Hello there !
Like many I had my eye on the Lyke Wake Walk for some time and found it fabulously appealing - a walk that just had to be done - or at least attempted !There is an active Lyke Wake club - you can read about the walk history, get a badge or attend some of their meetups http://www.lykewake.org/, and there is also the official Lyke Wake company web site http://www.lykewakewalk.co.uk.
The question though for many might be How to do it – as it is not a circular walk and so presents a transport logistics problem to solve! This post is about how I did it The Batty Way!
“The Batty Way”
From studying the maps, as we do, I could see the nearest train station to the usual start of the walk is Battersby Junction – so from there I hatched my circular route plan :
How did it go in reality?
Like all great plans – there is no flaw, it’s perfect, a great idea and nothing can go wrong. Right ?
Well it did go pretty well – but read on if you want to take it The Batty Way and learn from my mistakes!
DAY 1 Plan
Leave the car at the car park in Osmotherley, then do the Lyke Wake walk, staying at Boggle Hole YHA at the end of the walk, close to Robin Hoods Bay.A total of 40 miles walking on day 1.
DAY 2 Plan
Walk from Boggle Hole YHA, along the lovely coast path to Whitby, around 8 miles or so.Catch the train (hopefully) from Whitby to Battersby Junction.
LOOK at these train times - if you miss the 12:18 on a weekday (as I did!) the next train is not until 4PM.
Weekday
Walk “The Batty Way” (yep I made it up!) from Battersby Junction to Osmotherley.
The Batty Way re-joins the Lyke Wake Walk, and totals around 13 miles or so from the station to Osmotherley.
A total of 21 miles walking on day 2.
GPS / GPX
Here is a link to my GPS recording of me walking The Batty Way:http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MjAyOTk5Nw==
You can download the GPX file from the Menu link ‘Export to GPX’ from the above link. To be honest though it's a simple walk from the railway station up to the Cleveland Way, but the GPX will give you a good idea of time it will take and elevation.
DAY 1 - Osmotherley to Boggle Hole
Friday 11th September 2015
3:00 AMHere we go, I left home in Leeds at 2AM and here I am all on my own at 3 AM in the morning, and leaving the warmth of my car at the car park at the top of the Cod Beck Reservoir. I seem to be looking suitably scary!
3:19 AM
I am in the woods – it's dark – very very dark with no moon light.
I have a friend keeping an eye on my Buddy Beacon GPS – but I am sure she isn’t awake right now.
In the woods I find an encouraging confirmation I am in the right place:
4:30 AM
It still dark! I find some unusual roman looking posts.
This one has a useful A symbol. Is this the Alphabet trail?
4:50 AM
It’s still dark and now a bit chilly up on Carlton Moor.
To me these look like Roman and modern trig versions of a significant spot.
Forgive me for not hanging around up here to find out, mind you if I met someone up here at this time of night it would be way spooky.
5:00 AM
Solo walking in the dark is not recommended if you don’t have a good deal of experience.
Even with my long walking history I was not prepared to see a reference to my namesake Richard and rather chilling words – or so it seemed at the time!
5:42 AM
Finally there is a faint blue to the sky – it’s getting light !
Thank goodness
6:03 AM
Dawn at Kirkby Bank
It is such a beautiful dawn too, with lazy pockets of cloud clinging to the hill sides – not willing to rise so early.
About this point I heard a voice behind me ‘Good morning’ !
After immediately filling my pants I turned around to meet a guy who had been wild camping on his Coast-to-Coast adventure. I thought how he was actually quite low in spirits and weary – but after some long chatting and walking together for a couple of miles, he was back on form and laughing allot J
6:30AM
I find myself at the awesome Wainstones.
The light was still low – so my pic is a bit camera shakey.
7:20 AM
Things are going well, I am warm, feeling fit and made some good progress.
The only thing that bothers me are all these death march symbols !
8:02 AM
One can only actually do this walk to appreciate the beauty.
10:30 AM
It feels pretty remote now – high up on Blakey Moor – I still have only met one other person on my journey.
Eventually I find a friendly face to talk to :
10:48 AM
Reached the Lion Inn – the only hint of Civilisation in an ocean of moorland.
11:30 AM
Fat Betty!
11:56
And here I leave the Coast-to-coast path – and onto the real Lyke Wake business end of the walk.
This giant stone felt like a warning symbol – go back! danger ahead!
12:44 Noon-ish
Sure enough I enter the Devils very own bog.
To be fair though I think I had it easy, after a spell of reasonably dry weather.
1:45 PM
The alphabet game continues – but I have missed some – unless it is Vowels only !
2:30PM
Trucking along nicely – the sun is shining and I am through the boggy hell and flying onward to Fylingdales – I can see the Fylingdales dish in the very very far distance – if I quint ! can you spot it?
3:33 PM
Arrive at a nice little vale - Wheeldale Beck.
Blue sky and happy I am !
Reached Fylingdales – there is some fuss about ‘Bye’ laws – but there is no mention of ‘Hello Laws’ so I will call in for a cup of tea ;)
5:25 PM
Reached Lila Cross – dating AD626 and the earliest known Christian monument in the north of England.
About this time I met a guy out running. He stopped to chat to me – he was about 60 years old and his name was Stuart. He told me he regularly runs the Lyke Wake Walk – so you might meet him too. I hope I meet Stuart again one day. I wish I had asked to take pics of the people I met on the way.
7 PM
The final very long mile – you can just see the radio mast in very far distance if you let your eye follow the path.
Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
The final trig point marking the end of the Lyke Wake Walk.
Just another 3 miles along the coast to Boggle Hole YHA..
8:15 PM
Arrived at Boggle Hole YHA - very tired and hungry. I thought evening meals were being served until 9PM - I was wrong they stopped at 8PM. Despite explaining I was in a bad state they refused to give me a meal - in fact they refused to even sell me any food out of the fridge that I could heat up. I thought this was very bad form.
Still it was for the best - I hobbled yet another mile to Robin Hood's Bay and had an enormous fish and chips in The Dolphin pub - I got there just before 9PM (last food orders). I pre-ordered a sticky toffee pudding - not caring of the calories - but soon regretted it when I saw the size of the fish!!!
What an incredible day - probably the best solo walking day I have ever had.
The Lyke Wake Walk was fabulous, I would love to do it again, perhaps guiding a group of people who would like to do it too.
The Lyke Wake Walk was fabulous, I would love to do it again, perhaps guiding a group of people who would like to do it too.
Thank you for reading, please leave a comment below for me, I would love to hear them and reply to any questions.
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