Day 12          Ingleby Cross to Clay Bank Top

11.6 miles                     Fine and dry

Our guide book warned us that there is over 1000 metres of ascent today and that we would be tired by the end of the 12 miles.   It was right!

The first five miles to Scugdale passed very pleasantly.  The weather seemed to have turned in our favour and it was sunny with very little wind.  

Walking out of Ingleby Cross

Ingleby Hall

Leaving Ingleby Cross we crossed the A172 and climbed towards Arncliffe Woods pausing to purchase flapjacks by the roadside.  We passed a few of these little stalls on the Coast to Coast Walk and let's face it, if you have up to 10,000 hungry hikers walking past your front door every year you have a good market for food and drink.

Flapjacks for sale

We passed a radio transmission station and noted the boulder marked LWW (Lyke Wake Walk) dedicated to Bill Cowley, who devised the walk. 

Superb views from Beacon Hill above Arncliffe Wood

Passing the telecoms station

This way for the Lyke Wake Walk

This Trig Point is the official start of the LWW

After crossing Scugdale Beck we decided it was time for coffee and found a bench to sit on; the flapjack was delicious.

The C2C shares the Cleveland Way footpath across the moors

Carole catches an American couple

Scugdale Beck

A handy bench for coffee and flapjacks

We liked this door in Scugdale

A steep climb from Scugdale took us to a long flagged path across the moor, reaching a large cairn at its highest point.  The views were outstandingly lovely in today's sun: Carlton Moor with its long flat top and the instantly recognisable peak of Roseberry Topping in the distance.  

The view from the escarpment

Trig point and standing stone on Carlton moor

Descending to Lords Stone

The Lord Stones on hill with Roseberry Topping behind, through gate in fence to reach Lord Stones cafe

We walked along the escarpment edge admiring the patchwork pattern of fields and the distant urban landscape.  The path passes the site where a former gliding club had its base and then descends quite steeply to pass alongside the Lords Stone Cafe.  Here we saw several of our C2C walkers among the visitors, taking the sun and scones and we decided to do the same, spending an enjoyable half hour before tackling the climb to Cringle Moor and the Falconer's Seat viewpoint.

Cream tea at Lords Stone Cafe

Carole reaches Falconer's Seat

The view from Falconer's Seat

Living in the area as we do, the remainder of this walk is very familiar to us, but continues to be testing with its climbs and descents to reach the large tumbled blocks of stone that are the Wainstones.  Here we found the Geordies and Keiran sitting in the sun on top of the Wainstones.  They seem to have really hit it off and from this point to Robin Hood's Bay became an inseparable team.

Crossing Carlton Moor

The Wainstones

On the Wainstones

One of the Geordies....

.... and Keiran with his big pack, at the Wainstones

We had been instructed to ring our B & B from here as there is a phone signal, a rare thing on these moors. We were told to continue to the car park at Clay Bank where we would find a car waiting for us. This worked exactly as promised and we were transported the 3.5 miles to Westcote Farm where we would stay the night.  We were told that a third C2C guest was expected and this turned out to be Brian, who we had last seen and chatted to briefly when climbing Boredale Hause outside Patterdale, and whose itinerary would now mirror ours until the end of the walk.  I am pleased to be doing this walk at 70 but Brian is 77 and today, rather than ring for a lift,  had walked the extra 3.5 miles to the farm from Clay Bank, making it a tough 15.5 mile day.

The view at Westcote Farm B&B.

Our host gave the three of us a lift to the Buck Inn at Chop Gate for dinner where we met another couple of C2C walkers and their border terriers Eric and Pip, and we chatted about the walk so far over our pints. 

To Day 13

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