The Wainstones on the Coast to Coast Path

A very pleasant stroll along part of Wainwright’s famous Coast to Coast Walk to pay a visit to the fine outcrop of rocks known as The Wainstones.

On Location: 15th May 2019

Introduction: As I had a delivery of books to fulfil over in Stokesley I decided to make a bit of a day of it and planned to have a wander up to an outcrop of rocks on the edge of the Cleveland Hills. Known as The Wainstones, this dramatic escarpment features in Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk. This was to be my first visit.

Parking: There is a Forestry England car park at Clay Bank GR: NZ 5721 0356 What Three Words ///exhaled.potato.boardroom Since 2024 this is now a Pay and Display car park.

Refreshments: The nearest locality for food and refreshments will be at Great Broughton 3km to the north of the car park.

The route: click on the arrow to play the route. Route files in various formats are available to download by clicking in the Plotaroute.com link at the bottom right

We parked at the Clay Bank car park, crossed the road and then headed up the obvious path. Looking back we could get a good view of Roseberry Topping in the distance. For a walk on Roseberry Topping click here.

The path climbs steadily up towards Hasty Bank

Across Clay Bank Top is the flat top of Urra Moor.

There are footpath erosion controls on this route which is very popular as it is part of The Cleveland Way, The Lyke Wake Walk and Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route.

As we climbed higher the trails across the moors are more obvious.

Bailey on the edge of Hasty Bank with the Cleveland Plain stretching out below.

The top of Hasty Bank is fairly flat and the path is easy to follow.

It is a popular walking area so expect to meet parties of others enjoying the countryside.

In less than 2km from the car park we reached the top of The Wainstones.

This outcrop of sandstone crags are the largest such feature of the moors.

From the Wainstones there are superb views in nearly all directions including this view towards Bilsdale.

The next rise in the distance is Cold Moor but we will leave that for another walk.

It was such a beautiful day we just spent some time exploring the many crags and buttresses.

and we were not alone, others were enjoying the sunshine as they tucked into sandwiches.

The path continues past the rocks which then presents a better aspect of the outcrop.

There are examples of ancient rock art on some of the boulders but they take a bit of finding.

With over 60 climbing routes of various difficulty on The Wainstones it is a popular location for those who like to be more “hands-on” with the sandstone. In the image above there are some named features of the crags, from left to right there is The Needle, The Spire and The Sphinx.

It must be a great venue for some late afternoon sport on the crags.

We had used up our time and so we had to head back to the car. Instead of re-tracing our steps we descended into Broughton Plantation.

The path made its way down on to an old forestry track through the trees.

We came out into the sunshine where the bluebells greeted us. From here it was simply a case of following the good forestry road back to the car park at Clay Bank.

It may not have been a long walk but it was interesting to explore a new area for me. I can see that The Wainstones in particular would make a good subject for paintings or photographs in the future. I am sure that I will return.

Thank you for reading.

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