The Coast to Coast July 25

NB I don’t get commission on anything!!!!

Overview of the coast to coast path

England's Coast to Coast Path runs 192 miles from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire, crossing 3 National Parks. There is no one route but the authorities are in the process of making the paths more certain and adding signposting. The beauty today is that you choose the path you like  - the first stage through the lake district is stunning

Key map components

Major towns (starting south to north)

·       St Bees; The official start located in Cumbria. Its got reasonable transport links due to the power stations nearby.

·       Glen riding and Patterdale; Small towns on the edge of Ullswater. A nice stop off before you go up into the hills again. Good hotels and lake views

·       Shap; a long town after passing the Haweswater reservoir, near to the M6 so easy to get in and out in a car.

·       Kirby Stephen; the ancient cathedral of the north with viking remains in the church, lovely local restaurants and castles

·       Richmond; a nice little market town before you get into the final moorland stretches.

·       Robin Hoods bay; a long steep climb down to this old fashioned fishing village. Well catered for with hotels, airbnbs and just beautiful scenery. (good chips)

Landmarks

·       Ennerdale water; My favourite lake. Quiet, unspoiled and good trails.

·       Honister pass; steep climb out of Buttermere with a slate mill and café at the top. You might well need the break.

·       Helvellyn; well known. Beware – the weather can make this unpassable. Your safety net might need to come and get you. The mountain rescue is great but better not to use it

·       The Lion Inn at Blakey ridge: An amazing pub just off the most incredible path across the moors in the middle of nowhere where all the travellers stop. Think doorstop sandwiches and big welcomes

·       Whitby: Definitely worth the detour at the end. Beautiful gothic town where Dracula landed in the bram stoker novel of the same name. Devine fish and chips, a beach, the cliffs and the gothic abbey.   

Hotels

In St Bees; The Manor Inn - St Bees Hotel & Pub

There is not a huge amount of choice in St Bees. The draw is the beach. The manor Inn was homely and the Sunday roast was DELICIOUS!!! Good value and lovely staff.

In Glenridding; The Ullswater Inn | Lake District | The Inn Collection Group

 This hotel has lovely food and revamped rooms. You can see the hills directly out of the window to one side and the lake the other. Gorgeous.

In Shap; Country Village Inns - Local Hotels & Pubs I stayed at the greyhound. I arrived drenched and they were so kind they dried out all my clothes and bags. Note food is sometimes not served until later (5pm) so check in case you arrive not able to stumble far.

In other places we used Airbnbs which are plentiful and generally good quality. Plus you get to wash your kit!!!

Maps

You will need Mapsme – large portions are not covered by phone signal so either get an offline app or get all the maps. I didn’t find a good paper one – instead using the OS maps in the OL series which had good level of detail for mapping and planning routes.

Learnings

1.      The lakes are spectacular. If you have extra time, its worth taking a few different paths even if you add a few miles

2.      There is no phone signal for large portions of the route. Get Maps me – it’s a lot of off road and you don’t see people, toilets etc so you need to be able to rely on your own guile. And learn how to read a map.

3.      There are no toilets. You might need to take wet wipes, poo bags etc (for the wet wipes rather than the poo) so you don’t leave rubbish behind.

4.      The ground over the lakes is boggy, do some wet feet training – i.e. get used to running with wet feet so the skin toughens and so does your mind.

5.      Google does not know the routes. I followed one and there was no path at all. Luckily it wasn’t too much of a detour and the terrain wasn’t too bad. Stick to some of the apps designed for running and walking.

6.      There is a pub just past the Honnister path where the club sandwich is as big as your head. Clearly not one if you plan to carry on running that day but definitely delicious and worth stopping for

7.      The moorlands past Shap are not the most beautiful terrain and you will be off road for long periods. I found this section bleak as it poured with rain despite the hot sun across the rest of the country.

8.      I carried bin bags to wear when it rained. Lighter, smaller and more waterproof than most fancy ass coats and outer layers. More room for water and other essentials. BUT the coast to coast was the wettest run I have ever done – despite the rest of the country being mid heat wave it was quite a feat of endurance (mainly because of the weather)

Ennerdale water

meeting moona

Yorkshire moors

my one sunny day

heading up to the nine standards

above Ullswater

rescued

above ullswater

Honister pass