Day 9: Ingleby Arncliffe to Blakey Ridge

Today started with a selection of homemade preserves at breakfast.

Yes, our hostess makes ALL of these herself and had a gorgeous garden. We went with the pink grapefruit and lemon marmalade which was perfection but I imagine the rest would also be amazing.

Efficient and knowledgeable as a walker herself we departed early and equipped with a motivating summary of the day ahead with some great tips.

We started with a darling walk through Arncliffe Wood during which we startled a mama grouse with two babies, and a little later on a pheasant. We then began our first climb of the day which was strenuous but gentler than many that have come before.

The morning featured a number of climbs and descents before we found ourselves at Lordstones a bit before midday. At times we could finally see the North Sea – our final destination in a couple of days! The sun was threatening to break through so after a short breather we pressed on taking the low route and accidentally a mysterious middle route that eventually put us back on a junction with a low/high choice.  Given we were aiming for 22 miles we decided to exercise our collective century of wisdom and opt for the final low route again which afforded us some amazing views of the crags we might otherwise have been unable to see.

Reaching Clay Top around 2 we opted for a 15 minute lunch under a tree before tackling the penultimate steep climb of the walk. We amazed ourselves by scaling it in about 15 minutes but were then faced with the ensuing 9.5 miles to our lodgings for the night – The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge – which again sounded like something from the Mighty Boosh!

The track was mercifully flat but still gravelly and a bit rough on the feet but we had some incredible views.

For the last couple of miles we were teased by the Inn we were walking toward seeming to appear and disappear as if a mirage (although perhaps we were just delirious at that point).

I may never have been more thankful to see a sign proclaiming the pub was 2 minutes away.