A family holiday in the week before Easter gave an opportunity to visit an area I’d not really explored.
Greeted by a blue sky over the moors, we decided to knock off Roseberry Topping on the Saturday. Parking just south of Newton-under-Roseberry we walked up the lane and into Newton Wood and then slogged up the rough National Trust steps at the pace of a 4 year old.
Being a Saturday we had plenty of company and the summit was crowded. But great views towards Middlesbrough and across the moors.
After a pause we split into two parties – me to walk around the moors to Captain Cook’s Monument, and the others to descend back to the car park and take the car.
I descended rapidly east towards the col with Newton Moor and was soon up the other side and joining the Cleveland Way. All that slowed me down was stopping to look at the views. Roseberry Topping is one of those hills that seems to look good from every angle and so these stops were frequent.
But now on the edge of the moor, with a sea of purple, brown and yellow stretching away in front and to the left and a nice dried up dirt track to walk along, I bounded along above the treeline and before I knew it was descending the short slope to the car park, where I sat on a rock to wait for the car.
When the others turned up we strolled up to the monument, had a look around and then back down to the car.
A nice leg stretch, and I wish moorland walking was always like this. But it was good to get out and keep the legs awake ready for Snowdonia in 2 weeks time.
During the week, I also kept coming across waymarks for the Cleveland Way in other places that we visited – Staithes, Whitby, the highest point of the moors at Urra Moor, for example. And looking at the route on the map, it seems to be a nice blend of coastal walking (quite like the South West Coast Path in places) and moorland walking. I think I’m going to put this on the list of LDPs that I’d like to do.
