St Hild's Way

As I mentioned in the last post, Storm Bert threw a spanner in the works as far as walking is concerned.  

Hartlepool is where the St Hild way begins (there are also references to her as St Hilda, I think).  St Hild was appointed  Abbess to a monastery on the headland at Hartlepool in 649.  It is about a 6 - 7km walk out to the abbey, which is no longer the original building, and is now a very large Parish Church.  For once it was open when I got there, with a small team of ladies doing various  chores such as cleaning and arranging flowers.  This meant I was able to have a sing, bringing one of them to tears - hopefully not because it sounded bad!

A stained glass windows of St Hild (a)
After singing
The highly carved Norman door in the church. 
The Abbey - now a parish church
The old part of Hartlepool 

It was a very windy day, but the 7km return journey back to the more modern part of Hartlepool was with a tail wind.

The next day I headed to Redcar by train.  This journey on foot would not have been pleasant as it was very industrial, and a lot of the area was like a wasteland.  The hotel let me check-in early so I was able to leave my bag and headed off along the coast path to the village of Saltburn-by-the-Sea.  A nice little village with the train station right in the centre of town.
A sculpture on the shorefront at Redcar
A Church in Redcar
All that is left of St Germain's Church.  The first church built here was over 1,400 years ago, though this tower is only about 800 years old.  The story goes that smugglers used to hide their wares in the church tower, before moving it on.
The views from the coast path - this part is the Cleveland Way.
More views

Still following the strategy I have been using on and off for this whole journey, I stayed in Redcar 2 nights.  This meant the following day I caught the train back to Saltburn and walked on to the village of Staithes pack free.  Though I was following St Hild's Way, it was also doubling as the Cleveland Way, AND King Charles III England Coastal Path.  Due to the windy conditions there were a couple of times when I left the clifftops and walked instead on the nearby No 1 cycle path. 
Saltburn by the Sea
The jetty at Saltburn ...
... and further along the beach.


On one such detour I met a man who was laying a hedge.  He explained what he was doing - severely pruning all the rubbish away (the old hedge being untouched for near 30 years), then cutting the thick trunks almost through and laying them sideways, weaving them together, the idea being that they would shoot away in the spring forming a much tidier hedge which could be managed easily.
Laying the hedge


This meant that I missed walking along the top of some very high cliffs, but looking back the next day I could see them, happy that I had avoided them!
Looking back at Runswick Bay and cliff tops

With the onset of heavy rain I left my exploration of Staithes, my destination for the day, till the following morning, catching the bus back to Redcar for a final time.   

The next day was sunny, cold, but with hardly any wind.  I ambled down the steep hill into Staithes, wandering its narrow cobbled streets, hoping to find a cafe open, but there wasn't, before heading up an equally steep hill on the other side of the valley.  

Because it was so calm I decided to follow the clifftop path, slipping and sliding my way to the seaside village of Runswick Bay.  After a pleasant rest stop at a cafe there I set off again, planning to cross the beach to on my way to Whitby, only to be thwarted by the tide, which was in.  Instead, I made a big detour around, following an old railway line towards Whitby.  


Staithes 
Staithes
Runswick Bay

This, in fact, was much easier walking than the clifftop path, though considerably longer.  It meant that by the time I reached Sandsend it was pitch black and so I caught a bus the last few kilometres into Whitby.


Whitby is where St Hild's Way ends - at the abbey on the hill on the other side of the River.  My friend Sharn was joining me the next day, and so I saved the visit to the extraordinary abbey ruins till she arrived so we could explore together.
Whitby Abbey


This region is also famous for its association with Captain Cook.  He was born near Middlesborough, to a farming family.  He was apprenticed to a shopkeeper in Staithes, where he spent about 4 years, before moving to Whitby and becoming an apprentice in the merchant navy.  From there he went on to join the Royal Navy, and I don't need to tell you any more as most of you will know the story.



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