Wainwright Coast to Coast (Part II)

Part II of the Coast to Coast posts shows some sheds, some pubs, the town of Richmond, the Vale of Mowbray, and miles of heather along the Lyke Wake Walk.

While I was in East Sussex I spent a week living in a very nice family's garden shed. In one great discussion, the man of the house and I confessed our mutual love of sheds to each other. There is a greatdiversity of garden buildings across the country, but my very few photos only represent the old rail car variety.

It turns out that, like drinking tea, the shed is a major part of the British experience.

Cue shed montage...

Shed shanty town at community garden on the edge of Richmond.

Welcome to Richmond! Most people doing the C2C on a budget miss Richmond. The closest camping is about five miles to either side and the few B&B's are overpriced, which means, at most, the ordinary walker has lunch in town and then carries on. Suspecting that the castle, the River Wye, and the cinema would necessitate more than just a lunch for me in Richmond, I hiked into town early, spent the whole day exploring, and then caught a few films at the small rail-station-turned-cinema. I also traded some books and cleaned up in the freezing cold river. The films ended around midnight and I had to headlamp out of town to get to a pub to camp. I saw a badger along the way.

Central Richmond

Honey Bee on the very invasive Himalayan Balsam. Bees love it and completely coat themselves in its white pollen.

It's like something out of the Patterson video.

The Station Cinema - I saw Anna Karenina and the Bourne Legacy.

Entering the Vale of Mowbray... A wise man once told me that there are only two places in the world you don't want to be - "one is hell and the other is Kansas." Having spent two days walking in unforgiveable heat through this valley of agriculture in North Yorkshire, I will tell him the Vale of Mowbray should be added to the list.

Despite the pain of passing through the Vale, Danby Wiske was a pretty nice town and I had a pleasant night camping behind the town's pub.

I ate a lot of cold pre-cooked Uncle Ben's rice with cheese.

After my rest at the White Swan it was back to the Vale.

The trail goes right through the middle of this hedge... Many of the crossings in the Vale were hazardous.

Things eventually got better as I joined the Cleveland Way, followed the Lyke Wake Walk and got to see a lot of heather.

C2C - "So easy a caveman can do it."

Beginning of the  Lyke Wake Walk (LWW) - 40 miles in 24 hours - I didn't do the whole thing, but did walk along it for quite a while.

The upside-down acorns reminded me of the Hendrix Flying Squirrels.

 

 

This concludes the C2C posts. The photos included accurately represent the middle of the trail, but fail to represent the amazing coastal scenery (St. Bees and Robin Hood's Bay) and the Lakes. Hopefully I can someday share those pictures as well.

Also, I carried a bee skep (which I built myself) strapped to my backpack through the majority of the Lake District (five days of hiking).