Subtitle: On the Up and Up
or
Of Stoats and Goats
Today we planned to go almost to our goal, Robin Hood's Bay. We left Lisvane House and said goodbye to Kerry and Gordon, the two Australians we seemed to run into pretty regularly throughout our journey. (Fortunately, we did actually see them again at the Tea Shop at Falling Foss.) They were a real pleasure to meet and we exchanged addresses/email hoping to one day see them again.
Today's course, if you go all the way to Robin Hood's Bay would be about 20 miles, so we left off the last five miles and headed to High Hawsker. The road out of Grosmont was no formality. It was a steep climb up to Sleights Moor. I am reading an autobiographical book by Alfred Wainwright, the first to publish information about the coast to coast walk, and although I don't know much about him, I know this: If there was a way to get somewhere that involved an uphill climb, he took that route. Never mind the flat, the downhill, the minor bumps. The man loved climbing. Sometimes, I found this trait unforgivable. Especially after all the Brits keep telling us, "It's pretty much all downhill from here." They must laugh wildly as we walk away.
We hiked up to the area called Eskdaleside Cum Ugglebarnby. (Really? Should ANYTHING on the planet be named this....of course, there are also two towns in England called Backside and one named Balls, so what should we expect after all?)
After a steep downhill, we reached the small village of Littlebeck. You really need a dictionary over here to interpret all the language. Here's some things we've encountered repeatedly:
beck= stream
gill-stream
pike=peak
moor=open grassland on peat
combe=valley
dale=valley
clough=valley
dub=pond
tarn=pond on a mountain
how=knoll
scar=cliff
foss=waterfall
force=waterfall
bield=animal pend
bog= no explanation needed as you wade knee high in a mudpit
The village was charming but I doubt 30 people live in it. It is the start of Littlebeck Woods, which reminded us of the Smokies with its hardwoods and streams. Another thing that reminded us of home was the alum harvested there. We even encountered an alum cave!
We also passed a strange small structure called the Hermitage. I don't think Andrew Jackson ever lived there, but apparently some recluse holed up in this structure about the size of a closet for a good long while.
Eventually, we came to Falling Foss, a waterfall of about 20 meters in height. For people from Tennessee, it wasn't that impressive, but for people from the United Kingdom, Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois, it was fair sized. Some enterprising Pommie has repurposed a gamekeepers house into a tea room with yummalicious scones.
On a personal note, it appears that the gamekeeper was awash in weasels and "stoats." If you have never heard of a stoat, it is a rodent looking thang that was the subject of a disagreement (friendly one) between my husband and I in the USA long before our jaunt here. In an extremely rare moment, it appears that my husband was more savvy about all things stoat than I during that spirited discussion. Admittedly, I was stoat cold ignorant. I think I lost a quarter during that episode. Today, I thought we had let bygones be bygones and put the stoats to bed. But, NO! I was assaulted with the word STOAT for several hours until having to make a rather serious and unprintable threat to my spouse's manhood before he stopped. :)
From the tea room, we managed to complete the remainder of the 15 miles over hill, dale, low moors, roads and yes, even a stinging nettle lined ditch (Thank you, Alfred Wainwright) before making a 1/2 mile wrong turn detour AWAY from High Hawsker...oh well, we figured it out, as has often happened on this trek. On our last little portion of our walk today, we encountered some goats (no, not stoats) and we got the biggest kick out of them.
Apparently, they are expert beggars and have conned many a walker near to the end out of their remaining Clif Bars. We were no exception. These characters were literally crawling over the fence to get at our oats and almonds. We spent the night at another Victorian house, the York House.
We were the only guests. The desk receptionist was the cleaner, bartender, and chef...and everything else it appears. She told us she started as a "cleaner" and was constrained to go to school for four years to learn to be a "cooker." In her strong Yorkshire accent, this word became "Kook-er" which she used repeatedly. I know plenty of kookers and none of them studied a lick!
PAUL'S PONDERINGS: The last day of big hiking ended up being about 12 miles and a kind of replica of the previous days all thrown together: bog, moor, a good steep climb, windy weather, rocky paths, etc. We were at York House by 3 pm or so anyway. We could have gone on to Robin Hood's bay, but that would have violated our 14 mile a day rule. The B&B was quite nice, even though we had it to ourselves it appeared. We had a nice long chat with the guy that runs it, who has traveled extensively in a lot of odd places....Nepal, Africa, India, Thailand, and more. He worked on the North Sea in the oil fields for a while as well. One equipment note is the utility of a GPS. We've had a nice Garmin unit with maps for this hike. While we used the books most of the time, the GPS saved us a few times from compounding errors and also served to be useful for keeping track of distance, as a compass, altitude, and more. While the device cost us several hundred dollars including maps, I think it added value to the other navigation tools. That said, I would not rely on a GPS solely for navigation and such. Another pleasure of the hike is the wide variety of folks we've met, some of whom we've seen multiple times, both locals and other hikers. And, as noted, my wife now knows that stoats really exist and have apparently been around for quite a long time. ( Apparently my husband has no interest in protecting his manhood.)
or
Of Stoats and Goats
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| Lisvane House. A lovely place to spend the night in Grosmont. Although for posher types, we would try the Geallery next time! |
Today we planned to go almost to our goal, Robin Hood's Bay. We left Lisvane House and said goodbye to Kerry and Gordon, the two Australians we seemed to run into pretty regularly throughout our journey. (Fortunately, we did actually see them again at the Tea Shop at Falling Foss.) They were a real pleasure to meet and we exchanged addresses/email hoping to one day see them again.
 |
| Aren't people from prison colonies the best? Gordon and Kerry. Love ya! |
We hiked up to the area called Eskdaleside Cum Ugglebarnby. (Really? Should ANYTHING on the planet be named this....of course, there are also two towns in England called Backside and one named Balls, so what should we expect after all?)
 |
| Eskdale cum Ugglebarnby (need I say more?) |
beck= stream
gill-stream
pike=peak
moor=open grassland on peat
combe=valley
dale=valley
clough=valley
dub=pond
tarn=pond on a mountain
how=knoll
scar=cliff
foss=waterfall
force=waterfall
bield=animal pend
bog= no explanation needed as you wade knee high in a mudpit
The village was charming but I doubt 30 people live in it. It is the start of Littlebeck Woods, which reminded us of the Smokies with its hardwoods and streams. Another thing that reminded us of home was the alum harvested there. We even encountered an alum cave!
 |
| A UT alum at the alum cave of Littlebeck Woods |
 |
| A great place to live if you are hermit. |
 |
| This is a big time "force" in the UK |
 |
| Our snack/lunch for today. YUM! |
From the tea room, we managed to complete the remainder of the 15 miles over hill, dale, low moors, roads and yes, even a stinging nettle lined ditch (Thank you, Alfred Wainwright) before making a 1/2 mile wrong turn detour AWAY from High Hawsker...oh well, we figured it out, as has often happened on this trek. On our last little portion of our walk today, we encountered some goats (no, not stoats) and we got the biggest kick out of them.
 |
| These little beggars have no shame whatsoever. |
 | |||
| York House-adjacent to a trailer park. |
 |
| Our room at York House. It was prepared by a "kooker." |
PAUL'S PONDERINGS: The last day of big hiking ended up being about 12 miles and a kind of replica of the previous days all thrown together: bog, moor, a good steep climb, windy weather, rocky paths, etc. We were at York House by 3 pm or so anyway. We could have gone on to Robin Hood's bay, but that would have violated our 14 mile a day rule. The B&B was quite nice, even though we had it to ourselves it appeared. We had a nice long chat with the guy that runs it, who has traveled extensively in a lot of odd places....Nepal, Africa, India, Thailand, and more. He worked on the North Sea in the oil fields for a while as well. One equipment note is the utility of a GPS. We've had a nice Garmin unit with maps for this hike. While we used the books most of the time, the GPS saved us a few times from compounding errors and also served to be useful for keeping track of distance, as a compass, altitude, and more. While the device cost us several hundred dollars including maps, I think it added value to the other navigation tools. That said, I would not rely on a GPS solely for navigation and such. Another pleasure of the hike is the wide variety of folks we've met, some of whom we've seen multiple times, both locals and other hikers. And, as noted, my wife now knows that stoats really exist and have apparently been around for quite a long time. ( Apparently my husband has no interest in protecting his manhood.)
apparently the threat wasn't enough Lou since Paul still threw in the stoats at the end. Ha
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