slept |
The kitchen |
The dining and sitting room where William Wordsworth might have written most of his verses |
William Wordsworth's sister Dorothy slept here and lined the walls with newspaper for warmth |
The room where two of William Wordsworth's children grew up |
Dove Cottage from the backyard |
Lori and I have fun with the period costumes in the museum |
Photo by Dan Heller |
Photo by Dan Heller |
Photo by Dan Heller |
Photo by Dan Heller |
The front of Dove Cottage |
And Bill, Steve, and Sarah are off again! |
The banana slugs of England are black |
Lori and Tony climb through the bracken |
Looking down after our climb |
Lori and I in front of the waterfall at the top |
Dan takes a selfie with Lori and I and a photo-bomb by Steve |
Over the pass and down to Grisedale Tarn |
I ford the stream below the Grisedale Tarn |
Whoa, Dan! We're stopping for lunch here |
The "brothers parting" stone where William Wordsworth last saw his brother John, contains words from a couple of William's poems. |
Here did we stop; and here looked round |
Lori dons the waterproofs as the rain descends |
Lori hikes out of the misty valley |
An old cow'us has signs for the path from which we came and the path that should not be followed |
Our lovely room in the Macdonald Leeming House |
The Macdonald Leeming House |
The Macdonald Leeming House |
A bench overlooks Ullswater |
A pair of chairs overlook the Ullswater, although the chair on the right is missing something...something |
The back of the Macdonald Leeming House |
The back of the Macdonald Leeming House |
Lori and Joy enjoy a good joke |
The bar in the Macdonald Leeming House, which sadly we did not have time to enjoy |
Your guess is as good as mine as to what Sarah is measuring as we wait for dessert |
We hit our first motorway today (M6). Once we were back on the narrow country roads just outside of Orton, the muffler bracket broke and the muffler scraped on the road briefly. Within a half hour, their local mechanic Matt drove out and tied the muffler up with zip ties and we were on our way. We then dropped down from the mountains into the Eden Valley with fields, walls, and small towns. We checked into the Appleby Manor Hotel in Appleby and had a lovely dinner at the Four & Twenty in Penrith.
Glenridding, a pretty little town along a river |
Church of St Patrick in Patterdale across the street from our starting point |
Bill hikes up from Patterdale |
This valley was once part of the Ullswater lake to the north until it was filled with sediment |
Angle Tarn |
Angle Tarn from the other side |
A valley on the other side of the pass |
Our lunch spot is just past that nose |
Bill and Lori crest a pass |
Bill walks above the surprisingly striking mountains
(for England) cut by glaciers |
Sarah on the nose mentioned previously |
A brief lunch break behind a wind break |
Tony heads off with the Haweswater Reservoir in the background |
Bluebell of Scotland |
A bus, a car, a horse, and a very narrow road--somehow everyone went their merry way |
Our room in the Appleby Manor Hotel, another nice old building |
The Appleby Manor Hotel |
A Laurel and Hardy miniature |
Our morning hike was in the Smardale Gill area where we had views of an abandoned lime kiln and limestone quarry. A gill is a ravine with a stream, or beck, in the base which eroded the ravine. A few of us had lunch at The Mulberry Bush Cafe in Kirkby Stephen.
We're now entering Yorkshire Dales |
We still have Coast to Coast signs, but where are the acorns? |
The Smardale Gill Viaduct that Tony wanted to hike over, but didn't due to construction |
An abandoned lime kiln |
The troop marches on to the Nine Standards on the hill opposite |
Who is from Yorkshire? (Hint: the one in short sleeves) |
A lone tree on a hill |
The bluebell of Scotland and ferns in a wall |
"Unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten" |
Lori, Dan, Robert, and I take lunch at the Mulberry Bush Cafe in Kirkby Stephen |
Downtown Kirkby Stephen with motorcyclists |
The Kirkby Stephen Parish Church |
A quilt in the Kirkby Stephen Parish Church with a map of the Coast to Coast walk, with churches, of course! |
The Kirkby Stephen Parish Church contains a small museum with Roman artifacts uncovered in the grounds |
The Loki Stone in the Kirkby Stephen Parish Church |
The pews and altar of the Kirkby Stephen Parish Church |
Our afternoon hike took us to the Nine Standards Rigg. Rigg is derived from the Scottish word for ridge. The bogs weren't as bad as advertised but we got our gaiters dirty for the first time.
These protective tree tubes are clearly not quite tall enough |
Tony enjoys the climb |
Lori walks past the first pile of rocks on the way to the Nine Standards |
Tony says, "If you're working a fell runner race and you have to hang out, why not built a couch from rock?" |
Lori ascends to the Nine Standards |
Our group mingles with others in the Nine Standards |
One of the Nine Standards and the valley below |
Lori in front of all
Nine Standards |
What surrounds us? |
Dan sinks in one of our wettest bogs |
Lori and Michael in a deep conversation at dinner in the Appleby Manor Hotel |
At the trailhead, we lingered in a small museum in Keld where we learned about cow houses, known locally as a cow'us. While they are all abandoned and falling apart now, they provided shelter for both the cows and the farmer and storage for hay back in the days where it would take a day for the farmer to reach his herds.
At the start of the morning hike, we were treated with a series of waterfalls including the East Gill Force, shown below, and took us through a range of sights along the River Swale to Gunnerside where we had lunch at the Kings Head public house.
Loitering outside the Keld Resource Center where we learned about cow'uses or barns, which have been largely abandoned |
The Poo Fairy doesn't live here...Scoop your poop |
A waterfall on the East Gill |
Our troop is blocked by a wall of sheep |
An old homestead |
An old cow'us |
Tony and Lori have fun on the remnants of an old
tractor |
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Beldhi Hill Mill, a lead mine from the late 18th century |
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Tony sports his Yorkshire banner |
The sign says, "Great Rampshone cowhouse. To protect the meadow crop please walk to and from the barn in single file." |
Bill crosses a maze of rock walls |
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The stiles, narrow to prevent sheep from getting through, can still be challenging for humans |
The first sign we see in Gunnerside says a "Few more steps" to the pub |
The King's Head pub |
Lunch in the King's Head pub |
A sign next to the bathroom reads, "Welcome to Bullshit Corner" |
After lunch, we continued the hike along the River Swale from Gunnerside to Reeth.
We checked into Easby Hall overlooking Easby Abbey, met the owners Karen and John Clarke, and settled into a nice dinner in their dining room. I promised to show John how to make a Manhattan before I left.
I did say the stiles were a challenge |
Bill leads through the dale |
Robert, Lori, Dan, and I goof while walking under the alder trees |
Note the logo within the directional arrow in the Yorkshire Dales National Park Public Footpath sign |
Another old stone bridge |
This section of the trail is on top of a wall; although it doesn't look like it, it is over six feet tall! |
The old and the new |
An old badger den |
Bill fends off the ragwort |
Look at the scrotums on those guys! |
The path takes us through the small town of Healaugh |
A sign on this house reads, "On this site Sept 5, 1782 nothing happened" |
Dan holds the gate open for me while I read the sign that says that dog feces can cause illness and death in the sheep |
We stop for a pint at The Black Bull in Reeth |
Our room in Easby Hall |
Our room in Easby Hall |
A striking stairwell in Easby Hall, even without the art |
A grand piano in the stairwell's landing |
The entrance to Easby Hall is flanked with columns |
The front of the Easby Hall |
The back of the Easby Hall |
The back of Easby Hall overlooks the Easby Abbey, which was destroyed ("suppressed") in 1536 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries |
We prepare for dinner in the dining room at Easby Hall |
This morning, we hiked from Reeth to Marske.
Lori gazes out the Easby Abbey from our room in Easby Hall |
The view of Easby Abbey from our room |
European alder cones |
Bull in field? Of course that's where we're going |
Lori and I in the dales |
Lori nears the Marrick Priory |
The Marrick Priory, originally a 12th century Benedictine nunnery, was converted in the 1960s to support an education and residential center |
Another old cow'us along the trail |
Lounging sheep |
Drying hay |
Lori, Bill, and Robert head off to the horizon |
Geraldine and Tony |
After the hike, Peter dropped us all off in Richmond. Dan, Lori, and I walked around town, ate lunch at the Morro Lounge, and bought Wallace's favorite, Wensleydale cheese. We then walked back on the north side of the Swale River to see the drummer boy stone on our way to the Easby Abbey (see also the English Heritage site, more on the abbey's history, and text from The Reluctant Explorers).
Upon our return to Easby Hall, Karen gave Lori, Dan, Sarah, and I a tour of the garden. Afterward, Peter took us into town, and Dan, Robert, Steve, and Sarah joined us for dinner at the Amontola Indian Restaurant. We then walked back on the other side of the river at dusk.
We enjoy lunch at the Morrow Lounge before exploring the rest of Richmond |
The center of Richmond and market place |
The Morrow Lounge, where we had lunch, used to be a bank |
Outside the Richmond Castle |
Emma and Dan wander through the streets of Richmond |
Wallace's favorite cheese, Wensleydale! |
My best Wallace impression |
The tracks lead into this room, which makes you wonder what's going on in there |
A narrow alley in Richmond |
The old Trinity Church now houses the Green Howards Regimental Museum |
The Old Grammar School |
A common wood-pigeon |
The Drummer Boy's Stone |
The plaque for the Drummer Boy's Stone marks the spot where the drumming ceased from a drummer boy exploring the tunnel from Richmond to Easby Abbey in the late 18th century |
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A fine residence! |
We approach the ruins of the Easby Abbey, which was suppressed in 1536 and was either destroyed or was abandoned and left to decay into ruins during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries |
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St Agatha's Church is still active, however |
Lori in front of the gatehouse |
Bill stands guard inside the gatehouse |
Lori inside the gatehouse |
Old tombstones outside of the refectory |
The back of the refectory |
The side of the refectory |
Guest hall |
Inside the guest hall |
Bill enters a vault under the guest hall |
The refectory (dining hall) |
English children must be out of control as this was the second sign we saw that beckoned parents to keep their children under control |
The sacristy and chapter house behind the open space of the cloister |
There is not much left of the church at the center of the abbey |
Remnants of a chapel |
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Dan sets up a time lapse to watch the clouds pass by |
What used to be a small courtyard behind the church and service buildings is now a wide open space |
Walls of the infirmary, kitchen, abbot's quarters, and other service buildings |
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Bread ovens |
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We exit from whence we came, by the gatehouse |
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The back of Easby Hall |
Bees and lavender in one of the many gardens of Easby Hall |
John Clarke of Easby Hall works in one of the formal gardens |
A cute sundial |
A large bumblebee visits a Hubei anemone |
These are the same horses we saw earlier in the pasture by the abbey |
Steve read and rested his shoulder while we walked around town |
A grand old English oak that has fallen over, yet it kept on growing |
Another view of the abbey |
Another bumblebee finds an artichoke thistle in the food garden |
A pair of Asian lady beetles make more ladybugs |
An espaliered pear in the food garden |
Karen Clarke of Easby Hall talks about her food garden with Lori and Sarah |
A pair of cabbage white join in the fun as well |
A lovely rose |
Peter and John relax in the formal garden |
Amontola, where we had a delicious meal |
We entered the North York Moors National Park for our hikes today. The first hike started just a little past Osmotherly. Along the trail, I saw a creek that ran over what were obviously laid blocks of stone. This was a weir. In this case, it was less of a dam and more of a waterfall to oxygenate the water for fish. We stopped at Lordstones for beer and sandwiches. We sat at covered outdoor picnic tables and watched the rain.
Steve and Shannon check out the LWW signpost for the Lyke Wake Walk, a 64 km walk/run |
The acorn marks all National Trails; below the yellow public footpath directional arrow is a symbol for this particular path, but I forget what the symbol was and what path it represented |
Tony said this weir was used to oxygenate the water for the fish |
Lori's coat matches the heather in bloom |
This Bronze Age burial mound dates from around 2,000 BC |
The heather blooms get better and better |
An old stone signpost |
Lunch at Lordstones |
In the rain |
We left Lordstones and hiked over two more mountains including the Wainstones, a popular photo-op spot. Our room in the lovely Crathorne Hall Hotel had a ginormous bath that I simply couldn't pass up.
Lori makes a break from the peloton |
The plaque reads: |
Tony and Lori gaze across the dale whose placenames are engraved on the plate |
A close-up of common heather in bloom |
Tony points out the metallic iron in the path's stones |
We spent our last days on the Cleveland Way National Trail |
Lori makes the second climb of the day |
This National Trail has googly eyes |
A passerby climbs up to the Wainstones |
The Belted Galloway cow, although most folks just call them Oreo cows |
Dan, Lori, and Stanko take photos of Tony on the Wainstones |
Tony stands proud upon the Wainstones as the threatening squall approaches quickly |
Heather and grass |
Lori descends from the Wainstones |
This gate was "Dedicated to the memory of Lewis Halliman (April 1924 - September 2003) and Mary Halliman (September 1924 - February 2004) Who walked these hills together for 50 years. Loved beyond words. Missed beyond tears." |
Our lovely room in the Crathorne Hall Hotel |
I had to take advantage of the full-length tub, the likes of which would be inappropriate back in drought-prone California |
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The front of the Crathorne Hall Hotel |
Detail above the door |
Sitting down to dinner in a private room |
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The front of the Crathorne Hall Hotel at night |
Gargoyles guard the driveway |
We stopped for a photo-op at the White Cross, saw our first grouse, and hiked across the Glaisdale Moor where we were treated to a riotous display of heather in full bloom. We stopped for sandwiches at the Horseshoe Hotel where roosters roamed the picnic area.
The four fells we climbed yesterday are seen out the window of our bus |
We didn't see many red grouse due to climate change, disease, and the
industry's failure to clamp down on wildlife crime,
which caused hunting season to be canceled this year and
adversely affect the local economy |
Lori finds some more heather to stand in front of |
Lori and Tony stroll across the moors, like Catherine and Heathcliff |
Tony takes a photo of me, Lori, and Dan to send along
to Con Moriarty, who led us on a hike last year through
the north of Ireland |
The heather just gets better and better... |
...and better... |
...and better... |
...and better! |
Atop the Beggar's Bridge |
The other side of the Beggar's Bridge and the River Esk that runs under it |
No, this rooster didn't become lunch, at least not today |
Our picnic buffet at the Horseshoe Hotel takes shape |
We began our hike near an old Roman road called the Wheeldale Roman Road. It rained nearly the entire time as we walked across the Howl Moor. Happily, my new boots and clothing kept me and my socks dry. We crossed a beck, which is a small stream or brook. We emerged from the "spooky wood" to the Hole of Horcum.
Our last lodging was the Forest and Vale Hotel in Pickering. It is a Best Western so we didn't end on a high note, hotel-wise. However, we had an excellent dinner at the nearby Willowgate Bistro.
Sarah and Michael cross the Wheeldale Beck |
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We cross the Lyke Wake Walk again |
We get close to the spooky wood in the rain |
Tony and Lori venture through the "spooky woods" |
We emerge from the spooky Pifelhead Wood and rise above the Hole of Horcum on the Howl Moor |
We finally hit the east coast on the North Sea as we hiked from Hayburn Wyke (we didn't go to the waterfall on the beach) to Ravenscar where we stopped for lunch. Our table at the Raven Hall Hotel had a lovely view of Robin Hood's Bay.
We start our morning hike with a slightly different
species of the familiar sight of Oxalis - European
wood-sorrel |
Geraldine and Tony pause over the Hayburn Beck |
Lori, Geraldine, and Tony lead on through the ferns and forest |
Gosh, that looks like hard work, but the view is beautiful! |
An idyllic pasture |
Lori, bracken, and the English coastline |
Lori pauses for a moment to take in the splendid view (and good weather!) |
A lovely view of Robin Hood's Bay and the goal of our two week trek |
But first, lunch in the Raven Hall Hotel |
The Raven Hall Hotel, where we had lunch |
We continued along the coast from Ravenscar to Robin Hood's Bay. We dipped our toes in the North Sea and threw in our pebbles from the Irish Sea. We celebrated the completion of our trek with a beer at The Wainwright's Bar in The Bay Hotel.
Our group poses before we make our last hike to tap our
toes in the sea and throw our pebbles in it |
The Peak Alum Works, once an important part of the dyeing industry |
The Peak Alum Works site is in the foreground, the Raven Hall Hotel where we had lunch is on the hill in the background |
Our first view of the interesting sedimentary layers along this coastline |
And the sedimentary layers continue all along Robin Hood's Bay |
I take in the view of our goal just ahead |
We made it! |
Still looking fit after 100 miles of hiking |
The beach at Robin Hood's Bay |
A view of our last hike of the trip! |
Steve and Lori stroll under the tall cliffs |
The town of Robin Hood's Bay across the beach |
The beach is awash with tide pools |
Lori and I tap our toes in the North Sea and complete our journey |
Wainwright's Bar in The Bay Hotel |
A placard maps out the route of the Coast to Coast walk - as a crow flies |
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Some of the folks toured York on the way back to the Manchester airport. I had come down with COVID so I went on to the hotel instead to sleep.
The next day, we flew home.
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Copyright © 2024 Bill Wohler Last modified: Thu Nov 7 02:05:39 PM PST 2024 About photos |
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