C-Walking: Slapewath Slither and Sliver

This is the second recent SRC walking expedition that has finished at Slapewath. Previously, in September, we walked up the coast from Loftus (see here for details). Today's route started in the village of Great Ayton and took us through Newton Wood to Roseberry Common and along the Cleveland Way (CW) to the Fox and Hounds Inn in Slapewath where we had a cooked meal.

Our coach dropped us off near the centre of Great Ayton {NZ 559 107} at about 10.15 am. There were 25 people in the group. PB led the walk. From the drop-off point we walked in an easterly direction towards the statue of James Cook (see picture below) and then made our way to a public footpath at {NZ 563 108} at the east-end of the village.


Our footpath took us in a north-easterly direction across the fields to the railway crossing at {NZ 571 112}. From here we climbed up to Rye Hill to meet a path junction at the southern edge of Cliff Ridge Wood {NZ 574 114}. Turning left, we now made our way through the wood on a north-westerly bearing until we reached a track at {NZ 568 118}. We turned right here and made our way uphill through Newton Wood {NZ 575 121} in the direction of Roseberry Topping.

Keeping the hill on our right, we skirted around Roseberry Topping in order to reach Roseberry Common {NZ 582 128}. From here we had a good climb up to Newton Gate {NZ 588 127} where we joined the Cleveland Way (CW) long-distance footpath. At this point we decided to take advantage of a boundary wall and the sunshine in order to take a short lunch stop.

Following our short lunch break sitting in the sun, we set off in an easterly direction along the CW to cross Newton Moor. As we approached Hutton Gate {NZ 597 129} we were overtaken by the B-group as it was making its way to Sleddale. After passing through Hutton Gate we crossed Hutton Moor in order to make our way to Black Nab {NZ 602 130}. From here we continued on our easterly trek to reach Highcliff Nab {NZ 610 138} (see the picture below).


After a short stop to take in the views from the above vantage point, we continued our trek along the CW. We passed through Guisborough Woods and emerged at {NZ 635 148} where we stopped for a short tea break. From here, the views of East Cleveland and the coast were quite spectacular.

Following our tea stop, we made our way along the CW to reach a good down-hill concrete track at {NZ 639 154}; this took us along the south-western edge of Spa Wood. As we were making our way down the track, the four people in the A-group over-took us. We stayed with the concrete track until we reached {NZ 637 155} when we took a footpath on our right. This took us around Spa Wood and onwards in an easterly direction to the small village of Charltons {NZ 645 157}.

Turning left, we now made our way along a westerly-going track (along the side of the A171 road) to reach the small village of Slapewath {NZ 642 158} and the Fox and Hounds hostelry (see the picture below) where our walking expedition ended.


Our coach was waiting for us in the car park and provided us with facilities for changing into our 'party clothes' prior to partaking of a meal in the carvery.

Many thanks to MT for organising such an interesting and enjoyable meal for us today. We also had a really good walk. Use the buttons below to see where we went, how we did and some of the sights we saw.

    

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