The Cleveland Way - Introduction & Planning

As soon as the Pennine Way had been proposed in the 1930's The Teeside Ramblers Association pressed for the creation of a similar long distance route and the Cleveland Way was officially opened in 1969.

During its planning it was referred to as the "North York Moors and Yorkshire Coastal Path" which is a good description for the diversity of scenery; i.e. moorland, escarpment, woodland, forest, cliff tops & sea that is encountered on this long distance footpath.

My first encounter of the CW was when I was 15, it was 1973 and my dad Arthur and I spent 10 days on a camping/backpacking trip exploring and photographing it, memories of this adventure are now few and I have not been able to locate any of the photos that we took. So it was time to refresh memories and re-visit the CW, this time alone. 

Hours were spent researching trying to establish the whereabouts of camp-sites and shops for food and water etc. Google and other peoples blogs helped along with pouring over maps and even reading the original 1972 guide book by Bill Cowley.

 I even pinned the original 1970 Ordnance Survey 'One Inch to One Mile' North York Moors Tourist Map up on the bedroom wall to aid with the planning. 

I had a target of six days, or five and two half days to be exact, to complete the CW. The plan was to walk 10 miles on the first day, which would also include the travelling time to and from Yorkshire, then I would have to average 18 miles a day for five days, leaving a 10 mile walk to finish and then travel home on the last day.

I had to travel 'light' as I knew the moors and cliffs of North Yorkshire would be no easy stroll and be as self sufficient as possible so I wouldn't be constrained to stopping at camp-sites, I could camp wild if necessary. 

I also didn't want to resorting to buying any new or expensive equipment, I already had some good kit although it was getting old so things like the 'trusty old' Saunders Jet Packer Tent were resurrected from the loft cleaned and re-proofed.  

The only thing I did indulge in was a new rucksack, a Karrimor Panther 65, which turned out to be a great investment, the quality of the materials, stitching, webbing and buckles seemed to be equal to that of rucksacks of up to twice the price and once I had got the adjustable back system set to suit me it carried the load superbly and I never gave the rucksack a second thought throughout my trip, which is always a good sign of a good piece of equipment

So equipment was selected weighed and reviewed some discarded then weighed and reviewed again the target was to get the 'dry' weight down to 10kgs then with food and water I shouldn't exceed 15kgs.

Equipment Weight List

The adventure started for me with the train journey, it feels like you are about to do something special if you catch a train, feelings that are probably deeply routed from my childhood when holidays always started with a train ride, there is always something special for me in catching a train. 

York Railway Station

A return ticket from Blackburn to Malton was £30.80, which I thought reasonable and and from there it was a bus ride to Helmsley. Malton was a very interesting country market town well worth a return visit but with no time to explore because my onward journey was by bus, it was a very scenic bus ride (£4.50) through beautiful countryside and pretty villages an hamlets.

and so I finally arrived at Helmsley, ready to start.... (see Cleveland Way Day 1)