Cleveland Way - Day 4

Margrove Park (Nr. Guisborough) to Staithes - 16 Miles

I woke at 6:00am and could hear Gary & Dean stirring, it was another wet foggy morning and again I didn't bother to photograph the camp. 

After last nights late finish we took the opportunity to 'sort our selves out', I had breakfast, porridge, coffee and a shower and then as it seemed to be a much more leisurely start I had another breakfast, porridge & coffee again, then I packed the tent.

Dean collected Monty's stash of food, that he had deposited a few days earlier, and decided it might be better for Monty, due to his cough, to have a few days off carrying his rucksack, it could be the chest strap irritating his throat, so he thoughtfully distributed Monty's food equally between us.

We set-off walking the mile back down the road towards the pub we had frequented last night to pick up the CW. Then it was a stiff climb up Airy Hill by the side of Rock Hole a diss-used Alum Quarry. 

Once on the tops the CW virtually follows a straight line through Skelton and then to Saltburn by the Sea. It was easy walking and as we moved towards the coast the fog began to disperse, the sun was trying to break-through and our spirits lifted.

The coast is a milestone on the CW, from here onwards it's a different walk, the moorland with its heather, escarpments and banks is behind and the coast path with its seascapes, cliffs and beaches now begins. 

We passed through Skelton and resisted the urge to buy some hot pies because we had promised ourselves  Fish 'n' Chips at the seaside to celebrate this milestone.

As we neared Saltburn we dropped down a steep descent into a wooded valley with a small river at the bottom, Skelton Beck, and then we walked under the spectacular Skelton Railway Viaduct.

Skelton Railway Viaduct

It was designed by T.E. Harrison and took 7 years to build it has 11 arches, is 783 feet long and 150 feet high.

Skelton Railway Viaduct

The railway line was opened on the 1st June 1872, but not originally for passenger traffic it was to service the local mines.

We came out of the wooded valley and into Saltburn-by-the-Sea, I wanted to get a look at another piece of Victorian engineering so, while Gary, Dean and Monty went to get the celebration fish, chips and mushy peas, I took off to look at the cliff lift.

Ticket Office

The lift opened on the 28th June 1884 and it operates over a height of 120ft and on a gradient of 71%. The carriages have a capacity to carry up to 12 people. The two carriages are counterbalanced, connected together by a wire cable, water is pumped into a tank located underneath the carriage at the top of the incline until it overcomes the weight of the carriage and passengers at the bottom of the incline, the brakes are then released and the carriage at the top starts to descend pulling the other carriage up, very energy efficient. The electric pump delivers 180 gallons of water per minute into the tank and replaced the previous 'town gas' powered pump in 1924.

I got the photographs I wanted and as I had agreed to meet up on the prom for our fish & chip lunch I couldn't resist the opportunity to ride the cliff lift down, I had the car all to myself and of course got a few photos of the inside.

Stained Glass Windows

The windows were a striking feature of the original cars but were removed in 1955 when the car bodies were replaced. However when the new aluminium cars were introduced in 1979 (modelled on the original design), these beautiful windows were re-installed.

Nobody does the seaside like the British!

Not forgetting of course another piece of Victorian engineering and entrepreneurship. The 1,500 feet pier opened in May 1869, it had a steamer landing stage at the head of the pier and two circular kiosks at the entrance.


One of the other indulgences we had promised ourselves after the fish & chips, was a paddle in the sea to ease our aching legs and feet, just like fish & chips when at the seaside a paddle in the sea is obligatory.

Sea Paddle

Pier Head

Upon arriving at the beach, Monty's cough and feigned 'looking sorry for himself' mysteriously disappeared! He ran up & down the beach endlessly with other dogs and couldn't keep out of the surf.

Surfs Up

Although the sun shone brilliantly on Saltburn you could just see the mist clinging to the cliffs.

Lets chase another dog!

A brief chat with another dog owner concluded it was kennel cough that Monty was suffering from and she suggested trying Benolin for children so a chemist trip was planned.

Our brief time as sea-siders was over, we dried our toes put our boots and backpacks on and set off on the coast-path. 







It was a long and steep climb up and onto the cliffs

Looking back at Saltburn you could still see the mist further up the coast and inland of the shore.

Mist over the fields

As we carried on the coast path we climb into the mist and it was instantly cold it was just like somebody had turned the air conditioning on. Then looking out over the cliff and into the mist I saw a Brocken Spectre. I have only ever seen one before on a mountain and this one wasn't as spectacular but it was definitely an unusual sighting.

A Brocken Spectre  is the shadow of the observer cast against the mist below the level of a ridge. The shadow is surrounded by rainbow coloured fringes caused by the diffraction of light. It often appears to be larger than the observer but this is an illusion, the perception of depth is altered by the mist, the shadow appears to be further away so it is interpreted to be larger than what you would expect.

It is 400ft straight down to the sea here and interestingly it's these cliffs that gave Cleveland its name, it literally means "cliff-land".

While we were trudging through the mist we started to hear a rumbling sound and out of the mist a train emerged.

The railway track loops round Warsett Hill and runs remarkably close to the edge of the cliff.

The railway line is the main source for transporting Potash, an agricultural fertiliser from Boulby Mine. The mine employes 1,000 people and produces one million tonnes of potash each year. At 4,600 ft deep, it is the second deepest mine in Europe, and has a 620 mile network of underground roads that extend under the North Sea. Located 3,610ft below ground in the mine is the UK's deep underground science facility, 'a quiet place in the Universe' - where studies can be carried out free of interference from natural background radiation', studies include; the search for Dark Matter. All this from a railway line!

We pressed on, I wanted to try and make Staithes that evening which was about 9 miles from Saltburn, the next 'port' of call was Skinningrove. It was here that the first seams of Cleveland Ironstone were discovered in 1849, although iron had been worked off the cliff faces for many years before that. 

This led to the building of blast furnaces in 1872, a rolling mill and a small steel-shop. I vaguely remember arriving at Skinningrove, with its industrial decay and dereliction, with my dad when we were doing the CW in 1973, it was a startling place to find on such a beautiful stretch of coastline, but today even in the mist it looked far better than I remembered . The mist also added some atmosphere to this restored fishing coble and its occupants. 

The Repus WY220 (originally registered at Whitby) is a traditional fishing coble it's been restored and fitted out with two carved figures as a memorial to all those lost at sea off the Grove. 

While in Skinningrove I stopped to ask a local couple, "how far is it to Staithes?" He replied "about 6 miles." "I said do you pronounce it 'Stairs' locally?" He said "no 'Steers'", I said in my best broadest northern accent "like in (Steercase) 'Staircase'?"  He said "no like in I'm (Steer-ing) 'Staring'  at you". 

Satisfied I now had the correct pronunciation and I knew how far it was to Staithes, Stairs, Steers or Stares I thanked him and set off after Gary, Dean & Monty who were now halfway up the next climb.

The next stretch of CW goes across Boulby Cliff, at over 600ft high they are the highest sea-cliffs in England and supposedly afford spectacular views, however the mist was still clinging to the coastline and gave us a totally different impression.

Gary climbing above the mist

Gary said it was like being in an aeroplane.

Looking out to sea!

The path closely follows the cliff edge but due to the mist gave no impression of the height of the cliffs.

I took this photo of the mist clinging to the cliffs  but when I came to edit the photo for my blog I thought there was a speck of dirt on the picture but when I zoomed in 

I realised they were birds soaring!

I had stopped that many times to take photos that by now I had not seen Gary, Dean & Monty since leaving Skinningrove so I put my camera away and set about catching them up. They were quite a long way in front but had slowed down seduced by the abundance of enormous juicy blackberries by the side of the path.

After re-grouping and sampling the blackberries we carried on and dropped down into Staithes.

Staithes

A steep climb up the other side brought us to a camp-site where we just managed to pitch the tent before dark. We then retired to the pub for a sit down dinner and a pint or two.

It had been another great day on the CW, lots of variety in the landscape and with the interlude at Saltburn which included warm sunshine, fish & chips, a paddle in the sea enjoyed with good friends made it feel more like a holiday than a route march.

Happy days!