14/04/18 - Day 6 - Inn Way to North Yorkshire Moors - From Helmsley

Start - Helmsley
Finish - Helmsley
Distance -  11 Miles
Key Features - Cleveland Way, Rievaulx Abbey
Geocaches - 3
Pubs - 4 attempted, 3 Successfully
Previous Stages - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5

It's not every day that you wake in one hotel, open your curtains and look directly at the hotel that you are staying in for the next night.

Looking at the Royal Oak from my room in the Feathers

Day 5 left me dazed and confused in Hawnby Bus Shelter.  My meal, bed and drinks for the night had closed down three months prior.  I had booked and paid for it four months prior.

Still, there is no problem that cannot be solved with a 4G Signal and a credit card.  Fortunately, I have both.  I get the final room in the Feathers in Helmsley and order a taxi, that surely in a charging structure unique to Yorkshire, makes me pay a call out fee.

This leaves me with an issue on what to do today.  I cannot afford two call out fees in 12 hours, so starting back at Hawnby is not an option.  Instead, I fashion a walk that takes in the three key features of day 6 walk...... The final pub on the Inn Way, Rievaulx Abbey and striding back into Helmsely like a conquering hero.

We pick up the action at Scawton, home of the Hare Pub and the last in the Guide.  But you're getting used to this blog by now.   It's no longer a pub and is open only by appointment at lunch time.

Every village needs a Michelin starred restaurant.

Ooh Look - A sign to a Pub

Doesn't really look much like a pub

That's that then

Fortunately, the walking through Nettledale is lovely.  Sun is shining, new born lambs are frolicking.  After four days in mist, this cannot help but put a smile on one's face.  And its all leading to the architectural high point of the Inn Way.

Nettledale in Spring

Looking forward to Rievaulx

And its magnificent

A lovely little coffee shop to stop for refreshments, soaking up the atmosphere.

It's the Cleveland Way that takes me back into Helmsley and the end of the walk.   I have mixed feelings about the end of these adventures.  On one hand, you know you no longer have to walk double digit miles, with your week's supplies strapped onto your back.  On the other hand, you know that every step is taking you closer to conference calls and tax returns.  It's a double edged sword.

Cleveland Way bringing me closer to reality

Helmsley castle in the distance

With me, 6 days in, getting in the way of it.

I've done it.... celebration pint at the end of the Inn Way in the Royal Oak

Another bucket list item completed and a summary blog, with traditional awards, will be posted.

I have a Saturday night in Helmsley to let you know quickly about the pub situation, all neatly arranged around a beautiful market square.

Let's knock off the two dead ones - The Crown is now a Fat Face.  You can get a drink at the Feversham Arms Hotel, but it comes in a bottle and is served by a man in a bow tie.  It's not really for the likes of us, is it.  Unless you're the type who has arranged lunch at the Scawton Hare.

To counteract the missing two, Helmsley does have a new brewery, with attached Tap House open till 9pm.  I spied it on my way out but much to my annoyance, forget to visit when I returned 6 days later.  It's a shame that in 21 pubs visited, I didn't see their produce on sale.

The Feathers - My bed for night 1 and possibly pick of the bunch.  Large, sprawling hotel with separate dining rooms and a proper little pub attached to the side.  Great juke box, lovely Black Sheep Beer.  Popular with the kids, who like to take their herbal cigarettes outside, unaware that the cloying stink follows them back in.

It smelled like Howard Marks front room.

The Feathers - where the action is.

The Black Swan - Slightly posher hotel but with a good non-residents bar, again selling Black Sheep.  Large function room at the back which had a wedding on both nights.  It was kind of fun seeing the size of the rounds increase as the night wore on, and the bride's fathers bib and tucker getting more and more disheveled.

Black Swan by Night

The Royal Oak - the most down to earth pub in the square.  Uninspiring beer voice of Bombardier and Wainwright but a beautifully presented room for night 2.   Empty at 10pm.  Forced to go back to the Feathers.  And the Black Swan.

Royal Oak, Cask Marque, yet uninspiring beer.

My over riding memory of my night in Helmsley will be sitting outside the Feathers, watching the sun go down over the market square and regaling locals with my expedition experiences.

They apologised on behalf of Yorkshire for the Inn at Hawnby.

Till Next Year and the Inn Way to the Peak District