Sometimes blogs get boring and if nothing notable happens on a walk a blog just becomes a route card which isn’t what I like to do on Northern Hiker. This is what has happened on the last couple of legs of the Cleveland Way, not boring by any stretch of the imagination but the laughs on route are not as funny when written down.
We have in recent months completed two sections of the Cleveland Way with our walking buddies Sue and Dicko, absolutely cracking routes which to be fair don’t need much of a map as the path is very obvious and clearly sign posted. We have completed the Clay Bank to Kildale and Kildale to Saltburn recently, both were quite long walks basically taking in the north end of 
the Cleveland Hills/North Yorkshire Moors. Being from Yorkshire I sometimes feel a bit reluctant to call any part of Cleveland ‘Yorkshire’, no offence to any readers from Cleveland (Is there a place called Cleveland anymore?) but I’m quite passionate about my county. Dicko would question my passion probably saying something like “If it’s that good why do you live in Durham?!” To which I would have to say my wife and son live in the North East so I do. He’s always taking the piss calling me a Lancastrian but I know he’s secretly jealous cos he knows Yorkshire’s the best. 
Anyway I digress from the Cleveland Way, the views are outstanding and the days we had were very clear making the days very enjoyable indeed. Some of the best views were from Clay Bank, the car park itself is a great start to the route. People were just parking up and having picnics enjoying the views there, which is always a good sign. The trig point at Round Hill is another ‘high point’, quite literally you’re the highest person in the region if you sit on the point itself. Ingleby Bank is another good place to stop off and have bait, if it’s a clear day you can see the car park at Clay Bank. The route is lined with heather on one side and fern and a canny drop in some places on the other. The heather keeps our new walking buddy, Alfie, busy as he teaches himself how to track and flush grouse and Wheatears in traditional Springer style. He’s come on great but he still has a long way to go when it comes to sheep, if they stood still when they saw him he’d be great, but they start to run and that means playtime for him, so I blame the sheep! 
On these legs you drop off the hills and wave bye bye to the heather and sheep to have a break in Kildale, the village with no bins. This is where we parked the car and ended the leg, pub was shut so he had to go to Carlton In Cleveland for a post walk pint, the Blackwell Ox is a nice pub to sit and chat about the day’s events. The return to Kildale to start the next leg was still binless, what the hell, another few miles ahead with a poo bag attached to my daysack which again I’ll probably forget and sit on or stick my finger in searching for my sig bottle. After Kildale we rejoined the Cleveland Hills for a few miles and take in the approach to Roseberry Topping. We decided to take a right instead of climbing the Topping, the summit looked like Catbells on a bank holiday and we’ve topped the graffiti laden peak loads of times so there was no hardship. 
Back off the hills and into woodland and field land, Guisborough Woods are nice mind. Dropping into Slapewath and the digger manufacturer was a realisation that this ‘Way’ takes in all the ‘genre’ of our countries sights. Walking passed the pub we saw a car that’s from the village where we live, small world and only cops could notice that. Walking passed the pub and up the quarry fuelled Sue’s ‘I thought there wasn’t any more hills’ complaint, which fell on deaf ears as we promised her there were actually, no more hills. 
Airy Hill lane, as well as giving me an immature giggle, took us into Skelton and our first interaction with a town and the smell of a small of a Deli making my mouth water with the smell of garlic. The walk took us through a housing estate under the A174 into the dene that approaches Saltburn. This was a great part of the walk which took in the viaduct and a very impressive structure carrying the line along the east coast. Breaking out of the dene into Saltburn is a treat, especially if you’re into your architecture as the buildings are very grand. The pub on the front, I forget the name was very nice and the cider bit my throat in a very pleasurable way. This walk has everything to ask for, hills, heather, woodland and high trig points, plus a brief glimpse of tight oven chip educed leggings. We’ve hit the coast and will start sneaking down the Yorkshire coastline in the next few months. 
Northern Hiker 