Thats a wrap, thanks a bunch

Just a closing remark to say thanks to everyone. As well as those who donated around £1200 online (see them listed at the justgiving site), there are also many kind folk who stumped up cheques and cash. I include here: Anthea & David Goldie, Vickie and Richard Patchett, Brian and Pat Rasche, Kristian Cann, John Collett, Layla Firth, John and Jean Anderson, Bill and Judith Harrison, Ricky & Bev Logan, Roger & Elsie Tiffany, and anyone else I may have temporarily forgotten. With their help, I have been able to round up the sum to £1500.

And thanks to those who I met en route. I hope our paths cross again.

Kit

Sponsorship beyond the call of duty for the jelly baby army

I must say a special word to John Twitchen, boss of Sauce Consultancy. He sponsored each one of the poor little jelly babies who laid down their wobbly little lives to sustain me on my journey, for £1 per blobby body. That's £134 in all - many thanks John.

Post script

I ought to have mentioned, day 7 was a delight - few hills across around 27 miles, totally beautiful. Go to the North York Moors for your holidays.

At 4 pm on August 11 I jogged down into Robin Hoods Bay and saw the most welcome sight of the week - daughter Marianne with car at the water's edge; meaning I did not need to walk up the ridiculously steep windy hill out of the Bay to the car park.

Back to Draughton by 7 pm, and all's well with the world.

Update - that's all folks!

COAST TO COAST

• Six days and eight hours
• One third of a million paces
• 192 miles (actually >200 with tides and track mistakes)
• 40 litres of water
• 134 jelly babies (perhaps)
• 35,000 calories expended
• 20,000 calories consumed
• 15,000 calories-worth of wobbly bits removed or changed to hard bits (hopefully)
• not overtaken by a single person
• £750 raised online (so far)
• >£1,000 in all (more to come)
  

Thanks to everyone who emailed, texted, blogged, donated, phoned, wrote, stopped to chat, arranged for the sunshine, offered food and water, and wished me well.

What's next?

Love to all,

Kit xx

There's the Abbey!

-- Post From My iPhone

And there's Whitby Abbey

But even though the end is in sight, Wainwright is insisting I travel several extra miles. 33% gradient is as steep as I've seen all week!




-- Post From My iPhone

Ooooooohhhh!

Coming out of Grosmont (home of North York Moors Railway, see pic), ican smell then see the shiney sea.




-- Post From My iPhone

Good work combo

Joiners and funeral directors - good blend in Glaisdale!


-- Post From My iPhone

Mapping

Leaving Glaisdale is exciting because it means turning to the final page of the map, which shows the North Sea. I'm using Harvey maps, which break the CTC into 12 horizontal slices. This is now page 12 and there is only 15 miles to go.


-- Post From My iPhone

Glaisdale success

Vicky the veggie butcher was in and I was able to give her the phone to speak to Layla. Both well. No cafe, so on towards Grosmont.




-- Post From My iPhone

Up on top

It's 10 am and I'm sitting down for a breakfast of four jelly babies (2 red ones) and a litre of Lion Inn natural spring water. I set off too early for the full English and am hoping for calories in Glaisdale. I'm burning around 4000 of these a day and get quite peckish. Last night's dinner was huge- enough to satisfy even the appetite of legendary Embsay Ed. I just absorbed it like an amoeba at the end of Lent.


-- Post From My iPhone

23 miles left

Day 7 beckons and about 170 miles under my belt. Next stop will be Glaisdale, for Layla (mother-in-law) says that her husband's brother's wife's daughter (!) Vicky and her husband run the butcher's in Glaisdale. So I'll check out the bacon.






-- Post From My iPhone

Nearly there

I am now sitting in the smug at the Lion Inn at Blakey, oddly with a pint of Skipton Brewery's Golden Pippin. It feels a long way from home but the publican tells me I'm only 40 miles from home.

The area is inspiring, endless miles of wild moorland, heather and stones and peat - which I love - and stupid sheep, which I realise I dislike. A few miles of the route run on the raised bed of the Rosedal Railway, closed for nearly a century. A great route for a view of everything.




-- Post From My iPhone

A few images of the North York Moors

-- Post From My iPhone

Here's purple, for Kathie

Start wearing purple.


-- Post From My iPhone

Smell the piney wood

Here's where C2C meets Cleveland Way and Lyke Wake walk.



-- Post From My iPhone

An honesty box system

Here's a good business. This lady, Jean, has installed an outdoor fridge and kettle. She stocks sandwiches, drinks all self-service and she's never been ripped off. That'd honest coast to coasters for you.


-- Post From My iPhone

Nice accommodation

-- Post From My iPhone

Crossing the dangerous railway line

-- Post From My iPhone

Goodness, I'm nearly in Darlington!

-- Post From My iPhone

A1 and alls A1

Just crossed under the A1, no probs but v noisy! Today's a level run, some would say boring but my legs say thanks. Richmond was great, a fine hotel, excellent food and Jules kindly walked the first few miles on the journey East from Richmond.







-- Post From My iPhone

Lessons learned

Nearly halfway, so time to share some important insights.

Contours close up don't mean things are nearer, just very steep.
Masculine chafing needs a lot more research, plus Lanacane stings (that's the stuff that lets fat balloon folk dance without their thighs squeaking). Also, don't apply this in the presence of others; easy to misunderstand.
Don't forget when travelling west to east to sunblock the back of your ears.

That's it for a bit. Tomorrow I am off to Richmond. 33 more miles but luxury awaits. Also, Jules is bringing more trainers. More soon.


-- Post From My iPhone

Status report

Pretty pictures

Kirkby Stephen

That wasn't brilliant! The views of course were flawless but with the extra miles needed to get to & from the hostel I think I virtually did 40 miles; too much by half. The end of the Lakes was eventually welcome (by my.legs), even the route round Haweswater was totally not level, and being a body of water it jolly well should be. I got to Shap Abbey and was horrified to see how much further it was to Shap. The leg to K/S was relatively smooth, but by then my pins were shot. 12 hours on the go.




-- Post From My iPhone

Kidsty Pike

This is the last of Lakeland, the view over Haweswater from Kidsty Pike. That's 52 miles down and 140 to go.



-- Post From My iPhone

Heading for Angle Tarn and Kidsty Pike

This is a terrific view. There's Ullswater and Helvellyn across Patterdale. Hot work on the climb.


-- Post From My iPhone

Patterdale and the sun keeps shining

I arrived into Patterdale last night to realise my accommodation was in Glenridding - 2 miles away, and that Helvellyn YHA was a further mile towards the big hill. This and the retun jouney in the morning, to get back on the C2C must take the whole trip over 200 miles. Anyway, here is Patterdale, it is a delight.




-- Post From My iPhone

Day 2

Between Rosthwaite and Grasmere.


-- Post From My iPhone

Still alive, nicely roasted

A cracking route from Rosthwaite in Borrowdale over the top to Grasmere.
Interesting use of limestone for walls and slate for gateposts.



-- Post From My iPhone

Ennerdale looking back

This has to be one of the most pleasant scenes anywhere.


Below, the field of drumlins - sort of glacial moguls. It is windy but baking. This was yesterday, when there was no service.


-- Post From My iPhone

Brief update

I got to Borrowdale YHA at 6 pm and my legs don't know what day it is. 29 miles is a long way. I learned a number of other things:

• don't distrust Wainwright - just because a route looks like a long way round something, it isn't.
• don't bother with the slate mining museum, unless you really, really like slate and don't mind being ripped off for micro-cartons of juice
• it does get baking hot in Cumbria

More when I get O2 service on my phone or wifi access, maybe tomorrow. If my legs work when I come to get in the morning. Only 17 miles for tomorrow's leg, but it is very hilly. On to Helvellyn.

Past Cleator and almost atop Dent

Completely sunny and I have yet to see a soul. Here's the view looking back to the sea.




-- Post From My iPhone

August 5 and the tide's out

Low tide has just added almost a mile to my journey, which is now underway. Here's the Irish Sea.


-- Post From My iPhone

St Bees - so far, so good

Farmhouse B&B is splendid - my athlete's training regime continues; fish & chips with local Jennings beer. It helps assuage the rising feeling of huge distances- even the Lakeland mountains seem miles away. Hmmm, maybe more beer needed. Early start ahead for day 1.



Above, St Bees. Below, St Beca.




-- Post From My iPhone

And they're off!

Right. With thanks to Malcolm & Margaret, Jean & John, Brian & Pat and Chris & Helen for their pledges of support for WWF this morning, I am off to catch the train from Skipton to St Bees via Carnforth (home of "Brief Encounter").

Thanks too to Pete Scholes, CEO of that excellent group of experts Urban Mines, who is supporting and spreading the word.

Off we go.

The Week's reading materials

1. Coast-to-coast: A Wainwright, thanks to AW

1. The Tipping Point: Malcolm Gladwell, thanks to Phil Downing

1. A most wanted man: John le Carre, thanks to Roger Strange

JB and AW are coming too

Great news, wasting valuable time today which would have been better spent working, I have managed to capture the Julia Bradbury Coast to Coast DVD onto iTunes and there into the iPhone. It took hours but now I can revise each leg of the journey before setting off. Those sweeping panoramic helicopter shots are inspiring and should keep the legs going.

Some lucky folk

A small group of people are getting automatic copies of every blog, without having to do the hard work and click to see this blog. They get emails with every blog. Let me know if you would too.

Thanks to Sue for the link to Mountain Weather Information Service - apparently both accurate and precise.

Here is the forecast for the Cumbrian Fells on Day 1

1. Headline Blustery, but fine with patchwork of sun. General haze.
2. How Windy? - South or southwesterly, 25mph. Will ease to 20 or perhaps 15mph through afternoon and evening.
3. Effect Of Wind? - Will impede steady walking on higher areas before easing
4. How Wet? - Rain unlikely
5. Cloud on the hills? Clearing the fells, cloud on higher fells mid-morning will very likely all clear.
6. Chance of cloud free Munros? 90%
7. Sunshine and air clarity? Periods of sun and good visibility.
8. How Cold? 750m: 10 to 12C.
9. Freezing level - Above summits

Looking fair to good...

Here is the word from the Met Office (click on the image to see the sun shine).

A step too far?

Chris Hamlin, Draughton cricket tsar, and Helen, queen of shabby chic offer kind sponsorship but only on condition I burn my lovely technicolour shorts. Surely some mistake?

Local news alert!

You read it first in the Craven Herald - voice of the Dales.

click on image to read

Two days left, no time for training

Squash matches over the weekend is the only training within the final week. An article in the local paper (Craven Herald, established 1853) has elicited a pleasant wave of sponsorship and pledges. With more than £500 donated online by lovely folk, things are going well. With two T-shirts delivered by Jules, I am well turned out and the weather forecast (so far) looks excellent. Keswick and the Lakes promise sun on Wednesday. Sunny intervals, maximum temperature 18 degrees and sunrise at 5.30 am.

My Walshes (fell running shoes) are re-laced and ready.

Pause here to reflect on the marvel that are Walshes:

Great Britain’s Walsh Sports began tinkering with trail running shoes more than 30 years ago.

In a small town in Northern England, many years ago, the Walsh running shoe was born and slowly evolved into one of the great legendary running shoes of the world! This unique shoe is synonymous with the local sport of fell running and fell racing. (The word ‘fell’ means hill).

Norman Walsh’s handiwork is known by competitive trail and mountain runners worldwide. After all, he’s probably the closest thing there is to being the father of specialized trail running shoes.

Norman was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1931. He started work for Foster Brothers Shoes in his hometown in 1945. While working as an apprentice shoemaker, he was asked to make sprinting shoes for the 1948 Olympic Games in London. During the late 1950’s, Norman worked closely with the Foster Brothers’ grandsons, Jeff and Joe. These two branched away from the family business and formed Reebok (but that’s another story!). Norman also went his own way.

In 1961, he formed his own company, Norman Walsh Footwear . He became known for excellent, hand sewn, quality rugby boots-Rugby high and Rugby low. He produced about 30 pair a week, which sold rapidly. “None were made for the shelf”, recalls Norman, “I was working 80 hours a week”. He continued in high quality leather manufacturing until the early 1970’s.

At that time, he teamed up with legendary Lake District fell runner Pete Bland. Over the next five years, they designed and developed their own version of a fell running shoe. One of their early designs had soft black leather uppers and a light chocolate brown wavy- patterned sole. It became the approach shoe for many British rock climbers. Its designed purpose was as an “all round training shoe”. In those days there were very few, if any, shoes bearing that label (description). “I remember doing a custom made size 14 UK trainer. Now that’s big. We simply used a wooden extension onto our largest shoe last” said Norman.

No room for second thoughts

With seven days to the starting gun I am becoming nervous. Timid about playing squash in case to twist something, or what about piggy flu? So many risks out there. Then I watched Julia Bradbury striding out across the Lake District and I can see risks everywhere!! Sponsorship is going well, WWF are almost £500 better off, with the most recent and exceeding generous donation made by veteran (her words, not mine) environmentalist Julia Hailes (right - stolen blatantly without her permission from her website!). Author of The New Green Consumer Guide, a bible for modern living, Julia's support is welcome - and so is yours!

One week to go........

One week left - everything is now in hand. I have bought up most of the pharmaceutical stock at Boots and am ready to go. With Gift Aid (tax-friendly charitable giving), friends and colleagues have so far raised around £350, still a way to go for the £2,500 total but I'm confident that even in the teeth of a recession this is do-able.

Don't forget, 10 pm tonight on BBC2 you can see the Julia Bradbury 2nd stage of the C2C.

A week to go.......

Just about a week to go, and look at how many lovely people have supported the cause. £250 + another £60 in Gift Aid; well over ten per cent of the way tot he £2,500 target for WWF.
Thanks to everyone.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast - 1. Gateway to the Lakes TV programme

BBC iPlayer - watch this episode for another couple of days - then remember to watch BBC2 Tuesday evening 2200 for the next five weeks.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast - 1. Gateway to the Lakes

Julia Bradbury follows in the footsteps of legendary guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright by walking across the whole of northern England from the west to the east coast.

This was Wainwright's last great venture and has become his greatest legacy - a beautifully simple proposition, linking three national parks that lie between the Irish and the North Sea.

36 years after its creation, Julia is off, through sunshine, wind and rain to cross the changing landscape, understand the history and meet the people that make up almost 200 miles of northern England.

Enthusiasm and expectation are high as Julia begins her grand adventure at the western extremity of northern England, St Bees Head. The coast of west Cumbria is an oft-forgotten industrial strip lying just outside the Lake District, but as Julia reaches the doorway to Wainwright's favourite playground, the weather deteriorates quickly, leaving her no choice but to tackle her first Lakeland valley in appalling conditions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jqp0m/Wainwright_Walks_Coast_to_Coast_Gateway_to_the_Lakes/

Lakeland horses

-- Post From My iPhone

Sponsor #1 - thanks to Reid Lifset

Excellent news - the sponsorship drive is now underway. Hearty thanks to Reid Lifset for getting the ball rolling. Reid is editor of the prestigious and interesting Journal of Industrial Ecology, and he is based at the School of Forestry/Environmental Studies at Yale University in America.

Well done, Reid.

EVERYTHING ARRANGED - StB to RHB IN 7 DAYS OR BUST

The accommodation, the route, the baggage, the charity links - everything is now in place.

August 5 is when this starts, and hopes are high for a dip in the North Sea on August 11.

Sponsorship sorted - support WWF for a better world!

OK, those nice folks at WWF-UK would like some money, and the way to give it is via

http://www.justgiving.com/CoastToCoastGumpathon/

I hope to raise £2,500 for this most worthy of causes, and it is one of the two charities Kathie (daughter) and Ed (fiance) - see photo above - have favoured for their wedding (October 2, 2009) beneficiaries, instead of the more traditional call for presents. Well done, the pair of them.

2 days, 2 weeks or longer?

So the C2C can be done in a couple of days (see below), but here is a more normal itinerary, this one offered by one holiday company at:

http://www.mtsobek.com/mts/ECC

Walking England Coast-to-Coast

• Day 1 - Meet in Penrith, England, and transfer to St. Bees, a historic town dating from A.D. 650.
• Days 2-6 - Begin the hike, heading inland along the lakes and fells of the Lake District. Pass through Grasmere, Patterdale Valley, Lake Ullswater, and Kidsty Pike, at 2,558 feet the highest point of the walk.
• Days 7-11 - Cross a limestone plateau interspersed with ancient stone circles, burial mounds, and prehistoric settlements. Continue through the Pennine Chain and the scenic Yorkshire Dales National Park, where little stone built villages nestle by streams on the valley floors.
• Days 12-14 - Traverse the North Yorkshire Moors National Park past the Cleveland Hills, the scarp cliffs of Hasty Bank, and on through Glaisdale High Moor to Glaisdale and the river Esk.
• Days 15-16 - End the hike at Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea, with a welcome ritual bathing of the feet! Depart on Day 16.

The Coast to Coast, according to Wikipedia

The Coast to Coast, according to Wikipedia:

The Coast to Coast Walk is a 192-mile (according to a recent re-measuring the real distance is almost 220 miles) unofficial and mostly unsignposted long distance footpath in Northern England. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park.

Wainwright recommends that walkers dip their booted feet in the Irish Sea at St Bees and, at the end of the walk, dip their naked feet in the North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay.

In 1991, the route was run in 39 hours 36 minutes and 52 seconds by Mike Hartley, setting a new record, beating the previous record set in 1985 by Mike Cudahy who completed it in 46 hours 49 minutes.

Biting off more than one can chew?

I have yet to meet anyone who thinks it is possible to do this in one week. Even sensible folk consider it wildly optimistic. Maybe I need to re-assess the situation, though all the accommodation and baggage transfers are booked.

Read the book

A Coast to Coast Walk - Book Following the re-issue of the original seven books covering the Fells region, Frances Lincoln has published a revised edition of A Coast to Coast Walk by A Wainwright.

http://www.stridingedge.com/catalogue/coast_to_coast.html

Buy the movie

Beautifully simple, beautifully defined and providing a complete spectrum of northern England. Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk is 190 miles that have become one of the classic long-distance challenges of the British Isles - a challenge that now faces Julia Bradbury.

http://www.bbcshop.com/Travel/Wainwrights-Coast-to-Coast-DVD/invt/av9676

Someone else has been there already

Here is a nice diary of a recent trip by someone called Bill and his friends. Lots of pictures spread out over their journey.

http://www.billh.demon.co.uk/c2c/introduction.html

They wisely took 16 days, which makes me feel less certain of knocking it off in a week.

The route

Here is the route, courtesy of SherpaVan's planner. Click on it for a big, legible version.

long long range weather

Metcheck claims to link to a 30 day weather forecast. Who can believe that? Anyway, for what its worth, August 5, 2009 looks fair (12-14 degrees C) oddly with winds of 142 mph.

The 1935 Florida Keys Hurricane and Hurricane Andrew (1992) had the strongest winds to affect Florida since at least 1900. During Andrew the Fowey Rocks automated buoy (off shore) reported sustained winds of 142-mph, until it was destroyed. So I'm hoping that the forecast is wrong.

Baggage transfers - a result

OK. Its clear. Packhorse is a better service than Sherpavan for the transfers, for me. Packhorse charge a flat-rate per stage for a 20 kg bag (£6.45) ragardless of distance between stops. Sherpavan want to charge double because I am travelling so fast (not my words), and therefore so far between stops.

So Packhorse gets my vote. T/F: +44 (0)17683 71777. enquiries@c2cpackhorse.co.uk

For those not stopping on the eve of setting off, for £2 you can drop your baggage with Carole Smith at Stonehouse Farm (Main Street - St Bees - Cumbria - CA27 0DE. T: 01946 822 224 )

For those not stopping in Robin Hood's Bay on the night of arrival, you can collect your bags from Bay Taxis (Thorpe Lane Robin Hoods Bay YO22 4RN T: 01947 880603).

Accommodation plans

Anyone fancy joining me for a pie & pint along the way, my overnights should unfold like this:

1. August 4 Tuesday St Bees [Stonehouse Farm] ready for early start August 5, 2009
   
2. August 5 Wednesday Borrowdale [YHA]
3. August 6 Thursday Helvellyn [YHA]
4. August 7 Kirkby Stephen [YHA]
5. August 8 Richmond [The Frenchgate - unbelievably smart]
6. August 9 Osmotherley [Golden Lion]
7. August 10 Blakey Glaisdale [Lion Inn - highest point in the N Yorks moors - allegedly]
8. August 11 Robin Hoods Bay [None needed - head for home; thanks Marianne]

I already have plans for August 8 in Richmond, so you can forget that one. Otherwise, all welcome.

Sherpas and mules

Coast to Coast Packhorse looks to offer a neat, possibly cheaper way of moving your baggage around the place. Check out http://www.c2cpackhorse.co.uk