Robin Hoods Bay - Splodge Splodge Splodge !

Sitting at home on Friday, checking the weather, everywhere was forecast rain and wind for the coming weekend apart from a small window of opportunity on the East Coast around Whitby so after work on Friday we packed up Bob (our lovely little camper van) and headed East.  A spot of wild camping on Friday night was just the ticket close to where the planned walk started and all would be good.

The walk we had planned was a section of the Cleveland Way from Robin Hoods Bay down to Scarborough.  We would set out to walk the whole section but cut it short if time or the weather held us back and if we made it the whole way we'd get the bus back after some seaside fish and chips of course.

We arrived finally at Robin Hoods Bay around 10pm and we didn't fancy waiting 45 mins for the moussaka I had bought for dinner to cook so we just nibbled on some crackers on cheese, popped the roof and settled down for the night.  We stayed in the Old Station Car Park, free in the winter and an ideal spot for tomorrows walk.

Saturday dawned with the sound of the wind whipping up outside and the rain gently pattering against the windows. The forecast was wrong, no dry calm weather here!  Never the less we got dressed in our waterproof coats, walking boots and ventured out.  It actually wasn't too bad once we got outside and made the decision to give it a go, weather or not.  So off we set.

Robin Hoods Bay is a lovely little village with views out to the sea and quirky little shops and cafes.  No time to stop this morning as we feared the weather would turn worse so we set off along the Cleveland Way towards Ravenscar and then perhaps onto Scarborough.  Scarborough was about 17 miles so even at this early hour we knew that would be a big ask today but we'd see how far we could get.

The Cleveland Way is a fantastic path and we'd walked several sections of it before but today it was what can only be described as a mud bath.  At first we danced precariously round the worse sections of the mud but a few miles in we couldn't avoid it any more and just plodded through.

Passing walkers coming the other way warned us of the mud up ahead and we in turn could warn them of the mud behind.

When we reached Ravenscar we decided that this was our limit for the day.  We'd gone 5 miles or so and had the choice of walking further in a decidedly unsettled day with the prospect of more mud or we could walk back along the Cinder Track which was the old railway line.  This seemed the better option so after a quick cuppa in the National Trust shop we headed back.

It was a great walk back, we saw a few of those fellow walkers we'd passed on the lower path through the mud earlier in the day and there were plenty of photo opportunities with all the lovely little bridges that we walked under.

5 miles later we were back at Bob, caked in mud but happy to have had a good brisk even if incredibly muddy walk.  Deciding not to stay another night and the prospect of a good shower had us heading for home mid afternoon.  The delight on the drive home was the sunset.  A display of magnificent reds and purples deepening by the minute till all was black.  Beautiful.

I love the Cleveland Way with the path running right on the coastline by the sea and that neck of the woods is an area I really love so of course, we'll be back and perhaps the next time we'll get that 17 miles covered all the way to Scarborough.