Sunday 15 July 2012

Day 23 begins


13/7/2012
Day 23 begins




I had had a great sleep on the camp bed at Matthews flat, and was glad when he popped his head around the door as I needed to shower and be ready to get going when he left for work. He offered me breakfast but to be honest I was full and would only manage an apple or something light. The use of his facilities was wonderful and timely as I had gone without a decent wash for the past day. Of course I can strip wash and I do, but constant hot running water was a delight to my skin and muscles. All ready we finally left to go about our days. He took his bike to work and I set out on foot to decide where I was headed now. I had emailed the Yorkshire Coastline Radio to see if they might be able to plug my walk and help with a bit of further interest. I had had no reply yet so would go and get the blog up to speed again in the Lord Rosebery, but I would definitely be leaving today.

Once my work there was done I went out looking for options as to my housing needs. As with all things there are a range of products that are cheaper in some shops, but the best quality and the most useful to me were again the highest costing ones. I had bought a self inflating roll mat yesterday evening whilst waiting for Matt at the Pound Buster shop. Only ten quid and it was a good make too, the cheapest I had seen anywhere. The tent on the other hand was going to be my first purchase, I had decided to suffer the cold just a bit longer, as the bag I have was very expensive and I won't be throwing it away, but neither do I want to carry two bags. But the tent was going to hopefully give me a better drier nights sleep free from worry about the ingress of water onto my belongings. Therefore, my research had concluded that Matt's shop and the Vango was the best financial option of all.  
 

So I made my way over to Crag and Moor the outdoors shop, to find that Matt was very busy serving other customers. He was a very knowledgable guy with regards all the various facets of the products. He had told me he hoped to go to an outdoor pursuits school in the Autumn to learn it, so that he could be an instructor of outdoor activities. He seemed to me to be the best man for the job, he loved all the activities with a passion. He managed to get me a bit of kindness from the owners and help towards my ongoing journey, as I bought the New tent. I asked him if could possibly find a home for my old tent, despite its leaking under heavy rains, it is still in very good condition and might serve someone else. He said that he would find a home for my old friend. Finally packed up ready to roll, I made my way out of town towards the cinder track, an old railway line going north towards Robinhood's bay, and made a very good progress, now that I had no mud and rain soaked fields to walk through. I managed a good pace and covered the first 8 plus miles in just short of 2 hours.




There was a pub signed here, and well, you just shouldn't avoid hospitality when it was available now should you? So in I went for a swift half. I found the ambiance very snug and sat writing poetry for a while before getting a feeling that I was occupying longed for seating. I asked a couple if they wouldn't mind sharing their table so as to leave mine vacant for others. It was only free for about 15 seconds, so I thought that a good call.

The couple, Ian and Stella Mitchel who live at Filey were out for the day as they were in the process of moving house and needed a break. Chiropodists from Filey recently, they too had traveled the world extensively and made certain new decisions about the importance of permanency in everything. They had traveled in France some years ago and been the live in helpers at a farm in the Dordogne, where they had learned some French and still had many happy memories. They were very generous too and I have a debt of kindness to repay forward elsewhere as was their request. I hope that they stay in touch too as they were a really lovely couple. They said that they would have had a look at my feet too, but they are in good shape at present so I declined the offer, with thanks. I hope that they are reading this and that they realise my gratitude as indeed I do to everyone of the many people who have been bold enough to help me in my aims to walk for a year.

So many already and only just over 3 weeks walked. Please keep up the generous support everyone reading, so that you will be helping me to tell more stories of your kindnesses to more people all over these great lands of our soon to be, better United Kingdom.

If we win medals too at the Olympic games then we will be on fire with our greatness in the world.

Come on Britain, and all the magnificent athletes, both those involved in the games and those of you helping with our cultural Olympic events. Let's make Britain Great and earn the Title deservedly. Once and for all....

You are all helping to make this happen with what support you give to those less fortunate than yourselves so please give generously to the cause.




I wanted to get a bit farther along the trail so avoided getting back on the Cleveland Way as I was still hearing of its boggy and muddy nature. The track I had been on was less up and downs and rather more suitable to enjoying the past time of hiking at this moment, though of course the views of the cliff faces an sea were amazing too. I was in Ravenscar in just over an hour and light was beginning to fade. I had seen a couple of cyclist using the track, and one or two dog walkers the whole way, but it had been an impressive walk with old station houses and platforms still to be seen though no rail track left. Several of the old buildings had been converted into tea rooms I noticed but the other houses must have been lovely inside as they appeared on the outside.


I knew nothing about Ravenscar until I arrived here, but the usual information boards were a real help and surprise. This was the town that never was. It had been planned by a company in the late 1800's and the rail lines here were going to be a great way to bring everything here. The drains and roads were laid and plots were beginning to be sold off, but then the company went bankrupt and work stopped overnight. Typical, they had hoped this town would rival Scarborough, but to be honest it is just wonderful as it is now, with spectacular views and only a few happy tourists who brave the walks here or come for a short visit by car
I read with keen interest but the light as I said was fading so decided to find a spot to put up and try my new purchase.



I met a woman unloading her car and we chatted briefly and I happened to overhear that her son Christopher was a keen walker, so this was also a reason to maybe stay and meet him tomorrow. I walked to the edge of the cliffs and soon found a tidy little space where the grass cutters had tipped the excess grass and all I had to do was level the area a bit and stick the tent on top. I hoped that this would add some insulation from the ground as well as some comfort for me above. The tent takes a few minutes to assemble and I am sure I did something wrong as I was several pegs short at the end. Never mind It was up and I fitted the ground mats and then put my gear inside and pulled the sleeping bag out. I hadn't eaten yet so made a very nice supper of my Cooplands sandwich and some cake courtesy of Paula from Scarborough. I was really glad to have found this spot looking out towards Robinhood's bay away to the north only about 3 miles or so. 


The day was a good one for walking and talking and I have many new stories to tell you all. I hope that you get as much joy from them as I have, and realise too that there are some incredible people here in Britain who love to help strangers when they can.




The sky grew dark and day 23 came to an end

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