Saltburn

A lift back to Gribdale where I left the route for Great Ayton and the Royal Oak Hotel last night and another steep climb began the day. The first destination was Roseberry Topping (nb not RASBERRY as Herself’s unpredictable predictive text has it!), A great tump of a hill that has been visible at various times over the last three days. It has an interesting history.
The Cleveland Way includes the ascent although it is a detour and perfectly possible to omit but Herself would never have forgiven me if I had for a well is marked on the OS map and that is exciting. To go up, first you must go down from the rim of Newton Moor. The ascent was not nearly as hard as I had expected, the path is roughly paved and makes use of natural contours to ease the gradient. At the top it was very windy, a cold blustery blow that made standing difficult but the views were worth it. No well unfortunately although way down below, on the opposite side to my climb, was a small stone structure that could be a well-house but a step too far today.
The Cleveland Way has until today been moving northward from Helmsley up the western edge of the North Yorks Moors. Now it swings north east to arrive at Saltburn-by-the-sea before following the coast down to Scarborough and Filey. Combined with Tabular Hills route which I completed most of last week, it creates a complete circumnavigation of the Moors.
Now in Saltburn I will get to the picturesque fishing port of Staithes tomorrow, passing my 100 mile point on the way. I will stay there for four nights and may, or may not complete more of the Cleveland Way, or may just enjoy a few days sketching without the serious hiking. See you in Staithes!