Saturday 10th July. 9 miles.
The morning of our final day starts misty and damp. We struggle to find anywhere to park near the coast – it is all PRIVATE and NO PARKING signs and feels unfriendly. We ask at Low farm and they point us to a secure place in their yard. From Old Ellerby we are a happy to follow little lanes for most of the morning. We see nothing of the hall at Burton Constable. At last, a footpath alongside a drain gives some relief from the tarmac. We meet locals walking the lanes, one couple exercising their two energetic Spaniels. There is talk of drilling in nearby fields – fracking or natural gas? An industrial plant looms out of the mist on a path we do not follow. Our path into Aldbrough shows enough fractures to be worried about.
At Aldbrough, we head for the church and find a seat for some lunch. The Church, St. Bartholomew’s, is from the C12th and built predominantly with course cobbles.
The narrow lane takes us past our parked car and onto the top of the crumbling cliffs – the end of our walk – or is it. We had seen fishermen on the cliff top and now they were down on the beach, so there must be a way down. All around are private and no entry signs, but I can rely on Sir Hugh to persevere, before we know it we are on the sands. A chat to the fishermen, whom are casting for Skate, and then using GPS we are exactly on the 438 latitude line which we draw in the sand. A satisfying end to our straight line coast to coast from Blackpool started in January 2019. It is unlikely that anyone else has done or will do this walk, making it quite unique.
We return to Low Farm along the crumbling cliff path and buy some fresh eggs from the 5year old who is in charge of the chickens. They are preparing for a family birthday party tonight, it should have been in Ibiza. Friendly people living in a distinctive landscape.
*****
*****
A straight line, 121.78 miles. We have taken 16 days and I estimate walked 157 miles.
Check out http://conradwalks.blogspot.com/ for an alternative story.
Looks like your persistence with WordPress has paid off. As I have said in an email I have looked at a couple of other gridlines but they have obstacles that make them impractical. I think you are right in suggesting that our line was quite unusual in that respect. It has been a splendid walk throughout. I see you got the fisherman doing his casting – well done.
I only captured the fisherman casting because of your count downing.
A fine adventure. I enjoyed following you along for this latter part of your journey, and am curious enough to back up a little to your account of the earlier part of it. I’m sure you’re right, it’ll not be as well trodden a coast to coast as Wainwright’s, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We started from Blackpool and traversed a great variety of countrysides. When I get round to it, I will write a resume of the whole route, highlighting the contrasting areas and people we experienced.
Well done, BC, and Sir Hugh. Mission accomplished! Did you use two cars?
Thanks.
Yes. I think we did as much driving as walking.
Been hiding in shady quarries this week.
Congratulations to you both! I have enjoyed your account of your coast to coast walk enormously.
I must tell you that I have yellow poppy seedlings at last! The ones I sowed in pots in the greenhouse did not survive, I don’t know why. However, the ones I sowed straight into the ground in the shelter of a hedge last autumn started to appear a couple of weeks ago and are now a couple of inches tall. I am very pleased, so thank you, John.
Thanks, Clare, it was good fun straight-lining.
I was wondering about those poppies, they must prefer rough treatment. Let me know when they flower and if you want any more seeds to throw around your hedges.
I will do! I was wondering when and if anything would happen after our very wet then snow-and-icy winter then the cold and wet spring. Better late than never!