Coast to Coast UK - Great Broughton to Blakey Ridge

June 08, 2024

Often in life we are encouraged to forget the past and look ahead, setting our sights firmly on our goals. But when hiking it has become apparent that looking back is equally as important. By stopping and turning around every so often, we see the places we have been from a different perspective. We can see the beauty we have passed through, and all that we have achieved, necessary motivation to keep us walking towards our goal, especially when it is up a steep hill.

We had organised the hotel van to return us to Clay Bank Top carpark this morning at 9 and our New Zealand friends joined us for the same shuttle. We got a headstart on them going up the steep pinch towards Carr Ridge, until, just through the first gate, ½ a kilometre in, Wallsy spotted a seat which provided him with an appropriate spot for a quick sock adjustment, and I decided to pop my coat on, as I could already sense the cold wind on top of the moor. This gave New Zealand a chance to overtake us.

Suitably rugged up and with more comfortable feet, we continued the steep ascent until we passed through a narrow cleft in the rocky outcrop, to reach another gate, another seat, and finally the open moor of Carr Ridge. The weather was in our favour again, and while the wind on the moor was quite chilly, the path was broad and well maintained, so it was an easy walk in sunshine and scattered cloud. There were plenty of people going in both directions both on foot and cycling.

After reading the warning signs about disease carrying ticks, poisonous adders, and dangerous bogs, we stuck firmly to the centre of the track, enjoying the expansive moorland views and the fast-disappearing vista of yesterday’s moor walk and the distant coastline. It was handy to know that the white, bobbing heads of the cotton grass we had noticed growing on the moors, were indicative of a boggy area, not that we were going to stray off the track.

As we rounded a bend we reached the top of Urra Moor, the highest point of the North York Moors, and could see ahead, the Cleveland Way, which we had been following, turning away from our route. Instead we continued on a stone track, down from Urra moor and straight ahead to the Bloworth Crossing. After the boggy crossing (we were in no danger of wet feet due to the well-laid stone track), we climbed up to the embankment which marked the former Rosedale Ironstone Railway, the trackbed of which we would follow for the remaining 5 miles to our accommodation. We overtook New Zealand while they were sitting, having a snack and dangling their feet over the embankment, but soon found a spot on a stone culvert for our own lunch break, and were overtaken again soon after.

Tantalisingly the Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge appeared on the horizon as we rounded another bend, where we again caught NZ, but we knew it was still a one mile walk away. As we walked we marvelled at the views into green and distant valleys, and the everchanging colours of the moor in different lights and with different types of foliage. My photos do not do this stark beauty justice.

The pub, the only sign of civilisation on this remote moorland ridge, described as a ‘cosy pub with unpretentious rooms’ is a gem. Arriving, after a gentle 9-mile walk, at the very early (for us), hour of 1:30pm, our room was ready, we were booked in for dinner, provided with a lunch order form, and shown to our room and our waiting luggage.

We have had a very restful afternoon followed by a delicious dinner. I can’t fault the hospitality we have received anywhere along the route to date. Service has been pleasant and professional everywhere. We have been provided with everything we have needed to help us recover from a day of walking and prepare for the next, no matter how small or remote the establishment.

P.s. We beat NZ to the Inn, as they stopped for a second lunch, while we forged on!