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A great day, especially after the boredom of the previous day. Great views from the edge of the moors across the moors and valleys, particularly fine views across to Roseberry Topping, and Cook’s monument was also visible. The moors were quite bleak, but I like this. The heather was brown but will explode into purple during Autumn – this area protects the largest expanse of heather moorland in Europe.
From Osmotherly, rather than tracking back to Arncliffe Wood to meet the official c2c track, we took a slightly different route along the road that leads north out of Osmotherly, past the Cod Beck reservoir, eventually picking up the official path as it crosses this road and enters Clain Wood. If staying in Osmotherly, this variation can be recommended.
The path follows the high ground for most of the rest of the day with continual good views if the weather allows. The Lord Stones cafe can be recommended as a good spot for morning tea or an early lunch.
The final part of the day, along a disused railway alignment, did start to drag towards the end – moors very bleak at this point and the weather had become very dark and grey, threatening to rain although it never did (that would come tomorrow). Thankfully, Blakey provided both an excellent B&B, with magnificent views from its en-suite room across the moors, and a lovely old pub where I had a nice curry (actually that’s all Blakey is, a pub and a B&B).
(Total distance approx. 19 miles)
Walkweb 