May 28, 2008
Danby Wiske to Osmotherley YH
(19.8 km; 6 hrs 11 min; 342 m ascent; 214 m descent)
Google Map
We had our usual porridge and toast for breakfast, but this time we got some extra toast to use as lunch makings because there was no shop in Danby Wiske. Last night we had heard a couple of showers on our skylight, and as we ate our breakfast it was raining quite hard. So when Christine and Neil arrived, we put on our Gore-Tex before heading out.
We set out walking on the flat roads and paths of the Vale of Mowbray, but the rain had stopped and it never started again. Today’s walk was much like yesterday’s through farming country. Most of the farms were grain farms, and it took a couple of hours before we came to our first sheep. The clouds were quite low, so we didn’t really get any good views towards the Cleveland Hills ahead of us.
Shortly after noon we came to the notorious crossing of the A19. We bought some tea at the trucker’s café there and ate our lunch at the picnic tables outside. By now the clouds were lifting and we could see the Cleveland Hills, which were our next barrier to cross. We risked our lives dashing across the road—fortunately there was a median in the middle—and carried on through Ingleby Cross and Ingleby Arncliffe.
Our route now followed a forest road up quite steeply through the Arncliffe Forest, soon joining on to the Cleveland Way, which led down to the village of Osmotherley, where our youth hostel was located. We followed the road down into the village, and then realized that was not the way to the hostel. But we did some lunch shopping at the village shop, where we asked for the correct way. Back up the hill we went, then down another hill in the opposite direction to the hostel. This building used to be a flax mill, so from the outside it looked very utilitarian. Upon arrival we found we could not check in until 5 pm, so we left our packs and walked back to the village to look around and also to buy more ibuprofen for Rosemary’s knee.
Checking in at the hostel, we found that our reservations for dorm beds had been changed into a reservation for a twin room. We unpacked and had showers. Dinner was at 7 pm. Paul had sausages and mash and Rosemary had beef cobbler, and both of us had apple crumble for dessert. Bedtime was early, at 9:30 pm.
Elevation profile:
