Good afternoon,
I’m happy to report I would like to report my first crossing.
Just before midnight on Friday 5th June 2026 45 walkers set off from the start point in Osmotherley. Things started steadily with lots of talk around the selection of sweet goods we’d all brought along with us. Initially me and a friend, Harry, stuck together, moving through the first check point at the cottages near Heathwaite swiftly.
As we moved over the moors on the next section we split off into different groups. At the aid stop at Clay bank another new group was formed, on the climb leaving Clay bank sadly one team member dropped out leaving 4 in our team, myself, Rob, Ben and Mike. Mike was complaining of a stone in his boot and we managed to convince him to check on it before moving any further. Mike removed his boot, turned it upside down and with a gentle shake a metallic object fell out. Ben picked it up and said it looked like a makeup brush. Mike looked and explained it was the head of a kids paint brush and his kids had been painting before we left. He gave his boot another tap and out came the 6” brush handle!
From here our little team stuck together and made good progress, sadly avoiding The Lion Inn at Blakey for a stop at Ralphs Cross where our support team was waiting with hot drinks and hot sausage buns!
Carrying on from Blakey we headed onto the ‘boggy section’ which thankfully wasn’t as bad as we had all built it up to be in our heads! Steady progress was made on the crossing over the moor top keeping our heads down and battling on Wheeldale road. Due to a medical issue with a member of the larger group behind us this would be the last time we would see our bags of extra kit which was on the bus before the finish line.
Spirits were still high until coming over Fylingdales where around 35 miles in we were met with driving rain being blown at 20-30 mph. This quickly penetrated our waterproofs which up until then had put in a very good shift. Thankfully with the end in sight we kept moving and picked up a packet of hobnobs at our final aid station 1.5 miles from the end.
Our team completed the walk in just over 15 hours and enjoyed a well earned pint in the Flask Inn to celebrate!
Kind Regards,
Alex