scarth more

Day 13 complete! A 22km stroll up and out of Ingleby Cross and then some more up and overs x4 till we hit Clay Bank Top!

The morning started with a lovely breakfast at the Ingleby House Farm BnB. The fruit salad was epic, the company included a couple from New York doing the Coast to Coast and the coffee and tea were piping hot. Perfect.

After thanking our host (and Shar saying good bye to their dog, Socks) we were on our way. First through the small village of Ingleby Cross on some quiet hamlet roads and a quick stop at the local church to see if we could find more of those wooden church mice carvings.

Too bad, the church was locked up so we took a peek in the windows (spotting the purple pew boxes we had read about in the guidebook – bold colour choice) and got back to the task for the day – walk, walk, walk.

Pretty quickly we were in the trees, and the incline was starting to lean up. A mix of packed path, gravel track and some stone steps and slabs had us up and over the valley in no time at all.

At the top, we were rewarded with views of the path ahead and our first glimpse of our ultimate destination the North Sea in the distance. Crazy to think we are so close now! Hard to see in the photo but there looked to bit a bit of a rainbow across the horizon above the sea ahead – a good sign.

Right near the top of this first climb, the Coast to Coast meets up with the Cleveland Way (another walk on our list to do one day) and we would actually remain with the Cleveland all day. At this point the path gets a little confusing though with so many signs, and we made a wrong turn to get to the right detour!

In my defense, I may have been distracted by the googley eyes someone put on the National Path acorn symbol. I am a sucker for googlies!

A local lady walking her dog told us about the Our Lady’s Chapel just off the path. The origins of this Chapel are interesting but best I can make out it was stood up in the 1300s, is still a working Chapel and still welcomes pilgrims to stay. It was very secluded, the smallest we have see yet but no less beautiful. The stone work!

I had a chance to check the map to guidebook and found out where I went wrong, and a quick way to get us back on tracking using one of the many public footpaths all over the hills.

We made quick work of it and even had another walker (doing the Cleveland Way and the guy we now call Sticks) follow us back to the path as we had all done a little happy detour. We would see Sticks a few more times today as we traded places on the path.

Soon we were on our way to the next big climb of the day across the Scarth Wood Moor. This was a fantastic section of the path – wide open, with huge views of the surrounding rolling country side. The path was a mix of packed sand stone or mill stone slabs. Easy waking!

Leaving Scarth Moor we then hit Clain Wood and made our way back up and up into the forest (and a micro break) before dipping back down for a short time on the road and then again back up and up into the trees again for our next climb of the day over Knolls End via what I think is the Carlton Moor. There are a lot of Moors!

We read that this are has the highest density of Heather growing and one look confirms that. Only some of the Heather was in bloom (an amazing purple) and I can only imagine how beautiful it is when it’s all in bloom. Wow!

We stayed on top of this ridge for a little while enjoying the amazing views as we walked, but soon enough the steep, stone descent was upon us and we made our way down, down and down to both get out of the wind and find our lunch break picnic spot. We were at 13km by now and feeling ready for some fuel.

Over lunch we strategized the rest of our day. Confirming our anticipated pace so I could check in with Ray the private car hire giving us a ride from the trail to our hotel (and back again in the morning) and approach to the next climbs. There are a couple of alternative paths for the next climbs – so we decided to split and do all the routes!

Shar would go up and over (she is a Summit Seeker!) and we would do the shoulder approach around the peaks. We set meeting points after them both as the paths came back together each time to check in. Perfect!

Off Shar went. Some highlights..

Off Dad, Hai and B went. Some highlights …

At about 345pm, right around when planned, we met at the Clay Bank Top. This is literally a car park with a picnic table that people use to access all the many trails in the area.

We had pre arranged to meet our driver here at 5pm (but he confirmed he could come early at 430pm) so we had some post hike snacks at the picnic table to pass the time.

Ray our private car hire was very efficient getting us about 30mins to our stay for the night at the Fox and Hound in Slapewath. A bit of a drive (with some tight hair bending turns for these Canadians) but it’s been a great stay.

We arrived just after 5pm to a fantastic welcome, clean rooms and after some showers enjoyed a pint outside and dinner.

For those with only a wee bit of time…

Date: Saturday June 28 2025
Trail: Coast to Coast Path, England
Day: 13 of 17
To/From: Ingleby Cross to Clay Bank Top
Start/Finish time: 845am / 4pm
Distance: 21.4km (Hiiker)
Steps: 29,948
Terrain: forest track, a few fields, rocky paths, stone steps and slabs
Weather: 22C with a mix of cloudy and sunny skies, nice breeze with gust on top of the ridges
Breaky: amazing fruit salad, and full English at Ingleby House Farm BnB
Lunch n Snacks: pre packed lunch from Ingleby House Farm BnB with crisps, fruits, strawberries, cookies
Dinner: vegetable lasagna at the Fox and Hound Pub in Slapewath
Tonight’s home away from home: Fox and Hound Hotel in Slapewath (transported to/from by Ray’s Personal Car Service arranged by Contours Walking Compani)
Mood: fantastic!
Body: feeling good. Bill, Bob, Edna and Irene (my blisters) understand the house rules now and are being a little less rambunctious
Highlight: walking in forests again!
Lowlight: horseflies!
Deep thoughts: you don’t what you are missing, if you miss it