Kildale to Saltburn-by-the-sea (23 km)

Introduction Helmsley Hambleton Inn Rest Day Osmotherley Great Broughton

Roseberry Topping from Easby Moor

Kildale Saltburn-by-the-sea Port Mulgrave Whitby Ravenscar Scarborough

This long journey to the North Sea is the most confusing part of the CW with some complicated navigation along forest paths and across fields. The highlights are reached quickly - Captain Cook's monument on Easby Moor and Roseberry Topping - with the rest of the day spent in pleasant woodland and on country lanes. I had the 'advantage' of the hottest day of my trip - making the pub at Slapewath a welcome sight.

I left Bankside Farm and turned uphill along a minor road to the brow of the hill. The CW leaves the road on the left and goes along the edge of the plantation (with scrubby woodland on your left) for 1.5 kilometres. It then breaks out into the open and rises gently onto Easby Moor and the 18 metre spire of Captain Cook's monument (about an hour from Kildale). I found the monument more than usually interesting being a Kiwi and also having a connection with the area - my maternal grandfather, Frank Davis, was born and raised in Great Ayton where Captain Cook went to school. The monument is quite popular so you are unlikely to be alone even on weekdays.

The moor is left on a north-north-easterly path which quickly descends steps down Cockshaw Hill - the clay surface may be slippery in wet weather. At the bottom of the hill a minor road is crossed and a stepped path takes you up onto Great Ayton Moor. Remember to look back south to see Captain Cook's monument on the skyline. About 2 kilometres later the turn-off to Roseberry Topping is reached. While I did not take the detour, I recommend that you allow time for it since the views will be worth working up a sweat on the 80 metre climb.

The sharp crag you see in the photo above is the result of subsidence caused by quarrying for ironstone. The exposed faces are noted for their fossil plant remains.

The CW turns its back on Roseberry Topping and crosses Newton Moor to the corner of a plantation, the edge which is followed onto Hutton Moor and a sharp right turn. A green path branches off two hundred metres later and drops to meet a stone wall below Black Nab (a small spring-fed stream is crossed here). The wall is followed at first gently down hill and then steadily uphill past Highcliffe Farm and towards the corner of Highcliffe Wood. Before entering the woods, it is a good idea to turn around and have a last look at the moors.

The view from Highcliffe Nab over Guisborough is quite good but the nab is better as a place to sit down and remind yourself about the route. I won't repeat the route description but it is easily followed through Guisborough Woods with only the network of paths near Slapewath causing problems. A stop at the Fox and Hounds pub for lunch is available as a reward for good map-reading.

Skelton Castle

Suitably refreshed, continue past the row of houses beyond the pub (towards Guisborough) and climb up through an old quarry on steps through gorse. An enclosed path then climbs alongside a woodland before levelling out until a stile on your right. The stile takes you onto a farm track which becomes Airy Hill Lane as it nears the village of Skelton Green. The CW passes straight through the village and joins an enclosed tarmac path to Skelton through open ground. Near the end of this path there are good views across the houses to Skelton Castle.

The 'Lake District' (Coniston Road, Ullswater Drive and Derwent Road) of Skelton is passed through before the route reaches fields and then the woodland around Skelton Beck. The beck is crossed via a footbridge and the pathway then goes downstream to pass under a railway viaduct. The youth hostel marked on the map at this point is closed. It may have been opened again but check this out first. All the paths downstream along the beck eventually reach the sea but the CW climbs uphill about 500 metres from the sea front to gain the main road.

The CW continues down the main road and to the seashore via a zigzaging road to the right. However I turned left and went up to the Tourist Information Centre (near the railway station) to book a room for the night - I decided to indulge myself with a stay at a hotel.