We left the coach on the A171 on the western outskirts of Whitby in glorious sunshine on a very warm morning.  We headed a short distance north up the B1461 before turning E along the top of a dene to to the dismantled railway line.  Turning S along a path, we climbed steps leading to the line and continued southwards on a good firm path.  A short while later, we reached the viaduct taking the old line across the R Esk.  From here, there were excellent views to the abbey in the east and to the attractive village of Ruswarp to the west.  Continuing south, we reached a path leading to Larpool Hall Hotel which gave us the opportunity to have our first stop of the day.  This was very welcome with the sun beating down from a completely blue sky and even in the morning a temperature probably in the upper 20s.

After our stop, we continued  along the disused railway line which was now heading SE.  Unfortunately, much of this part of the walk was in a cutting with shrubs on both sides of the path so that there were few good views.  This improved as we reached Stainsacre although the views were mainly of the adjacent houses.  Continuing SE, the railway ran almost adjacent to the A171 until we reached Hawsker where we crossed the A171 which had turned S while we continued SE on a slightly narrower path (continuation of the old railway line).  At High Hawsker we left the railway line and headed NE via Gnipe Howe to join the Cleveland Way running along the cliff tops.  We now had good views of the cliffs and a very calm & blue North Sea.  At this point we started looking for a lunch stop and after a while came across a low broken down wall which was ideal to sit and place our food as it had been agreed that leaders would allow for an extended and shared lunch to celebrate the summer solstice.  

After a fairly lengthy stop and enjoyable lunch, we headed on our way again.  You might think a walk along cliff tops would be relatively flat but this is not the case along the North Yorks coast and soon we were descending down steps into  a dene and then ascending again (didn’t do my knee any good).   About another mile later we had another steep descent followed by an ascent.   Fortunately these were again stepped although with the ground very hard it would not have been a problem if they hadn’t been.   Near the Cow and Calf we stopped beside a wall for another drinks stop to cool us down.  After the Cow and Calf, the path swung south and then SW.  This gave us our first view of Robin Hoods Bay and a little further on we stopped at a viewpoint for an afternoon stop.  I must admit the view of Robin Hoods Bay from here was not great but we appreciated the stop as the heat was affecting us.  A couple of hundred yards further on the Cleveland Way path rejoined the disused railway line and we followed the the line to the old station passing our coaches in the car park on the way.  On a decent path we circled to the west of Robin Hoods Bay, past Fylingthorpe until we reached Middlewood Lane.  Crossing the Lane we then turned ENE on a tarmac road to Farsyde House.  Unfortunately, the path narrowed significantly  after this point and it was a case of  squeezing between the bushes and some nettles and thorns.  However, after reaching the cliff top, the path improved and above Landing Scar we had an excellent view of Robin Hoods Bay village and the cliffs to the north.  Our last set of steps lay just ahead as we descended into the village.  Unfortunately, nobody was counting but there must have been at least 100 steps many of them quite high.  We made our way through the village, stopping for an ice cream or lolly on the way.  After sitting to enjoy these, we started making our way up to the coaches and the nearby pub.  I remembered that it was a steep climb but either I had forgotten how steep or my legs are deteriorating faster than I thought!!!.  Anyhow, we all made it to the coaches and then to the pub.

A good walk on a beautiful sunny day although we could probably have done with it a little cooler but after all the miserable weather we have had this year we can’t complain.