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General
Information
Duration
of tour: 18 days (17 nights)
Season:
31 March to mid October.
Starting
point: St Bees
End
of tour: Robin Hood’s Bay
Breakfast:
in the UK will generally consist of sausage, bacon, eggs etc, cereals
and fruit will also be available. It is important for you to tell us if
you have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we
can inform everyone that you are staying with.
Baths:
it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason being
that it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may have a
separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in
the main it is showers.
Single
Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours. The single supplement guarantees the
privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be small and in
some places may not enjoy the same facilities as double/twin rooms.
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken to
you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your
luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room.
Route
Notes: Please
note that 1 set of route notes per room booked is included in the cost
of the holiday. If you require more sets of notes then there is a charge
of £25 per set ordered. Route notes are not issued to clients joining
an escorted departure.
Accommodation:
The hotels described are our usual accommodation, however if these are
not available then alternatives are used.
Getting to the Start
Convenient
Major city and international airport: Manchester Airport 4-5 hours
by rail via Carlisle.
Outward
journey from London: Train from London Euston to Carlisle. Then
local train from Carlisle to St Bees (1 hour 15 mins). Then short walk
from station to hotel.
Inward
journey to London at end of tour: Bus/taxi from Robin Hood’s Bay
to Scarborough. Then train from Scarborough to London. National Rail
website is www.nationalrail.co.uk
if you want to look at the journey involved.
Grading
Moderate to
Challenging. Some long days and steep climbs and descents. Generally
however undulating. Mixed weather can be expected. We would not
recommend the route for first time walkers. Note that often the trails
in the Lake District especially are steep and rocky at times.
Waymarking
Despite its
justifiable popularity, this is not a National Trail. Waymarking is
variable or erratic and you will have to use map interpretation for much
of the time, especially at times of low visibility, so you should be
accustomed to using map and compass.
Your Accommodation
Note
that the sheer popularity of this tour may mean that we cannot get you
into the accommodations described below for the dates of your tour. We
will endeavor to get you into a similar standard of accommodation
nearby, but please appreciate that there is limited accommodations.
Also, although we aim to get you into accommodations with ensuite rooms
this is not always possible at a couple of places on your tour you may
be sharing bathrooms, especially if you are booking a single room.
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Night 1 St
Bees: A
17th century sandstone barn situated on the main street in the coastal
village of St. Bees! The barn was initially converted in the 1980's into
a large guesthouse and self-contained flats, being recently refurbished
throughout. All rooms have a colour television and tea & coffee
facilities.
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Night 2
Ennerdale: Overnight
at a friendly, family owned hotel, of three crown standard. Enjoy a home
cooked meal of local produce including fish and game in season. A
traditional feel is retained by the hotel, with its open fire, and the
fully licensed bar serves a range of beverages including locally
produced ale. There is limited accommodation here so we also use the
nearby village of Rwohr who offer a pick/drop off service which is free
of charge.
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Night 3
Borrowdale:
Tonight we stay in a small and long established guesthouse. It is set
in a beautiful small hamlet town. A popular peaceful retreat for former
clients. Ensuite facilities are not available here as it is a listed
building that changes cannot be made to.
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Night 4
Grasmere: Our small family run guesthouse is conveniently placed in the center of
this delightful village. Grasmere
is one of Lakeland’s most celebrated villages, and there is time
either this afternoon or tomorrow morning to look around and visit the
poet Wordsworth's home at Dove Cottage.
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Night 5
Patterdale:
Tonight’s accommodation is popular with visitors and local people
alike since the early 1800’s. Many a tale could be told of events that
have taken place in all its lifetime, including the time when Wordsworth
was in our very bar as news arrived that Nelson had died at Trafalgar.
This is a listed building so the rooms are small, to change this
would spoil the character of this wonderful coaching inn.
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Night 6
Bampton Grange: This
is a traditional country inn, in whitewashed stone with great atmosphere
and a sense of history about it.
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Night 7
Orton: We
use a number of guesthouses in this small village. With its attractive
architecture, chocolate factory and tea shops.
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Night 8
Kirkby Stephen:
This accommodation has many unusual features, and is of an exceptionally
high standard. It is a Grade II listed Georgian town house full of
character, with a friendly relaxed atmosphere.
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Night 9 Keld:
Accommodation in Keld is at a medium sized guesthouse, offering a
gateway to the Pennines "The Backbone of England".
Traditional Yorkshire fayre is served in an attractively
decorated dining room, and there are tea and coffee making facilities in
all rooms.
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Night 10
Reeth: Formed from a terrace of traditional Cl6th miners' cottages, a peaceful
and comfortable hotel with courtyard and garden, renowned for its
cuisine.
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Night 11
Richmond:
The extremely picturesque North Yorkshire town of Richmond, with its
cobbled market square and Norman castle, is an ever-popular destination
for visitors. Our accommodation is in a small, very comfortable, guest
house within easy reach of all the sights in Richmond.
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Night 12
Danby Wiske: This
popular B&B is in the centre of the village.
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Night 13
Osmotherly: Tonight's
accommodation is set in an extremely picturesque village on the edge of
the North Yorkshire Moors.
All rooms are ensuite and have tea and coffee making facilities.
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Night 14 Chop Gate: We
use a number of guesthouses in this remote area.
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Night 15
Blakey:
We
stay at the Lion Hotel in this bleak moorland location. This pub hotel
has been a refuge from the elements for 400 years or so, and very cosy
it is to! Normally there are a large number of species of Real Ale and
great dining in either the bar or the restaurant.
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Night 16
Egton Bridge or Grosmont: We use a variety of accommodation in
either of these villages.
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Night 17
Robin Hoods Bay: Our
final night is spent in an elegantly refurbished Victorian guesthouse
with many original features. This is a popular seaside location so one
of many similar B&Bs may be used.
Included
Bed
& Breakfast throughout. Ensuite facilities where available.
Luggage transfers from Inn to Inn. Full route notes and map package.
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Outline
Itinerary
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Day 1 St
Bees: Travel
to starting point on the edge of the Irish Sea with views across to the
Isle of Man. You should have time to visit the Abbey church, which has
features on the local history and has a display on a mummified knight
that was discovered in a lead coffin from the graveyard. If you have an
extra night here, you can follow the coastal path or quiet inland roads
to the attractive town of Whitehaven, with its marina and great museum.
It is famous in the annals of the US navy as the site of an elaborate
raid on the British mainland by one John Paul Jones during the American
War of Independence.
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Day 2 St
Bees to Ennerdale Bridge: Climb
from the beach taking a footpath along red sandstone coastal cliffs of
St Bees Head with England’s only breeding colony of Black Guillimots,
then inland over hilly ground to the edge of the Lake District National
Park. Dent Hill is the first real fell that we cross and will give you
some indication as to whether you are fit enough for the pursuivant
days! Although short, there follows possibly the steepest descent of the
whole tour down to Nanny catch Gate and beck a delightful stroll along
which brings us to the final descent to leafy Ennerdale Bridge. (14.5
miles / 23.5km, 6 hours). The day’s total ascent 780 metres / descent
665m).
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Day 3 Ennerdale
Bridge to Borrowdale: A
quiet and scenic footpath along the shore of Ennerdale Water, with a bit
of a easy scramble under Angler’s Crag at Robin Hood’s Seat. A long
walk on a forest track then continues to Black Sail Hut, which is the
smallest Youth hostel and originally a shepherd’s hut. A steep climb
follows up the Lowther Beck before traversing some of the Lake land
fells, perhaps with views down to Buttermere. Finally we reach the
‘drum house’ which marks the descent path to the Honister slate mine
workings with its useful cafe to Borrowdale; perhaps the most delightful
valley in the Lakes with its crags and broadleaved trees. This is a
delightful ensemble of hamlets, Seatoller (the wettest place in
England), Longthwaite, Rossthwaite and Stonethwaite. Delightful
riverside paths connect the places and their pubs, together if you have
sufficient energy left of an evening. You might be interested to know
that ‘thwaite’ is old Norse for paddock. (16 5 miles / 26.5 km, 7
hours). The day’s total ascent 765m / descent 785m).
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Day 4 Borrowdale
to Grasmere: Classic
Lakeland scenery over Greenup Edge to Easedale and Grasmere Hopefully
you will have enough time to visit the Wordsworth Museum at Dove
Cottage, William Wordsworth’s grave at the church and the famous
Ginger bread shop! (8.5 miles / 13.5 km, 5 hours. Via Helm Crag –
recommended). The day’s total ascent 750m / descent 760 via Helm
Crag).lassic Lakeland scenery over Greenup Edge to Easedale and
Grasmere (10 miles 6 hours. The day's total ascent 750m/descent 760m via
Helm Crag).
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Day 5
Grasmere
to Patterdale: Over
Grisedale Pass (2000 ft) and around the small mountain lake of Grisedale
Tarn to Patterdale In good weather if you are reasonably strong, the
best option is to take the route up St. Sunday Crag, for some
exceptional views down across Ullswater as you descend to Patterdale,
possibly the most breathtaking of the trip (7.5 miles / 12 km, 5 hours
(standard route). Add 2 miles and 2 hours if include detour via Summit
of Helvellyn. Add 1 ½ hours for detour of St. Sunday Crag. The day’s
total ascent: 900m / descent 805m via the recommended route over St.
Sunday Crag).
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Day 6
Patterdale
to Bampton: Some
would say this was the most difficult stage especially in bad weather
when you do need to be ready with map and compass.
The days starts with a steep climb up past pretty Angle Tarn, and
then up and onwards to a critical cairn where you turn off the route to
High Street to go up and over Kidsty Pike (2560 feet, the highest point
on the whole route) and then descend steeply to walk along Haweswater, a
huge body of water conceived in 1929 to supply Manchester with drinking
water, drowning a couple of villages in the process. At the end of
Haweswater, at Burnbanks we leave the original Wainwright route to
complete the final mile and a half to Bampton Grange (14miles / 22.5 km,
6 hours).
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Day
7 Bampton Grange to Orton: Purists
may want to return to Burnbanks to continue the original route, but you
can rejoin it a couple of miles down the country road from Bampton near
Rosgil. You then undulate through fields to Shap Abbey, the most
easterly point of the Lake District National Park. This was the last
Abbey to be founded in England in 1199 and the last to be destroyed in
1540. It nevertheless is a pretty place to pause with some new
interpretation signs. After this continue into Shap, the old granite
mining town with several pubs and shops. There follows a hilly section
across Limestone Moors with limestone pavements in places strewn with
‘erratic’ boulders moved there by glaciers. Finally we drop into the
gentler climes around Orton, a quaint picturesque village with
Kennedy’s Chocolate factory to lead you into temptation, but yes, you
have earnt it! (12 miles /19.5 km, 5 hours).
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Day 8
Orton to Kirkby Stephen: A
bridging day between Cumbria and The Yorkshire Dales. Mainly farmland
walking with a section of moors around Sunbiggin Tarn, which is an
important site for birds. A steep descent to the Scandal Beck at
Smardale Bridge makes for a nice lunch stop. Then ascend over Smardale
Fell for the pretty descent into Kirkby Stephens and attractive market
town, with St. Hedda’s Church containing the 8th Century
Loki stone relating to Norse mythology. (11 miles / 18 km, 5 hours).
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Day 9
Kirkby Stephen to
Keld or onto Thwaite: Climb
out of town to the cairns of Nine Standards Rigg (2170 feet) with its
array of obelisks. This is an ancient possibly a boundary feature that
no one has any real knowledge of. It marks the Watershed of England.
Next we cross squelchy moors down to Keld in Swaledale If it is a wet
and cold day you might relish a scone a tea made on the farm at
Ravenseat, where they breed prime rams. The moors then become
increasingly gentler as you walk into Keld with its many waterfalls and
old stone barns. (14.5 miles / 24 km, 6 hours to Keld, Thwaite is an
additional 3 miles).
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Day 10
Keld to Reeth: Wild
moorland with long-abandoned lead mines, a magnet for the industrial
archaeologist (12.5 miles / 20 km, 5 hours). There is also a pretty
lower alternative route via Swaledale if you have bad weather or even if
you don’t! There is a really nice pub in Gunnerside on this lower
option. (11.5 miles / 18.5 km, 5 hours). We end up in Reeth an
attractive Green Village which flourished at the height of the mining
age and today does well out of tourism, hence a collection of pubs and
tea shops.
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Day 11
Reeth
to Richmond: A
morning walk through pretty Swaledale lined with limestone crags on
either side, allowing time in Richmond for shopping (note most shops
closed Sunday) and sightseeing in Richmond whose Norman Keep towers
above the Swale on one side and the ancient cobbled market square on the
other. You can also follow the swale to Town Falls which are quite
impressive when the river is
in spate. (12.5 miles / 20 km, 5 hours).
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Day 12 Richmond
to Danby Wiske: A
gentle rural day, walking out from Richmond beside the River Swale and
across the fields to Catterick Race Course, then threading our way to
Brompton on Swale, an ideal lunch stop in the church yard before
trundling along beside tiny streams and quiet country roads reaching the
village of Danby Wiske with its Green and sole pub(14 miles / 22.5 km,
5hrs).
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Day 13 Danby
Wiske to Osmotherley: Today
is primarily a road walk although there are cross country sections. The
two hills are towards the end, a short climb to (what was) East Harlsey
Castle, and then with the North York Moors
pressing ever closer we have to carefully cross the main A19 road
to take a lovely woodland footpath up to Osmotherley. On the way one can
visit Mount Grace Priory (built 1398) this is a ruin but there has been
restoration work and there are remaining duck ponds and drainage
features. Osmotherley is a quaint hill village with 3 pubs to choose
from, and Britain’s oldest functioning Methodist Church 1754. John
Wesley came to preach here (10 miles / 16 km, 3.5 hours).
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Day 14 Osmotherley
to Clay Bank Top or Chop
Gate: This
is a roller coaster walk. A steep stretch from Osmotherley introduces us
to the North York Moors, sandy heather clad hills with areas of forest.
After coming off Scarth Wood Moor, there is a long ascent up Live Moor
and Carlton Bank (408 m) before descending to Lord Stones Café, almost
hidden in an off road embankment, ready for coffee time. There then
follows the succession of Cringle Moor, Broughton Bank and White Hill
all at or over 400 metres. You loose and then re ascend 100-200m between
each one. White Hill has an area of sandstone boulders called The
Wainstones that you thread through on the way up. Great views in clear
weather, Roseberry topping, Vale of Mowbray and back to the Pennines.
You come off the ridge at Clay Bank Top and descend to various
accommodations with no real local centre. (11 or 13 miles / 18 or 21 km,
5-6 hours).
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Day 15 Clay
Bank Top or Chop Gate to Blakey:
Today
the walk follows a moorland ridge up over Round Hill (454m) and the
track maintains its height as it follows the line of the old dismantled
Rosedale railway line. The moor is bleak in bad weather punctured in
places by standing stones some marked with inscriptions. There are
enticing views at times into the fertile upper valleys of Farn and Esk
dales, but especially when it is misty, wet and cold, the arrival at the
ancient Lion Inn at Blakey is a great relief.
(7 or 9 miles / 11 or 11.5 km, 4.5 hrs).
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Day
16 Blakey to Egton Bridge:
After
a bit of a road perambulation past a white cross called Fat Betty, there
follows an easy undulating descent down to beautiful wooded Eskdale. You
also get some views opening up to the sea. The latter part of today's
walk follows a pretty path through the woodlands on the banks of the
River Esk, where we come across the ‘Beggars Bridge’ a parabolic
stone structure that has a story of love lost and love refound! Egton
Bridge features a church with relics of the Catholic Martyr, Oliver
Postgate. A really pretty setting, the river is famous for fly fishing
and has some interesting stepping stones, which enables you to hop (or
wobble) between the two pubs faster than using the road. (10 miles / 16
km, 4 hours).
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Day
17 Egton Bridge to Robin Hoods Bay: Following
a delightful private road to Grosmont, you might get there in time to
see a steam engine pull out for Pickering. There then follows a very
steep pull up across heather moors with views down to Whitby and its
Abbey. But the sea and journey’s end is still tantalizingly far as the
route abruptly changes course to visit the May Beck valley with its
Falling Foss waterfall. A last area of high moor brings us to the coast,
where the last 3 miles are spent on the coastal cliff path to Robin
Hood's Bay, which appears almost by surprise as you near it. This is a
village of red roofed houses clustered around its harbour on the North
Sea coast marking the end of this 190 odd-mile crossing of England.
Normally a drink at the Bay Hotel follows a paddle in the sea (both
optional activities) (16 miles / 25.7 km, 7 hours. The
day’s total ascent 775m / descent 770m.)
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Day
18: End
of tour. Buses can take you on to Whitby Bay or Scarborough, from where
trains can be taken via York, Whitby is well recommended for an extra
day or two and it is possible to walk there from Robin Hoods Bay via the
Cleveland way or Cycle Path.
PLEASE
NOTE: It is generally normal practice when staying in hotels that you
check-in on or after 2pm and checkout by 10am the following morning.
Guesthouses/bed & breakfast establishments are normally check-in on
or after 4pm and checkout by 10am.
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