The Cleveland way

Its been a long day from South Carolina to Helmsley in the Ryedale District of North Yorkshire. Planes to Manchester, four separate trains to Leeds, then a cab to Helmsley. The reason for being here, is to do another long distance hike.  Im walking with my girlfriend Mary Beth, who was a tough cookie on the last walk, I think she is really fired up to tackle this one , either that, or the English beer. Arriving a cloudy Manchester morning just at sunrise We are spending tonight in a cute but old village inn downtown, so we can get started walking from the market place in downtown in the morning. It’s great to be back in my country of origin, and I forgot how friendly and welcoming the English are, you know your back in an English village when you see the cottages and flowers The Cleveland way is 110 miles long (180 km ), and should take about 8 days. Its one of Englands oldest trails ,and was founded by the National Trails organization in 1969. We head north, then east, before head...

Time to go Helmsley Square Cross— the starting point The walk starts at the old stone cross in the market square of Helmsley, Helmsley is a bit of a tourist haven of the Ryesdale District A traditional outdoor market is held in the square every Friday, and there is this said cross, but also an ornate Victorian monument to the second Baron Feversham. Overlooking the town are the ancient ruins of Helmsley's Norman castle. At Helmsley castle And so we start, its 3 miles to the Rievaulx Bridge, and Rievaulx Abbey, one of the first, and most successful Cistercian abbeys to be built in England in 1132 ad. The name comes from the Rye Valley (where we are) and the medieval French word for valley "Vaulx". Rievaulx Abbey From here, we headed to Cold Kirby, passing migrating ducks that were congregating before the departure. It was about here that we did the traditional thing for day one, if your walking with me, got lost. Somehow missed a trail sign and did a detour along a farmers...

 Today we traversed along the west side of the Hambleton Hills, but a good climb right out of the gate. Last night we stayed in a hotel and there was no restaurant anywhere close, so we ordered Indian take out and had it delivered, then we dined on the room floor. Garlic Naan bread had more garlic than a nun has habits.  Fine dining We met this Indian chap in the hotel bar called Raj, he was from London and doing some window replacement work at the Sutton Bank tourist center, REALLY I said. We start from there in the morning, so the kind chapped who was drinking scotch like there was about to be a shortage, offered us a ride on his way to work.  Great start to the day. The Drovers Road Hiking along the crest of the Hambleton Hills The view over Gormire Lake The location of the old travelers rest Another damned gate I heard her mutter Looking out over the Rye Valley A great day to hike, little chill in the air, slight overcast, and a slow breeze a big part of today was on ...

 Leaving Osmotherely, we pass Mount Grace Priory, founded in 1398, this is Englands best preserved Charterhouse. Unlike most monks who took meals and worshipped together, the Carthusian Monks here lived as hermits, and sometimes even having their meals passed to them through cell doors. well, I can confidently make this statement, of all my long distant hiking, today turned out to be the continuously most challenging day of them all. We left Osmotherly at about 9 am, stopped at the local store and purchased snacks, then headed out on a fantastic dry, sunny, crisp day. Who the hell put all these hills in my way? Leaving Mount Grace , we climbed through to outskirts of the village and into beautiful farmland. But before we left, we had a FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST in the restaurant that had our walk painted in the wall. If you have never had a Full English Breakfast, well,,,,,,,,,,, Eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, toast, English sausage, baked beans, grilled mushrooms, blood pudding, potato...