You will know, dear reader, how partial Steve and I have been to a classic comedy show over the last couple of weeks or so, from Norman Wisdom, through Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to that legend of comedy sitcom of On the Buses. Well today was the same, although at the same time, a little different. Today, we were in the world of the comedy song and one song in particular. Some of you may remember Joe Pasquale doing a song with heart rending lyrics called, 'I know a song that will get on your nerves, get on your nerves', well it wasn't that song, but nevertheless, probably had the same effect, as Tina will testify!! In fact, Tina said that irritating songs like these are known as Earworms.

Today's song was a far more artistic number. A song from the archives of comedy history, 1965 to be precise and what's more, a song by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, although we didn't know that until we googled it later. So, there you have it, a perfect link to our previous days' entertainment! And what is this song, you may well ask? Well, dear reader, it is the magnificent and lyrically brilliant,  'Alan 'A Dale Song'. Now, this song is comedy magic, but magic that has almost been lost in the mists of time. But it is time to resurrect it and bring it to the new, wider audience that its brilliance deserves. And here's the amazing thing. If you Google 'The Alan 'A Dale Song', it will take you to a black & white YouTube clip of the song being performed. This clip has been viewed about 23,000 times so far, but I think we can break the million barrier, as a result of Steve and my efforts in the field of comedy. 

 
But firstly, let me give you a taster of the lyrics, or should I say poetry. They go something like this:

I'll tell you a tale of Alan 'A Dale, 
Of Alan 'A Dale, I'll tell you a tale.
I'll tell you a tale of Alan 'A Dale,
Of Alan 'A Dale, I'll tell you a tale.

Now, it's clearly very reasonable for you to be asking at this moment, what on earth has this got to do with a C2C walk? Well you must surely know by now, that everything we do has a link with the walk, however tenuous, otherwise all our comedy efforts might be considered pointless and banal! What is the link this time? Well surely, it's obvious.....Alan 'A Dale was one of Robin Hood's merry men and our destination is, of course, Robin Hood's Bay, and, as if that wasn't enough,.........today was the day of the dales, from Farndale, through the wondrously named Great Fryup Dale, to the beautiful Glaisdale. So there you have it folks, the perfect reasoning for the Alan 'A Dale Song.....please YouTube it and enjoy people! And go on, why not share the clip with your Facebook friends!

 
But enough of this frivolity, let's talk about today's walking. The penultimate leg of the C2C is from Blakey Ridge to Grosmont in the pretty Esk Valley and guess what, as we sit here having breakfast, the rain is lashing down and it's a real pea-souper out there. As we stood there for today's group photo, we thought..........what a perfect day for walking 14 miles! Two thirds of today's walk is across the dales I mentioned above before we reach the villages of Glaisdale, Egton Bridge and finally, our destination, Grosmont. The views across the moors and dales were beautiful once again and after the very shaky start, the weather actually turned out quite nice, with plenty of sunshine, interspersed with a few heavy showers. The logic of doing the C2C West to East, with the prevailing winds at your back, was definitely proven on this leg and at times the back of my waterproof coat and my rucksack were soaked, but the front was bone dry. So, for any aspiring coast to coasters in the future, 'Go West to East young man/woman' is my advice!


 

 

 
One of the views is of 'Fat Betty', a medieval cross which has acted as a wayside cross/marker for travellers, for hundreds of years........cue choruses of a 1977 song by Ram Jam - can you name that song? We were then into the beautifully named (and very apt for this trip, bearing in mind the excellent breakfasts that we have enjoyed), the beautifully named Great Fryup Dale, containing the village of Fryup and the stream called Great Fryup Beck. Now, you could think that this might have been the birthplace of the 'Full English', but no! It turns out that the name almost certainly derives from the old English word Frigehop, Frige being an Anglo Saxon goddess and hop denoting a small valley. More interestingly, apparently an old woman used to live in Fryup, on the scarily named, Old Hell Road. This old woman kept vigil on something called Mark's e'en watch, the 24th April each year, when she would watch for the wraiths or ghostly apparitions of those people who would die in the next 12 months.....nice! We didn't hang around!!!

 

 
After the beauty of these dales, we reached 'civilisation' as we strolled into the village of Glaisdale and.....the first place we came to was the lovely Glaisdale Tea Garden, run by Jean Norris. This is a terrific stopping place for walkers; great cakes, cracking tea and........'muddy boot friendly'! And, in addition, fantastic views.

From pretty Glaisdale, it was on to Egton Bridge (although we didn't actually pass through the village) and then it was only a couple of mile stroll via the Egton Estate to Grosmont. On the way we joined a large group of coast to coasters who were had actually done the whole C2C over a few years as opposed to in one go like ourselves and it got us wondering......what would be the collective noun for a group of coast to coasters. We tried a 'Waddle' and a 'Blister', but settled on a 'Hobble of Coast to Coasters'.....and hobble we did at times! It was also around this time that we came across an old toll house, which still has a note of the toll charges from 1948 for the various forms of transport.......as you will note, there is a handy 50% discount if you pass by in a motor vehicle..........but only if you happen to be dead!!

 















We arrived in Grosmont at just before five and just in time for the five o'clock train. Big deal you might say, but Grosmont is home to the North Yorks Moors Steam Railway and we were able to see the arrival of one train and departure of another.....not quite Brief Encounter, but close enough!

 

Train-spotting over, we walked over the road to our last night's accommodation, the fantastic Geall Gallery and B&B. A superbly renovated place, with half a dozen or so twin and double rooms and a common lounge/dining area and kitchen. A great place, where we settled in and then it was over to the Station Tavern for a surprisingly good dinner of Whitby Cod, chips and mushy peas.

 






So the penultimate leg is over. Another 14 miles down, 186 miles to date and one more day tomorrow. And guess where we're off to tomorrow.....that's right, it's Robin Hoods Bay!

 As we near the end, let's have one last set of interesting facts-tomorrow's entry will be a little different:

* The North Yorks Moors Steam Railway runs for 18 miles from Pickering to Grosmont;
* Beggars Bridge inGlaisdale was built in 1619 by Thomas Ferris;
* The population of Grosmont at the last census was 318.