Day 9 Helmsley to Sutton Bank

After avoiding the winter months of endless rain, snow and mud we were hoping for a lovely spring day to resume our walk along the Cleveland Way. It started off quite well in Helmsley with a group photo around the stone marker at the official start of the Cleveland Way.

Not exactly spring like but dry at least. Unfortunately heavy rain in previous days had left the tracks in a very muddy condition so it was tricky and slippery underfoot. We slid and sloshed through the mud and puddles and managed to have a dry lunch in Nettle Dale with entertainment from a fisherman who kept catching the same fish over and over again and then losing it before he could land it. I don't suppose an audience of 28 walkers helped his concentration!

After lunch the weather deteriorated. First a few spots of rain, followed by sleet as we reached Cold Kirby and more muddy tracks.

As we approached the pub at Hambleton where we were meeting the coach the sleet became heavier but it was still quite early and we weren't finished yet. I am going to give you a flavour of what you should have been able to see as described in my guide book.

'Emerging from the trees you encounter one of the route's most dramatic moments. 

Laid out before you is a vast panorama, an infinity of field patterns extending west 

to the distant Pennines. Escarpments are airy places, snagging the smooth drift of 

breezes and in bad weather deflecting wind and rain into upward-racing maelstroms.'

By this time we didn't have much of a view as the sleet had turned to snow so it is a good job that most of us had been there before in better weather and knew what we should have been looking at. Our plan was to visit the White Horse of Kilburn which was much further on than I remembered it to be. I hope it looks better from a distance! Follow the link for better views. We didn't linger there long and followed the path and road back round to the Hambleton Hotel. By this time the snow was very heavy and we were beginning to look like snowmen.

It didn't take long in the pub to thaw out with a hot drink or an alcoholic one while we waited for 'A' party to arrive from their longer walk. In the mean time Sutton Bank was closed to traffic and a decision was made to leave half an hour earlier than intended.

As we left the warmth of the pub and piled on to the coach the snow eased a little and we were able to reach home safely via the A64. Back in Bradford the roads were dry and no sign of snow. What a difference a year makes. Last March when we started this walk with a weekend in Whitby we were walking in t-shirts in the sun and paddling in the sea in Scarborough!