Day 13 Ingleby Cross to Clay Bank

Day 13 pictures
Today we start the the climb over the Cleveland Hill to the North Yorkshire Dales.
It's our first climbing day for a while and I wonder if we are going to be to be happy with this.
It's all a bit complicated getting us all to our various starting points. You may recall there are eleven of us staying at the B and B and each group is starting at a different point.
Dave sorts us all out and we get away walking about 9.15AM and it's all uphill, for about 45 minutes at least.

The Vale of Mowbray looking west

The rewards are great view over the Vale of Mowbray, the valley we have transitted the last few days.
It's then along the escarpment that forms the Cleveland hills, initially through forest then into open moor land.
At this point we also get our first view of the North Sea, over the top of a very industrial city which I mistake for Newcastle.
It is in fact Middlesborough.
The day is really a series of quite fierce climbs followed by some equally fierce downs.
The ups produce some great views to the north and show the true tapestry of the English farming.
The pockets of fields with the stone wall divider or the hedgerow.
Then the little villages are all over the place and often quite close to each other.
It really quite remarkable and very pretty.
Morning tea is under some trees in dappled shade and lunch is at a cafe and cake shop where we order a hot chocolate and a cake, along with the lunch we have also bought. The appearance of a peacock and pea hens just adds to the effect and it's all very civilised. That is until it's an off, and more of the ascents and descents.
There quite vast numbers of walkers and we pass and are passed by more walkers then we have seen along the way over the past two weeks.

The Wain (sic) Stones

The final climb of the day takes is past the poorly spelled Wain Stones, a wall of stone we need to circuit around. Then more moor and a knee crunching descent AGAIN to our finishing point Clay Bank.
It's then a call to David to come and get us, which he does in due course, over two trips, as five people in to his Mercedes doesn't work.
Four more walkers are picked up later and two are from Ballarat, so Aussie rules, for the time being at least.
Back to the pub again and a very nice pasta with lots of spice-YES!!.
Arrienne, Peter and I decide to walk back to the B and B, as David is still taking people too and fro.
It's quite pleasant and the walk is over in 15 minutes.
You will note there has been little if any mention of the weather. That's because it was sunny most of the day and the wind, whilst still strong. was manageable.
And there's more tomorrow.