Wainstones

At the other side of Hasty Bank, I came to the Wainstones. These are a jumble of massive rocks with a few pointing skywards like skyscrapers. The path follows an easy scramble down through them. They are certainly impressive. I dropped down to Garfitt Gap and no sooner had I reached the bottom, I was climbing back up again. My OS map doesn't give this particular hill a name, which is a shame since I extended a lot of bloody effort to get to its top. I guess it is really an extension of Cold Moor to its south. I could vouch for it being cold. 

I made my way down from this unnamed summit and then started the next climb to Cringle Moor. Although these descents and ascents weren't huge, they were definitely energy sapping. The path along here forms part of the Lyke Wake Walk. This is a 40-mile trans North Yorkshire Odessey that starts at Osmotherley, on the west side of the North Yorkshire moors, and finishes at Ravenscar on the coast. A younger version of myself completed the walk in about 16 hours. Amazingly I've no recollection of this rollercoaster hillside that I struggled along today. Admittedly, when I did the Lyke Wake Walk, we started just after the pub closing time in Osmotherley. Maybe it was the alcohol that wiped my memories of it. The actual summit of Cringle Moor is about 100 metres or so from the Cleveland Way slabs. I did and out-and-back to the summit. Just to the west of the summit is a Bronze age burial mound called Drake Howe. Howe is old Norse for burial mound. I've never understood why they put burial mounds on the top of the hills. Surely it would have been far easier to bury the bodies down in the valleys. 

Falconer's Seat

Back on the Cleveland Way I fought against the strong wind to make my way to a shelter (Falconer's Seat) that was shaped like an armchair. Although it had a stunning view northward over the flatlands to Middlesbrough, it failed in its primary purpose as a shelter. When I sat on its stone seat, my head and shoulders were well above the top level of its backrest, and so consequently still got battered by the wind. It had a toposcope positioned in front of the seat. If you can manage to keep your head still in the wind, you probably could line up one of the pointers on some distant object. Alec Falconer was a founder member of the Middlesbrough And District Countrywide Holidays Association And Holiday Fellowship Rambling Club in 1912. I'm guessing a committee came up with that name. I think club members must have got bored of saying the name since it was later renamed to the Middlesbrough Rambling Club. He was instrumental in the creation of the Cleveland Way but unfortunately popped his clogs just before it was officially opened in 1969.

Despite being seated, it wasn't a relaxing place, and so I started heading down towards Lordstones. Lordstones take its name from the Three Lords' Stones Bronze age tumulus which is situated behind the cafe near the car park. The owners have created their own Lord Stones on the open green area near to the hill edge. They have positioned a number of large stones in a semicircle. It is hardly Stonehenge, but they do provide good foreground for your photos. 

Carlton Moor

I'd made better time than expected and so I decided to do an out-and-back to the summit of Carlton Moor. Again, this wasn't a huge climb, but it was high enough to give my tired legs yet another workout. Some Stonechats kept watch on me as I climbed up, and then sang me on my way as I came down. 

I'm not a huge fan of road walking but I decided to take the Raisdale Road to the bottom of Cold Moor. It wasn't a busy road and it had great views to each side of the valley. At one point I watched a farmer on an ATV rounding up his sheep to direct them into the next field. There must have been over 100 sheep, but he had the assistance of his sheepdog, Spot. I'm not really sure whether Spot was actually his name or whether it was just an instruction the farmer was giving to the dog. Anyway, I think the dog was as confused as me since he didn't seem to be able to do anything right and was frequently chastised by the farmer. I'd give the dog ten out of ten for effort though. 

Return To Wain Stones

I'd been walking in a suntrap as I walked down the Raisdale valley, but as soon as I started heading upwards on to Cold Moor, I hit that cold blast of wind again. Initially there wasn't much of a path on the moor, and I ended up having to do a bit of heather wading. As soon as I hit the middle of the broad ridge, I picked up a landrover track and this led me northwards back to the Cleveland Way. 

I retraced my steps back to the Wainstones. Two rock climbers were having fun ascending one of the skyscraper stones. Back on Hasty Bank the humbug cows had drifted closer to the path. They were so close, I thought I might be in for a bit of fun with them. I shouldn't have worried; they were far too interested in eating than bothering me. In the far distance, on a hill to the east, I could see a grey line gradually going up from the bottom of the valley to the top of the hill. This was the line of the old wagon and rail system that transported ironstone down into the valley. I'd been up at Incline Top, yesterday (See Cleveland Grim Sheeper). The ferns and leaves of the trees were glowing golden browns in the afternoon sun, as I made my way down the stone steps to the road.

I'd been blessed with excellent weather on today's walk. Blue skies and sun, but with a cold wind to cool down the engine. Perfect conditions. This part of the Cleveland Way is full of ups and downs but is compensated by the wonderful views of the flatlands surrounding the Cleveland hills.