Walk 234

Whitby to Scarborough 22miles

So this was the last day of my journey, it had taken 6 years and 10 months to get this far. I had stayed in 150+ bed and breakfasts, I bought and wore 8 pairs of boots/shoes but only worn out 2 of those pairs (the rest are still going or have been binned due to blisters!), 3 different backpacks, numerous pairs of socks/hats/gloves/sunglasses and countless Ice Creams!!!!! A lot has happened in nearly 7 years, relatives have passed away, old friends have come back into my life and then promptly reversed back out of my life, my daughter was in secondary school when I started and then 6th form college and now University.

                     Suprisingly I woke up with the usual feeling that today was just another days walk, I had expected something else I guess, but what I had expected who knows?
                     I made my way out of Whitby at 8.30am and it was a completely different place on this quiet Sunday morning, just lovely.

Whitby Abbey

The weather was fantastic I couldn't have ordered a better forecast for the day.
                I chose what I thought was the correct route out of town but then it turned into a dead end!! lost again,  I thought somethings don't change!!, eventually I managed to find my way to the top of the hill and what a view! The magnificent Whitby Abbey was sitting proudly at the top.
                I had been warned that the walking was going to be tough today as there are a lot of hills and valleys between here and Scarborough. I stopped/got lost again! at the lighthouse at Beacon Hill.

The walking was still pretty easy at this point and as I made my way along to Robin Hood's Bay I did start to think what all the fuss was about......but then it happened......I looked at my map to find the route out of Robin Hood's Bay and then I realised that I had to go down the hill to the sea!!! If you haven't been to Robin Hoods Bay before, then you need to brace yourself for a steep climb/decent, its a real doozy!!! Once I had reached the bottom I walked along the front and started to climb back up the other end of the bay....what goes down must come back up!!!

Robin Hood's Bay

I stopped at the top to take a breather and a photo at the same time.  Very soon Boggle Hole reared its head and once again I was plunged downwards to sea level and then back out the other side.  This happened a couple of more times (there are 6 between Whitby and Ravenscar!) until I arrived at the bottom of a ludicrously big hill just before Ravenscar, by the time I got to the summit of the hill I was very hungry and I have to say there isn't much in Ravenscar other than a hotel and a NT café, so I chose the Hotel which did me a very nice sandwich indeed!!

The walking became a bit easier after Ravenscar in so much that the hills/valleys were a lot less steep!! I carried on past Hayburn Wyke and onto Rodger Trod.  My eyes were firmly fixed on the horizon constantly scanning it for any sign on the Castle at Scarborough, finally the path took a bit of a dip and I caught sight of it amongst the trees in front of me, I was nearly finished after a little under 7 years I couldn't quite believe it!!.  I carried on past Cloughton Wyke, Hundale Point and Sailors Grave before I made the final decent onto the flat promenade at Scalby Mills, I stopped at the pub in Scalby Mills for a drink just (I think) to eek out the end of the walk for the last few minutes as it was less than a mile to go! 

                The North Bay promenade was busy on this fine Sunday afternoon and I walked purposely on to my finish point at the Corner Café. There was no one at the end to congratulate me which is exactly how I wanted it to be and how it was at the start of my walk on 18th November 2009 when I slipped out of the house on that wet Wednesday morning, I sat down on a bench at the Corner Café in between 2 elderly ladies and they paid me no heed, little did they know that I had just walked 5000 miles :)

                                             THE END

Thank you to my family and friends who all supported me during this journey and especially to my wife who let me disappear for many weeks on end.