Thursday 16th April 1998

The long walk across the Vale of Mowbray is the least loved section of the walk. It is flat and mostly  uninteresting countryside with large amounts of road walking.

Route: Richmond to Ingleby Arncliffe via Bolton-on -Swale, Streetlam, Danby Whiske

Distance: 23 Miles

Difficulty: Strenuous due to the distance otherwise easy walking on clear tracks, field paths and metalled roads.

Facilities - Limited: Various B&B’s in and around Ingleby Arncliffe and nearby Ingleby Cross. Also there is a pub, The Blue Bell that serves food and provides accommodation in Ingleby Cross. I stayed with in a B&B in Ingleby Arncliffe called Elstavale which was very comfortable. 

Day Nine

I left Richmond early in glorious sunshine stopping briefly as I passed the River Swale to take a photograph. I had a long march ahead of me over the least interesting section of the whole route, the flat Vale of Mowbray to the Cleveland Hills and the start of the North York Moors. I set off in good spirits, as this was by far the best weather of the trip to date. As I knew it would be fairly tedious walking and I had over twenty miles to walk, I approached it mentally as I had a number of challenge walks I had taken part in where you are given a set of route instructions and a time limit. I had walked up to thirty miles in one day on some of these walks which I hoped would be good training for the day ahead. The walking did indeed turn out to be largely un-memorable as I crossed fields and country lanes arriving eventually at the churchyard at Bolton on Swale. This added some interest to the days walk as the churchyard contained the grave of Henry Jenkins reputed to have been Britains oldest man at 169 years of age when he died. Carrying on I crossed more fields before arriving at the start of a long eight-mile stretch of tarmac. As I marched along, the sun shone brightly and with the roads almost totally traffic free I found that I was actually enjoying myself. Okay, I didn’t have any breathtaking scenery to grab my attention but just being able to walk in warm sunshine with no-one else around in quiet countryside was compensation enough for the ordinariness of the terrain. I was making very good time when I reached the village of Streetlam and finally left the tarmac via a stile into a paddock containing a horse. I patted the horse as I passed and began climbing the stile at the other side of the paddock. As I was about to step down on the opposite side I had the strange sensation of suddenly going in a reverse direction. Feeling slightly bemused I turned to find that the horse had ‘pulled’ me back off of the stile by biting down on my rucksack. It was now moving toward me again so I waved my arms around in the air and began shouting at it which startled it and caused it to back away. This gave me a few seconds to climb the stile for the second time and this time I managed to get across. Turning, I saw that the horse was now looking over the fence at me and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as carried on across the field. (Pictured:The Swale from Richmond Castle)

Soon, I was back on tarmac once more and as I rounded a corner into Danby Whiske, was confronted with the very welcoming sight of the White Swan pub. As a rule I don't drink during a walk but this was such a beautiful day that I succumbed to temptation and entered the bar. A bell signalled my arrival, which was necessary, as the bar was totally deserted. After a minute or so a barmaid appeared and I ordered a drink and a sandwich. It appeared that the pub was a regular halt for CTC walkers as there were various 'souvenir' items on sale behind the bar such as CTC hats and T-shirts. A barman appeared with my sandwich and as we began chatting about the walk the barmaid joined us. They were obviously used to serving CTC walkers as when I asked if they still had a copy of the visitors book signed by Wainwright and in a matter of fact way the barmaid pulled a photocopy of the relevant page from behind the till. After reading this I handed it back whereupon she suddenly asked me if I had had any problems with a horse in Streetlam. Surprised, I said that I had and she then proceeded to produce a petition from under the bar. Apparently, the same horse had troubled numerous walkers and a few had been frightened by it. Although it hadn't really bothered me, it seemed reasonable that it shouldn't be in a field crossed by members of the public so I signed it. After finishing my lunch, I bade the pub owners farewell and set off once more noting that the pub sign bore the legend, 'Robin Hoods Bay 60 miles'. Not far to go now, I thought The weather was still fine and I marched along the roads and tracks feeling in fine form reaching my guesthouse at 4pm only to find nobody at home. This was a little worrying as the weather had taken a turn for the worse in the final few miles and the first spots of rain were falling as I reached Ingleby Arncliffe. I didn't have to wait long however before a lady came up the drive apologising profusely saying that she hadn't expected me so early. I had taken eight hours to walk the 22 miles with an hour's stop in Danby Whiske. Tomorrow it would be back into the hills followed by the last National Park of the trip, the North York Moors.