My Advent Calendar - Day 21

December 21^st

Welcome to Day 21 of my Advent Calendar, where I am reliving my Coast to Coast adventure!

Day 13 – Part 2

~ Leaving Glaisdale, Muddy path, It gets hot, Grosmont, We spot Whitby Abbey, We rescue a sheep, Farmhouse B&B, Our nicest night ~

By the time we had finished lunch the sun was fully out and we packed away our raincoats before setting off. The motorbikes were still racing through the village and we nearly got run over several times (well, not really, but we could have been). We quickly left the road, however, and entered a wood. Inside the path was almost a river of mud in places and we went slowly as we tried to avoid getting completely bogged down. Eventually though we made it out of the other side and into the hot sunshine.

            We walked on, mostly along the road, until we reached Grosmont. This village is famous for its railway line and sadly we missed the steam train, which left just as we approached (we heard it all right) but the diesel engine was still there and we stopped to admire the carriages. The town was busy and we spotted a few fellow walkers, including the two men ‘doing it in 12 days’ who seemed to have stuck with us during the second week. They were still admiring us for having ditched our bags yet.
            Leaving Grosmont the road climbed steeply as the moors provided one final hurdle. All the time we expected the sea to come into view but it was just over the horizon. We did, however, spot Whitby Abbey, standing clear against the sky.
            Before we reached the top we spotted a lamb stuck in a fence. The other sheep were further up the road and clearly didn’t want anything to do with such a stupid animal. They were probably bleating things like, ‘the grass is always greener, isn’t it!’ We decided to rescue it.
            Hannah left her bag at the side of the road and tried to help it wiggle it’s head back though the wire, but the sheep didn’t like her and just cried out. We tried my penknife but the wire was too thick and we were afraid of cutting the lamb. Eventually though with both of us pulling the wire and pushing the sheep it got it’s head free and bolted back up the hill to it’s mum. With pride in our hearts we went on to conquer the hill and crossed the A169 before dropping back down to our final overnight stop: a farmhouse B&B.
            We were welcomed warmly by the farmer and his wife who showed us our gorgeous room and then laid on easily the best dinner we’d had in the two weeks. After a while pub food gets tedious and a home cooked feast was just what we wanted. Staying there were two other couples who happened to come from South Africa and we shared stories of our walks as we ate.
            After dinner Hannah and I sat in the lounge and played Rummikub and felt like we really were on holiday. This, we decided, was easily our best night.

 

The train in Grosmont

 

 Whitby in the distance