Day 6: Ingleby Cross to Great Broughton — Cheaters Don’t Always Lose

There was a chill in the air when I emerged from my digs at Ingleby House Farm for breakfast. I did not sleep well having been haunted by ghosts much like Ebenezer Scrooge’s “bit of undigested beef” which, in my case, was pork from the Blue Bell Inn. I was knackered as I ambled over the gravel path to the main house to have breakfast. Once there, I downsized my preordered breakfast to eliminate the bacon lest it compound my ills. I was soon joined by Jeff from Florida and his friend Liza (pronounced LEE’ZA) from Tennessee whom I had encountered anonymously and briefly a couple of times along the way. It soon became clear that those two had already begun to conspire a work-around to shorten the rest of their C2C. I offered a supplemental option. Take an Uber to Lordstones Country Park to eliminate two of the four climbs scheduled for today. They readily agreed. And so, at 10AM we climbed into Shezad’s Prius and took the 12-minute drive to the park where we first took advantage of the amenities offered of scones and coffee.

Departing the car park at Lordstones, I parted company with Jeff and Liza so that I could resume my preferred solitary mode.  After crossing over Cringle Moor, I opted to follow the route around the remaining peaks that Mike and I had followed in 2023. I have no regrets and the three of us arrived at the prescribed car park meeting placed before 2PM.

I will repeat here my glowing reviews from 2023 of this segment of the path and of the views that one has from the highest points. The vistas seem endless with rectangular farm fields reaching the horizon. Many of the fields were a bright yellow color that a local told me was grapeseed and that the color will be gone in ten days’ time. (I have doubts about this story because I understood grapeseed oil to have been extracted from – ready for it? – the seeds of grapes. Whatever the case, the color is memorable.)

Happily the weather was dry and there was nary a rain drop to be seen or felt beneath the cloudy sky. The wind was also virtually non-existent so Mother Nature cooperated. I also have unbridled admiration for the people of England for having the political will to create and to maintain these paths as part of  the national trail scheme. I crossed paths with a dozen or so locals who were walking dogs or running up and down the paths. Today’s portion of the C2C tracks with the Cleveland Way, an older national trail, that is set with paving stones throughout. So my passage, even in the steepest areas, was relatively safe. But the steeps, especially the downs, require rapt attention to each step because taking a header here could be disastrous!

While I admit to being a “cheater” by skipping the beginning of today’s prescribed route, I will also claim the privilege and wisdom of age. Privilege because it just is. I’m 76 years old. Wisdom because it is better to be safe than sorry when starting out on less than five hours of sleep.

Our old friend Socks from Ingleby House Farm

I

So

Me with “grapeseed” in the background

(photo courtesy of a nice English couple)

The steeps go up……..

Crossroads

…. and steeps go down. A look back at terrain just traveled.

Jeff and Dennis at the end of the trail