Day 10: 15 July - Clay Bank to Fylingdales Moor - 28 miles

At 7 in the morning two hungover men drove back to Clay Bank where Shaun dropped me off and by 7.30 I was back on my journey. From here the route followed a flat track through moorland, the path of an old railway line that served the industry of the area. After about 7 miles of steady, flat walking I reached the Red Lion pub, sitting in splendid isolation at the head of a moorland valley. I immediately realised that I had been there before, I think when I had visited the nearby Fylindales radar site some years previously. I had arrived too early for lunch but rested for a while over a cup of coffee in the cool darkness of the pub before heading off along the empty road that followed the hill line to the head of the next valley. A white cross marks the point and a tin has been placed there for walkers. Tradition has it that you place something in the tin for other travellers and take something away for yourself. It is mostly sweets and the like and I obligingly placed some sweets in it and removed a couple for myself.

The landscape was dry and brown as I moved on under a clear blue sky along the high point of the moors. I left the road and caught my first glimpse of the sea on the horizon but this was soon lost as I followed a long straight descent down into the Esk valley and a return to civilisation. After over 3 miles I entered into Glaisdale and carried on down to the river and along the bank through welcome shaded woods. I happened upon a pub which seemed to be a good place to stop for some food. Again I was torn between carrying on in the heat of the day or finding somewhere to spend the night. But it was still early and so I pressed on along the valley to Grosmont, a somewhat bigger town and the home of the Yorkshire Railway. It was a steep climb on the road out of Grosmont and back up onto the moors in the early evening. I passed a number of bed and breakfast places which were tempting but there was still a fair bit of daylight left and I was now on day ten and wanted to finish by the following day at the latest.

As the light began to fade I headed across Sleights Moor and into the next valley. It was another walk along a river bank under woodland and in fading light. Once I broke out into the open - Fylingdales Moor - I decided it was time to find somewhere to spend the night. I was on a quiet lane and a flat field lay to one side. I decided that this would be my place for the night and I climbed the fence and made myself at home for the evening…