Day 14

Not much to say about today. We only walked for four hours, a distance of nine miles. We had a good uphill climb early but the rest of the time was flat as you like as we followed a track that had been a railway line in a previous life. I don't mean to sound deflating as that wouldn't be fair. It was a splendid little walk. It just didn't feel like we'd done enough to deserve our end goal, The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge. This is a desolate part of the world with nothing but nothingness all around. Quite lovely really!

The first part of our walk saw us again on The Cleveland Way, but it wasn't long before it turned left and we continued straight along, taking our lead from the old rail line which was in operation between 1856 to 1929, transporting ironstone from the mines to the flourishing area of Rosedale, on the the other side of Blakey Ridge. Five miles later and The Lion Inn (fourth highest Inn in England. Tan Hill, which we passed near Keld is the highest) was in our sites. This is an impressive image from a distance, just perched on a hill in the middle of the wuthering moors. And they really were wuthering today. There's really not a lot out here besides strong wind and grouse. Trying to take good photos of grouse is not so easy as they blend in so well with the undergrowth. Mum thought that yelling out "bang" would get them to take off. I don't think she sounded enough like a gun though. They didn't move.

Evidence shows that there's been habitation around The Lion Inn since prehistoric times. Then some homeless friars got their hands on the area during the reign of King Edward III and built an inn to bring a bit of coin in between 1553-1558. Since then, it's been a corn market and again an inn, enjoying prosperity during the heady mining days. Today, the trade comes from walkers and other tourists. It's not so impressive from the outside, but inside there is plenty of atmosphere to be had with low wooden beams and cozy corners. Reminded me of Jamaica Inn in Cornwall.

The nicest surprise came to us tonight in the form of Roz and Kath, travelling companions from part one of the walk. They live close and dropped in to Blakey Ridge to have dinner with us, just on spec. They were welcome guests indeed, bringing laughter as well as yummy supplies. Great to see you, girls! Having said our farewells, I wandered off to play with my camera, making the most of the fading light over the desolate, silent, misty moors.

XXX