The Cleveland Way 2024: Day Seven
The Cleveland Way Nordic Walk, Monday 16th September 2024
Planned route: Boulby to Sandsend
Official mileage: 9.78 miles
Strava mileage: 10.93 miles
Elevation gain: 1,069 ft
Moving time: 3:28:48
Steps: 23,998
The route today
Steve drops me off just beyond Boulby Lodge and I immediately turn right onto the path leading down through fields. Just off the path I pass this sculpture of a miner sitting at a table.
"The artwork is called The Miner’s Bait Table, commissioned by ICL Ltd the owners of Boulby Mine to celebrate the history of the mine and its 50 years of existence. The mine originally mined Potash, a potassium rich salt formed in underground deposits from evaporated sea beds from 250 million years ago. It was valuable as a fertiliser and Boulby Mine functioned as a potash mine until 2018 when potash mining stopped. The mine still functions but now solely produced polyhalite another salt used as a fertiliser but one which contains calcium and magnesium as well as potassium. ICL commissioned local artist Katy Ventress to design and produce the piece which she did at her local studio in Hinderwell. Her inspiration for the piece was the “bait tables” where miners would eat their snacks or lunch whilst underground. Each table contained a communications board with phone and they were mobile, being able to be moved around as required. Katie’s sculpture features a life-size miner in galvanised steel sitting at the bench carrying the equipment such as helmet and lamp, they would have done in the early days of the Boulby mine. The piece is functional and walkers can sit down and eat their pack ups and spend a short while taking in the stunning coastal views. The bait table itself is laser cut stainless steel and also contains a map showing how far the mine stretched beneath the ground as well as further information about the history of the mine. The elaborate picnic-style bench took just over three months to produce, after which it was sent to the galvanizer for careful processing. Galvanizing was essential to protect the sculpture from the outside elements and limit need for maintenance bearing in mind its position on the top of the cliffs on the coast. After galvanizing Katie Ventress also applied acid etching to create striking highlight effects " from Tim Barber's blog.
After Boulby the path has fallen into the sea in several places and I'm advised to walk further inland on the road, which is barred to traffic (but has been moved further inland itself on several occasions!). This leads to a junction with the road with traffic. I follow this road left down into Staithes.
Staithes main village is reached by a footbridge over the harbour. The narrow alleys and higgledy-piggledy houses have a certain charm and have attracted a creative collective in the village.
The narrow, crooked natural harbour and protective cliff face at Cowbar Nab made Staithes an ideal retreat for fishermen, traders and smugglers in decades past.
I bump into this shady looking character on my way through Staithes! Love the seahorse door knocker! After walking through the narrow, cobbled streets the path follows a stone paved path uphill allowing me to get a good look back down the narrow streets below.
At the top of the stone paved path I turn left past a farm and turn left again along a broad, grass track. The path is steadily climbing.
On Beacon Hill the path reaches almost to 100m above sea level affording me grand views all around.
Port Mulgrave is a tiny hamlet and you can access the shale beach and harbour down a number of steps. You can apparently spot the ruins of the harbour at the bottom of the cliff where locally-mined ironstone would once have been exported.
Top pic is Port Mulgrave seen from further around the cliffs above. The Cleveland Way goes along the top of the Rosedale Cliffs and I go up and down a flight of steps, passing a pond and then turning right inland to reach the top of Runswick Bay.
Beautiful weather and wide paths making Nordic Walking the Cleveland Way even more enjoyable. This part of the Cleveland Way feel very different to the early days on the North York Moors!
I continue to walk down the road towards the beach, it's busy with folk enjoying the good weather. I'm meeting Steve here for lunch, but am struggling to locate him, lack of phone signal means WhatsApp hasn't update either of our locations recently and calls aren't getting through either! Eventually we find each other and set off for an area of the beach less inhabited.
Runswick Bay is a picture postcard North Yorkshire coastal village, boasting a mile of secluded bay and gorgeous beach and this forms part of the Cleveland Way which runs along it. It is part of the Jurassic coast and famed for its fossils. The beach is sandy and is popular with dog owners, as it is one of the few beaches along this stretch of coast that doesn’t have any restrictions on dogs. Runswick has been popular with holidaymakers for centuries. In more recent times, it has become known for its surf, and the brave and adventurous can be seen frequenting the coldest of its tidal waters.
Couldn't wait to get my walkng boots off and get in the sea for a dip! Stark contrast to yesterday as it is calm and sunny! Less sand invading stuff! After a dip and lunch (this felt like we were on holiday!), I head off down the beach to find the exit point. Hilariously the guide book says if the tide is high and the beach is blocked, then the best course of action is to wait for it to recede!
Once I am past the crumbling cliff at Hobb Holes, I find the exit up a river bed cutting through crumbly layers of slippery shale. A guy coming the other way advises me to hold onto the hand rail as he has just slipped and bashed his knee. So I take it very gingerly scrambling up the shale, I don't need a fall! The path incredibly is up that right-hand side where the wooden balustrade is! I can't imagine what it must be like when there is more water running through it! Then there's a climb up 95 steps followed by 160 more up 100m of cliff to the top.
Excellent views of Runswick Bay from the top of the cliff. I now follow the grassy cliff-top path around Kettle Ness headland.
Cattle and signposts around every corner almost! The cattle barely acknowledge my existence!
The farming community are hard at work bringing in the harvest, literally making hay while the sun shines! Norbert finds himself a less risky photo location with the National Trail acorn logo and this handmade sign with distances back to Helmsley and ahead to Filey makes me smile with it's added missing L. 75 miles done, 37 to go!
More farming action (I got a wave from this farmer!) and the path begins it's descent down a wooded slope on steeply-pitched stairs.
Once down all the stairs the route goes along the old trackbed of a disused railway, through a cutting and along an embankment, passing an old Alum workings at Sandsend Ness. After another short wooded section the path takes steps down into a car park below the old station site. I then follow the road into Sandsend passing a cluster of older looking cottages on my right.
Sandsend has some surprisingly characterful properties and a stunning sandy beach, I walk along the A174 looking for Clara in the parking spaces, dump my rucksack and poles and stop at the ice-cream van to buy Magnums on the way to find Steve reading on the beach. Magnums consumed it is time for a second sea dip of the day. This time the sea is a little rougher! Lovely to finish the days walking with a refreshing dip!
