Ravens Route

Each summer, Sarah and I, along with some of our friends from Stockport Community Cycling Club, undertake a week-long cycle tour. For 2018 this was one we titled the ‘Ravens Route’ since it will be an English Coast-to-Coast from Ravenglass to Ravenscar. This year our tour team comprised of Andy P, Andy S, Andy S, Des, Ian, Neil and Sarah.

Previous group summer tours have included Wainwright Coast-to-Coast, Wales Coast-to-Coast – Lon Las Cymru, Coast and Castles South, Pennine Cycleway, End-to-End (JOGLE), Celtic Trail, and Lochs and Glens South.

The Ravens Route

Our Ravens Route Coast-to-Coast started by the historic Ravenglass Roman Bath House. We followed National Cycle Route 72 along the Cumbrian Coast for a while before picking up NCN Route 71. This also forms part of the Sea-to-Sea (C2C) route and headed past Loweswater taking us along the northern edge of the Lake District to Keswick and then Penrith. From there, we headed off in a south-easterly direction through Appleby-in-Westmorland and Kirby Stephen, and over Tan Hill.

We joined NCN Route 165 in Barnard Castle, a market town that sits on the north bank of the River Tees. We cycled through the Tees Valley, onto Kildale Moor and into the beautiful North York Moors National Park. The route then travelled through the hilly Esk Valley and onto the seaside town of Whitby. For our final day, we followed NCN Route 1 along the old railway track to Ravenscar, all the while taking in the breathtaking views offered by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast.