Guided Coast to Coast Day 13

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.