Coast to Coast: Walk Kirkby Stephen to Robin Hood's Bay - 11 Days

Make your own way to Kirkby Stephen on the edge of the Pennine Hills. You should have time to explore this pretty old market town with St. Hedda’s Church containing the 8th Century Loki stone relating to Norse Mythology. Or we recommend adding an extra night if you like to enjoy this town more. | Accommodation: This is a fine looking guesthouse and the interior retains many of the delightful and original features. It has a friendly relaxed atmosphere. ...more ...less

It's your first day of this second half of Wainwright's Coast to Coast! Climb out of town to the cairns of Nine Standards Rigg (661m / 2170 feet) with its array of obelisks. This is an ancient, possibly, boundary feature that no one has any real knowledge of. It marks the Watershed of England. Next you cross squelchy moors down to Keld in Swaledale. You might relish a scone & tea made on the farm at Ravenseat, where they akso breed prime rams. The moors then become increasingly gentler as you walk into Keld with its many waterfalls and old stone barns. /// The day’s total ascent 780m / descent 575m. |
Accommodation: Keld - A medium-sized guesthouse with traditional Yorkshire fayre served in an attractively decorated dining room, and there are tea & coffee making facilities in all rooms. Thwaite - traditional stone hotel with 12 en-suite rooms.

There are two options today. >> The first is the slightly longer & higher alternative over wild moorland with long-abandoned lead mines, a magnet for the industrial archaeologist.
>> The second option is the pretty route via Swaledale, which is a lovely option if you have unfavourable weather or you just prefer a lower level walk. There is a really nice pub in Gunnerside on this second route.
Your day finishes in Reeth, an attractive green village which flourished at the height of the mining age and today does well out of tourism, hence a collection of pubs and tea shops. // The day’s total ascent 838m / descent 911m (via the higher route). | Accommodation: Your accommodation tonight is the oldest surviving Inn in Reeth, dating from 1680.

Your morning walk through pretty Swaledale is lined with limestone crags on either side and allows time in Richmond for shopping (note most shops closed Sunday) & sightseeing. The extremely picturesque North Yorkshire town of Richmond, with its cobbled market square and Norman castle, is an ever-popular destination for visitors. You can also follow the swale to Town Falls, which are quite impressive when the river is in spate. // The day's total ascent 395m / descent 510m. | Accommodation: The extremely picturesque North Yorkshire town of Richmond, with its cobbled market square and Norman castle, is an ever-popular destination for visitors. We use a number of guesthouses or pub accommodation in this busy town.

A gentle rural day, walking out from Richmond beside the River Swale and across the fields to Catterick Race Course. You'll then be threading your way to Brompton on Swale, an ideal lunch stop in the churchyard. You then trundle along beside tiny streams and quiet country roads reaching the village of Danby Wiske with its village green and single pub. | Accommodation: We use the guesthouses or pub in this small village.

Today is primarily a road walk although there are cross country sections. The two hills are towards the end, a short climb to what was East Harlsey Castle, and then with the North York Moors pressing ever closer you have to carefully cross the main A19 road to take a lovely woodland footpath up to Osmotherley. On the way you may want to visit Mount Grace Priory (1398), this is a ruin that has had some restoration work. Osmotherley is a quaint hill village with three pubs to choose from plus Britain’s oldest functioning Methodist Church (1754) - John Wesley came to preach here. | Accommodation: Tonight's accommodation is set in an extremely picturesque village on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. All rooms are ensuite and have tea & coffee making facilities.

This is a roller coaster walk. A steep stretch from Osmotherley introduces you to the North York Moors and its sandy, heather-clad hills with areas of forest. After coming off Scarth Wood Moor, there is a long ascent up Live Moor and Carlton Bank (408m) before we descend to Lord Stones Café. It's almost hidden in an off-road embankment and comes at the right time for coffee. There then follows the succession of Cringle Moor, Broughton Bank and White Hill - all at or over 400m. You loose and then re-ascend 100-200m between each one. White Hill has an area of sandstone boulders called The Wainstones that we thread through on the way up. Great views in clear weather, incl. Roseberry Topping, Vale of Mowbray and back to the Pennines. We come off the ridge at Clay Bank Top and you will get a transfer to your accommodation (included) from the car park at Clay Bank Top to Great Broughton. | Accommodation: In Great Broughton, Wainstones Hotel - this present-day structure has developed around a former dwelling dating from early 1700. It combines quality service with the atmosphere of a Yorkshire country inn.

You will be transferred back to the car park (included). Today, the walk follows a moorland ridge up over Round Hill (454m) and the track maintains its height as it follows the line of the old dismantled Rosedale Railway line. The moor can be bleak in bad weather and is punctured in places by standing stones, some marked with inscriptions. There are enticing views at times into the fertile upper valleys of Farn and Esk dales, but your arrival at the ancient Lion Inn at Blakey can be a great relief. | Accommodation: You'll stay at the Lion Hotel in this bleak moorland location. This pub hotel has been a refuge from the elements for 400 years or so, and very cosy it is too! Normally there are a large number of species of Real Ale and great dining in either the bar or the restaurant.

After a bit of a road perambulation past a white cross called Fat Betty, you follow an easy undulating descent down to beautiful wooded Eskdale. You also get some views opening up to the sea. The latter part of today's walk follows a pretty path through the woodlands on the banks of the River Esk. You come across the ‘Beggars Bridge’ a parabolic stone structure that has a story of love lost and love refound! Egton Bridge features a church with relics of the Catholic martyr, Nicholas Postgate. A really pretty setting, the river is famous for fly fishing and has some interesting stepping stones, which enables you to hop between the two pubs faster than using the road. // The day’s total ascent 265m / descent 616m. | Accommodation: Egton Bridge or Grosmont - We use a variety of lovely guesthouses/B&Bs in either of these villages.

You follow a delightful, private road to Grosmont, where you might want to try and get in time to see a steam train pull out for Pickering. You then follow a very steep pull up across heather moors with views down to Whitby and its Abbey. But the sea and journey’s end is still tantalizingly far as the route abruptly changes course to visit the May Beck valley with its Falling Foss waterfall. A last area of high moor brings you to the coast, where the last 5 km/3 miles are spent on the coastal cliff path to Robin Hood's Bay. It will appear almost by surprise as you near it. This is a village of red-roofed houses clustered around its harbour on the North Sea coast marking the end of this 190 odd-mile crossing of England. Celebrate with a drink at the Bay Hotel. // The day’s total ascent 775m / descent 770m. | Accommodation: Your final night is spent in an elegantly refurbished Victorian guesthouse with many original features. This is a popular seaside location so one of many similar B&B's may be used.

Your Coast to Coast walking experience concludes in Robin Hood's Bay after breakfast.