Walk around Staithes and Hinderwell to reminisce in the glory of England Lionesses' Euro 2022 triumph

I’ve watched and played football for 60 years and the men’s game hasn’t changed a lot in that time (except for the haircuts, acting skills and TV waffle), whereas the women’s game has just got better and better, culminating in the great spectacle led by the girl from Hinderwell.

The route I chose skirts around Hinderwell, gets within a 30-yard volley of the pub she worked in at Dalehouse and ends in Staithes where one of my brother’s penalty kicks probably landed when we were playing on Saltersgill pitch 5, in Middlesbrough (couldn’t afford nets).

Such was her brilliance at the tournament, calls were made for Mead to be given the freedom of the borough.

Starting in Ellerby – the village with the best bus service for its size in England – head back down the road from the bus stop towards Runswick.

Look out for a footpath sign on your left as the road narrows.

Go straight on through a field to a gap in the bushes, then straight ahead again.

A path had been left in the crops on my visit, but these will be harvested by now, so just make a bee-line to a footbridge in the bushes ahead.

It got trickier after that, as a path seemed to go straight on through the waist high wheat, but soon vanished as I climbed the rising ground.

You might as well head diagonally right where you should soon see a lonely post sticking out of the ground with a waymark.

It didn’t bear much relation to my OS map, but hey-ho – that post is definitely there!

Continue on, in the general direction of the Potash chimney, with the field boundary on your left.

At the end of that field, take a left then after 50 yards the track goes right into a grassy field, dropping gently down through two gates to the hamlet of Newton Mulgrave (population 37 and 2,000 sheep).

Turn left along the road, and after leaving the village, ignore the path signed for Hinderwell, taking another wide track on the right a little while later, just as the road kinks left.

This is a lovely bit of flat ground, stretching for some distance with cracking rural views to either side.

If you don’t enjoy walking along here, you’re reading the wrong column.

Where you have a choice of wooden and metal gates, I suggest the wooden one unless you like cows, and go straight on along a track into the trees.

Soon, reject the wider path that heads steeply down to the beck, taking a thinner one edging right and back up towards (but not into) that field of cows.

At a path junction, go left, over a fallen log and follow the path past a big yellow sign - “no hunting”.

After a short clearing another big yellow sign warns of gravitational Armageddon, which you should bravely ignore to drop steeply down to cross a bridge.

Take a sharp right “footpath to Staithes”, embarking on a brutal climb which eventually emerges at the Barn Owl Café – part of Seaton Hall – where it would be rude not to stop for a coffee and wedge of cake.

The hall is an ancient Manor House dating back over 1000 years, but the cake doesn’t.

Follow the wide access near the outside seats, but soon go left through a gate and follow the track to Staithes, crossing the A174 and going down the side road past the Co-op.

Go left down Seaton Close, straight on at the end along a path between the houses and zig-zag past garages to Cliff Road.

Twenty yards right, a path leads off left which eventually leads down to the road near the seafront.

It’s a lovely route to take down to the shore – very different to the usual main road – and it offers spectacular views over the rooftops of this stunning little village.

It was a mega-busy Saturday on my visit and there was absolute chaos in the various pubs and cafes as they tried to cope with being swamped by day-trippers.

But here’s the thing, pretty well everywhere in this village - overrun with hungry tourists - stopped serving food at 3pm.

This never ceases to amaze me in the UK and surely wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world! (Having said that, I fear that we should soon be grateful that these places stay open at all).

It’s a lung-busting walk back up to the bus stop, so stay awhile at the bottom of the village, perhaps seeking out Dog Loup – at a width of 18 inches, reputedly the narrowest alley in the world.

I found that it significantly helped to forfeit several shirt buttons by inching down sideways!