After a couple of months of training, I finally plucked up the courage, if that’s the right word, to
attempt the LWW. My name is Ian Fraser, just turned 55 years of age, and a Swainby resident. As I
live around half a mile from the start of the course, near Sheepwash, I often wondered what the
Lyke Wake Walk was all about. I bought a copy of the guide book at Lordstones cafe and also
visited the LWW website. I enjoy walking but have never attempted anything approaching 40 miles
before!
I gradually built up my walking distance over a period of weeks and hoped that my wife, Ruth,
would be able to join me on the walk itself but knee pain put paid to that plan. Finally, the big day –
Tuesday 4th August – arrived. Ruth dropped me off at the start of the route outside Osmotherly at
6.04 am. The weather was dry, cool and windy; ideal for walking really. Here’s the photo at the
start…
The weather stayed dry for most of the day, although the wind speed over Carlton Bank and at
Urra Moor seemed particularly high and, sadly, never at my back! Since this walk was on my own
and unsupported in the sense that Ruth dropped me off and planned to meet me at Ravenscar I
had to carry all my gear with me from the start. I studied the route carefully and had the chance to
try out various sections of it in the preceding weeks. I have a Garmin etrex GPS device and
downloaded a file with the LWW route. I think I got this by following a link from the LWW website.
The starting point from the file was about a quarter mile away from the actual starting stone but for
the most part was an essential tool.
The wind picked up even more along the disused railway line on the long trail up to the
Lion Inn but after that seemed to ease a bit.
The next photo show the path alongside the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge…
The opportunity for a Selfie with Fat Betty was too good to miss….
although I don’t look particularly pleased to see her – perhaps I was contemplating the boggy
section to come!
I was really grateful for the LWW lettering painted on the road, as this gave a clear indication of
where to turn off the road….although the track soon petered out and I had to take my chances
getting over the reeds. Fortunately, this was a Summer crossing and the path was fairly dry.
After meeting the road, I had my only real problem of the day…I lost the path across to Blue Man i
The Moss. Tracking through the heather was hard going but I fortunately caught sight of a standing
stone and this brought me back onto the track.
The next section, as expected, seemed long, with lots of loose stones around to stub my toes on!
The only rain shower of the day occurred just before Wheeldale, making the steep decline rather
slippery. Had to keep up the concentration level to get across the stepping stones……
After crossing the NYM railway line at Ellerbeck, I had no sooner climbed the other side before
hearing a distant steam whistle. By this time I was too tired to consider turning back for a look at
the passing train!
I had forgotten how long the stretch from Lila Cross to Jugger Howes was. When I did this section
as a training walk, the ravine seemed to come up quickly….not so on the actual walk! The final
stretch after crossing the road was good and I felt the Beacon drawing me towards it. Must have
been starting to hallucinate as I thought I saw Ruth waving to me but, alas, it was a small tree in
the distance! Made it at last and Ruth was there to meet me and take a final picture…..
Must be an illusion but my legs seemed much shorter after the walk!
Anyway, that about completes my report of the walk. I’ll end with a couple of screen shots with my
start and end times: 6.04 actual set off time and 20.55 arrival time at Beacon Howes. Total time
about 14 hr 50 mins, including stops along the way…
And finally the Etrex output of the trek.
Anyway, I hope this report meets your requirements for membership of the exclusive Lyke Wake
Walk club!
Kind Regards
Ian Fraser.