At least we start off east.  After watching the steamer steam off, we puff our own way steeply up out of the village. This takes us onto moorland which we follow, passing some standing stones, until starting to drop again. We cross a road and follow a track down to Littlebeck. Across the stream, through a little gate and then we're into a great little woodland path. The wood is packed with interesting things, such as a cave, a hermitage carved into the sandstone, and Falling Foss - a nice shampoo-advert type waterfall. Next to the splashy water is a cafe so we can get a quick cream tea in.

Once out of the wood heading south we turn and head north across one more moor. Once we reach Hawsker it's time to head south again along the dramatic coastal path.  A one-hundred-and-sixty-five year-old dinosaur backbone was found jutting out of the sandstone here in June 2015.

Finally, as you walk along the cliff, you get a view of Robin Hood's Bay. It's a picturesque little place. In an old ballad Robin Hood is getting a bit bored of the woods and decides to become a fisherman. 

"The fisher-man more mony hath
Then any marchant two or three;
Therefore I will to Scarburough go
And there a fisher-man will bee."

When he gets there they end up having a fight with some French pirates. There's an action scene with lots of bow and arrow stuff and the fishermen win thanks to Robin. He donates his share of the spoils to the locals and they call their village after him. 

"And if it chance to bee my lott,
That I shall gett but well to land,
Ile therefore build a chappell good,
And it shall stand on Whitby strand.

"And there Ile keep a preist to sing
The masse untill the day I dye.
If Robin Hood com once on shore,
Hee com no more upon the see."

It makes for a fitting location to finish a walk across the country. So we walk down to the slipway, dip our boot in the sea, skim our pebbles from St Bees into the North Sea and then go for our well earned pint in the Bay Hotel. 

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A great day with a group from the Northumberland Mountaineering Club. A lovely cold and clear October Saturday, but weather a bit too good to challenge our map and compass skills...We looked at a number of techniques and strategies for navigating our way in the hills. In the morning we mainly looked at ground features, timings and judging distances. In the afternoon we looked more at micro-navigation, using a compass and counting paces.

Here's something you can try to hone your ability to walk on a straight bearing.  Find a large flat moorland area. Put your bag down. Walk an equilateral triangle by pacing 100m on due N, then 100m on 120 degrees, then 100m on 240. You should now be back at your bag (unless someone's nicked it). If you are bang on, try 200m.

Conrad came along too with his camera and took the photos above.

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Two thousand years later and we are still drinking beer in the North of England. Whether it's from a long established brewery or one of the fashionable micro-breweries that have just popped up, there is some fantastic beer around.

At the end of a day walking the Coast to Coast you deserve a drink. Mine's a beer.

On a recent trip I tried to drink a different local beer each night.

Alf Wainwright wasn't a big drinker himself. He'd sometimes have a half at the end of a day of Lakeland fell walking, but more often he'd prefer a cup of tea. His Pennine Way guide promised a free beer if you made it to the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm (which cost him thousands). 

All together it's a Coast to Coast walk but each day it is a Pub to Pub walk. So here are the beers I came across on my walk.

St Bees
Wolf Warrior
Brewed by Stringers
ABV 3.5%

Blonde
Pete's rating: ****

A nice blonde to start things off. I drank mine in the sunshine on the benches at the front of  the Manor Inn thinking about the great walking adventure to come. The name refers to the translation of Ulverston, where the brewery is based. It derives from the Old Norse "Ulfarr" meaning "Wolf Warrior".


Ennerdale Bridge
Keswick Bitter
Keswick Brewing Company
ABV 3.7%
Brown
Pete's rating: ***

Drank this in the Shepherd's Arms. Nice brown colour, smooth and easy to drink!


Rosthwaite
Ennerdale Brewery Blonde
Ennerdale Brewery
ABV 3.8%
Blonde
Pete's rating: ***

A bit of a fruity blonde. After walking the length of Ennerdale, it seemed appropriate to have one of these.


Grasmere
Ullswater Blonde
Tirril Brewery
ABV 3.8%
Blonde
Pete's rating: ****

Another blonde and another refreshing brew. The "Lakeland water" doesn't come out of Ullswater as the lake was prevented from becoming a reservoir in the sixties.  Ullswater is probably named after the Norse god Ulfr which also means Wolf (as above).

Glenridding
Cocker Hoop
Jennings
ABV 4.2%
Golden
Pete's rating: ****

A golden ale, bit stronger than the other beers so far and you can really taste the hops. Cocker Hoop is named after the old custom of removing the cock (spigot) from a barrel and resting it on the hoop of the cask.


Shap
Red Barn
Tirril
ABV 4.4%
Ruby
Pete's rating: *****

Absolutely delicious. Or maybe it was the 10 hours I spent on my feet walking over Kidsty Pike, beside Haweswater and across to Shap. Either way the best beer so far when I tried it in the Kings Arms.


Kirkby Stephen
Black Sheep Best Bitter
Black Sheep Brewery
ABV 3.8%
Golden Bitter
Pete's rating: *****

You know you're near Yorkshire when there's Black Sheep on tap. A five star classic in my opinion and, like with Guinness in Ireland, Black Sheep tastes better in Yorkshire...

A black sheep goes into a bar. The barman says, "We've got a beer named after you!" The Black Sheep says, "Oh! I'll have a pint of Tony then please!"


Gunnerside
Golden Sheep
Black Sheep Brewery
ABV 3.9%
Golden
Pete's rating: ****

Only beer on tap in the Keld Lodge was Black Sheep so I had to wait to the next day, at lunch in the Kings Head, to get another different brew. And the Black Sheep brewery have branched out and made a few other brews. This golden ale one is very easily quaffable. Scumptious!



Richmond
Timothy Taylor Landlord
Timothy Taylor Brewery
ABV 4.3%
Pale ale
Pete's rating: *****

The other Yorkshire classic. The Ship Inn was close to the B&B.  Talking to the Landlord he told us he still operates as a profitable wet pub (meaning no food is served). The key, he said, is good beer.

Inglby Cross
Alvertune
Wall's Brewery
ABV 3.8%
Pale Ale
Pete's rating: ***

Stood at the bar in the Bluebell Inn this almost luminous lime green pump clip catches your eye. Wall's Brewery are not far away in Northallerton. But although drinkable enough, it didn't make the ground shake for me...


Blakey Ridge
Theakston's Best Bitter
Theakston
ABV 3.8%
Light brown Bitter
Pete's rating: ****

The Lion Inn is an old pub. It's easy to imagine miners walking in along the same track as us after a hard day mining and coming in here for a beer. The building has been here since about the 1550s. In about 1827 Robert Theakston started brewing, in North Yorkshire, and one of his first brews will have been a bitter.  A few years later Ironstone was found in the Cleveland Hills and massive mining and quarrying began. This led to the rapid growth of nearby Middlesbourgh. And it's been a gritty, industrial, ugly place ever since. Blakey ridge on the other hand is a beautiful wide open heather moor.    In the Lion Inn, to go with your beer, you'll get large portions of no nonsense food served with caustic Yorkshire wit.


Gromont
Strong Arm
Camerons
ABV 4.0%
Ruby
Pete's rating: *****

Another five stars. But then I'm biased towards the ruby ones... Camerons are another longstanding North East brewery, based in Hartlepool and established in 1863. Strongarm,  a terrific beer, a great name and a nice strong red dragon on the front. I drank mine in the sunshine outside the Station Tavern watching a steam train. What more could a man want?


Robin Hood's Bay
Wainwright
Thwaites Brewery
ABV 4.1%
Golden Ale
Pete's rating: ****

AW had spent thousands on the bar tab at the Border Hotel for Pennine Way completers. He finishes the Coast to Coast book by saying "buy your own beer, I'm skint!".  And it seems fitting to buy a Wainwright. Thwaites are cashing in on the Wainwright fans, and they are based in Blackburn, Wainwright's home town.  But the beer, although pleasant and drinkable enough, isn't quite as good as it could be. Maybe it's because it's traveled a bit too far. Never mind that though, we've just walked across England! Get another in...

Dipping your boot in the sea.

First thing at St Bees is to dip your boot in the sea. It should be one boot in the Irish Sea and the other in the North Sea. Be clear, the sea is a splashy salty thing with waves. Rock pools or wet sand don't count. If the tide is out, diddums, you're on a walking holiday, walk!  

Collecting a pebble. 

You must pick up a pebble in St Bees to skim into the sea at Robin Hood's Bay. A pebble is roughly the size of a scone. Anything smaller than a pea definitely doesn't count. You have to carry the pebble yourself the whole way. Not in your "baggage transfer", on your person. If you lose your pebble there are no ifs and no buts, you must return to St Bees, get another one, and start the walk again. 

Fat Betty

This is a squat white-painted memorial cross. No one knows why it's there or why the tradition for travellers to exchange treats arose. But it did and it's tradition. Give up a snack and take one in exchange. There is no equivalent value system but there ought to be. Use this as a guide...

Cereal bars = no value whatsoever. 

Free biscuits from B&B = a boiled sweet

Fresh apple = Mars bar

Crisps = crisps

"I am beginning to have second thoughts about "official" footpaths. I am not now at all sure they are wholly to be commended." He laments in his personal notes in the Coast to Coast guide. His objection was that official routes quickly become "a too popular parade" and "on some you don't need a map: just follow the trail of empty cans and orange peel."

Perhaps it is because of this stated distain for officialdom that the route avoids it's official status. Indeed, Wainwright was proud of sticking to existing footpaths and access land. Although unbeknownst to him he commited trespass many times. 

The route will remain without National Trail status for the foreseeable future. And maybe it's a good thing. To be truly following Wainwright's advice you should plan your own Coast to Coast route with maps crossing the UK wherever you fancy. 

"I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people's routes: there is no end to the possibilities for originality and initiative."

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