Day 12 Glaisdale – Robin Hoods Bay 19 miles

us at the finish

We were all up early today, 6am and we were all mulling about making brews and getting ready for the day ahead, a sense of excitement in the air about hitting Robin Hoods Bay today!

After packing up the tent and a breakfast of sausage beans & corned beef hash (strange but nice) we were on the march again for our final day, me, Sarah, Sharon, Kerry, Pedro and Martin were now on our way to Robin Hoods bay. We walked through the village of Glaisdale past the station and through the woods, the weather was light drizzle, the light stuff which soaks you though so it was murky start.   The first part of the day was mainly good bridle tracks and road side walking and we arrived in Grosmont for just before dinner time.

Grosmont is a lovely place and the huge & surprisingly noisy steam engines were in Grosmont station so we stopped for a while and took some pictures, the light rain was beginning to ease a little also which was nice to see.

After a short stop in Grosmont we moved and wow, what a shock the really steep climb out of Grosmont is to the system, it must have been a 33% climb and bloody felt like it along the road side. Once at the top of the climb and once on the moors we noticed what looked like a shorter path on the OS Maps, which turned out to be far from it and we got a little disorientated and lost the paths, after following our compass bearings we ended up back on track and by now the skies were clearing and temperature was rising as we moved ever closer to the bay, the North Sea now a permanent feature on the horizon.

After getting lost again as we approached the sea, which was not something we done much of during the whole walk you could tell the excitement and anticipation and arriving at the bay was distracting from our route mapping, we soon found the route again after regaining our composure with a quick brew, a bite to eat and took some of the layers of as it was now a beautiful day, the nicest day so far it would seem.

We arrived at the coast and a sign states Robin Hoods Bay 2.5 miles, but don’t be fooled we had another 4 miles to walk following the Wainwright route across the cliff tops. It has to be said we were completely shattered by this point, the last day is a long day with some really steep climbs along the way, and the conditions were now hot. But on a day like today the walk across the cliff tops was something else, an unforgettable walk with amazing views as we moved towards the Bay, the village now visible in the distance. My dad called me to check our progress as we approached the bay and Adam and Lisa our friends were waiting for us with a cold beer at the Bay Hotel.

Me and Sarah walked into the bay together, as we stared the walk. And as we approached the end of the walk I could see Adam and Lisa waiting, a great moment for us both, the weather was stunning and the tide was in so we didn’t have to walk any further to throw the stone in the sea we collected from St Bees, or to dip our boots. The lovely weather for our arrival in Robin Hood's Bay made up for some of the terrible weather we had experience across the walk.

We had a great afternoon outside the Bay Hotel, with a few drinks and chatting about our walk to Adam, Lisa and other walkers. Adam and Lisa also bought us a certificate and plaque for the wall at home to remember our achievement, what a nice surprise!

Before we headed of for a shower in our hotel prior to heading for dinner we said our good byes to our friends we’d met along the way. And I think that’s when it hit us.

The Coast to Coast was over…….we’d walked over mountains, through valleys, suffered injury & pains, had ups and downs, but I think it was only as we finished we realised what an amazing walk this was We’d met some great people over the last 12 days, and some strange ones it has to be said. But they say you find out a lot about yourself on this walk, and each other and we did just that, how tough Sarah was and how resilient we both were, through some pretty terrible conditions at times. Raising some money for Francis house was another good outcome and we’d like to thank everyone who supported us with that also, without the words of encouragement from friends back home and people we’d met we may not have got there, and once again thanks to you guys.

But the Coast to Coast is much more than a walk, it’s an incredible journey, one we’d love to repeat one day, and certainly one we’ll never forget.

Now for a nice meal and a few beers………………………………….Sarah and Sean’s Coast to Coast. 

http://www.robin-hoods-bay.co.uk/html/eating_out/bay_hotel.htm