Dodgey Knee

Up and out. We had freeze dried dinner for breakfast.

Surprisingly appetising.

We travel through the village but did not start climbing as the map suggested; it turned out Mike missed a turning.

Right, steep climb passed a reservoir and onto the escarpment. That was better. The views were far. We could see clear across the Vale of Mobrey to the Peninnes. The weather was clear and sometimes even sunny. We definitely needed this. No one for miles.

Apart from the JCBs at one point, but they were quickly left behind. Lunch was quite leisurely, near the edge of a wood, marred only by the odd fly, which were seduced away after a while by a group of passing horses.

The discussions turned to our progress, which seemed remarkably good, helped no doubt by the gently undulating nature of the escarpment. In fact it was so good that if we could make the A170 before the last bus we would take it. Plan A was to have camped near the tourist Info. outpost ready to make the bus the next day. This new plan would give us an extra day to see another village along the way, if we liked.

Another view of the top of David’s head

Mike started looking for a village with a suitable campsite. David was pushing for a B&B in Scarborough.

It had become increasingly obvious that Mike’s and David’s approach to the holiday budget had some profound differences. Mike’s tight fisted, miserly approach was to spend as little as possible (i.e. camping most of the time, cook our own food, etc) and go home with some change, while David’s was more about trying to achieve the best match between the length of the trip with the length of the budget (i.e. the best outcome would have the budget running out just as David and Mike stepped through the front door at home).

A compromise was reached when a YH was spied in Scarborough, next to a campsite. If the YH had no beds, we could camp.

Enduring rain and bruised feet, we spurred on and made the outpost with 20 minutes to spare. We celebrated by eating our remaining ‘emergency’ snack – a Snickers.

‘...with 20 minutes to spare.’

Straight off the bus

The hostel turned out to be a delightful old converted watermill next to the river in the North of Scarborough. A friendly atmosphere and they sell beer!

Youth Hostel

It was sad to notice a For Sale sign outside. Something that the YH is doing all over - selling off the less profitable hostels and those that need expensive repairs.

Mike noticed they provide bed linen now, surely this drives up costs. They also sell alcohol; how much does a liqueur licence cost? The YH used to be more of a charitable organisation aimed at supplying cheap accommodation for young people. Now they want to target a wider section of the market and it seems to be run more like a business. It looks like the YH has lost its way somewhat.

Enough of this complaining, they had beds!

A shower and dinner. Mike decided to try the beer. Compton’s. A local brew. Not bad.

The hostel seemed quite busy. We chatted with a lady over a cup of tea. She and her husband had been hostelling for years. They can’t manage the longer distances now but still enjoy the outdoors.