I decided it was time to add a couple of Trig points to my list. I haven’t done one since April 2024 and with the promise of a sunny day yesterday I decided to do one of the harder ones. I can usually manage four or five during a visit to the high places, but the one I had in mind was a five mile walk over some of the most roughest terrain and some steep climbs on route.
I’ve visited this trig many times before but as a runner and walker and never really took any details, so it had to be done again.
It’s been 30 years since my last visit while racing the 42 miles of the Lyke Wake from Ravenscar in the east to Osmotherley in the west.
That’s me in seventh place from the 1996 race results…

It seemed a lot further than I remember, and certainly a lot steeper. I had to stop and rest several times during some of the climbs…A bit of a shock really when you consider I used to run these…
So after parking the motor in the Sheepwash car park…The start of so many Lyke Wake Walks over the years…
I made my way down the road to the cattle grid where you disappear into the woods.
There used to be a sign here that proclaimed ‘Ravenscar 39 miles’ it certainly played on the minds of many a Lyke Wake walker. There’s no mention of the Lyke Wake now, just this sign directing walkers to follow Albert Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk. He even signed in with AW in black marker at the top…
The path through Scarth Nick Woods is long and steep in places…
Back in 1955 Bill Cowley walked from Osmotherley to Ravenscar and the Lyke Wake Walk was born. Since then millions of walkers have made the trek mainly for charity, or just like me, it was in my blood and couldn’t resist the challenge.
A great place for cooling down those blistered feet, or perhaps some skinny dipping…
After a hard five mile slog, this was my first sight of the Carlton Bank Trig Point…
Time for a photo shoot and proof of my visit…
‘Roseberry Topping’ and this will be my next trig…Not today though…
The views over Middlesbrough and the sea in the distance are spectacular…
With just a couple of miles to go, time for a drink and a jam sandwich…
This stone and the tribute to Bill Cowley is the only reminder that the Lyke Wake ever existed, all the waymarks have been removed, and most people will never have heard of Bill, but Alfred Wainwright and his Coast Coast is the new messiah now…I met six people heading to the coast doing Alfred’s walk…
It turns out I did make a visit in 2011, I had forgotten about this one…