Playing catch-up part 3

Six more photographs, one of them taken this morning.

Forecast has, once again, headed towards rain - fortunately even with rain there have been bright spells through the day.

Of this batch of six photographs four of them were taken during the day, and on a couple of occasions I've met up with people who exclaimed with surprise to find me out and about with the camera in daylight hours.

I went off to Steel Rigg for sunrise this morning but it was shrouded in a bank of fog, I hung about hoping the rising sun would burn it off, 15 minutes after sun up and it was obvious this wasn't going to happen so I packed everything up and went to Caw Gap.

You can see the bank of fog hanging over Winshields Crag in my picture here, so I think I made the right decision to move when I did.

Caw Gap August 2010 (NY726668)

Crag Lough from Highshields Crag June 2010 (NY763678)

Rapishaw Gap June 2010 (NY780685)

Sycamore Gap June 2010 (NY761677)

Willowford Bridge June 2010 (NY621664)

Winshields Crag July 2010 (NY743675)

Well that's today's selection, another six to come tomorrow.

Christmas Day

I've already told you I'm a bit of a grinch when it comes to Christmas, but I love the fact that while people are kept indoors by 'family' obligations, I can get out for a walk.

We set off from home to the sound of church bells ringing and headed through the village of Gilsland and turned up towards Birdoswald, a nice circular walk of about 4 miles.

Birdoswald

The road through the village had been well gritted so walking was easy but once we turned onto the B6318 heading up towards the Hill the going wasn't so easy.

We saw the tracks of roe deer in the snow, there are a good number around and they can often be seen early in the morning, heading down to the River Irthing to drink.

One of the bucks had been knocked down, someone had taken the antlers but the carcass was left,

crows, foxes and badgers will probably share what's left.

It was a cold, foggy day and there was very little traffic on the roads so we were able to walk on the tyre tracks with relative ease.

From this road you can look over towards Willowford Farm B&B and follow the line of Hadrian's Wall as it goes from Gilsland to Birdoswald via Willowford Bridge.

Got to Kiln Hill Farm and turned down towards Birdoswald, Eric from Slack House Farm (home of Birdoswald Cheese) snow ploughs this road, a great service and one I much appreciate, it's a steep hill with sharp bends so would be dangerous otherwise.

The buildings of Birdoswald Visitor Centre were just visible though the mist, it's closed now for winter like many of the centres.

Of course Hadrian's Wall itself is 'open' all year, with a lovely stretch of Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, easily seen from the road and, one of the most accessible for anyone with a disability.

Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, view west

On a clear day you can look east towards Walltown, but that wasn't visible on Christmas Day, the Wall just disappeared into the mists.

Hadrian's wall at Birdoswald

Michael's sheep were on the track down to Harrow Scar, he'd been in with hay for them to feed on, so they weren't the least bit interested in us, as we passed by them.

Down the steep track to Willowford Bridge, looking at the various animal tracks in the snow and  wishing I'd taken my tracks ID book with me, although it was probably a bit too cold to stand around flicking through a book!

The River Irthing is always beautiful, some lovely mature trees down in this dip, I'd like a good hoar frost to coat the trees, but still took lots of photographs of them in the snow.

Willowford Bridge

Willowford Trees

Up the stone steps past the blue tarpaulins, put there to keep the lime mortar repairs to Hadrian's Wall dry.
English Heritage have a policy to use the same amterials that the Roman builders used and spent considerable time getting the exact same 'recipe' for the mortar.
Apparently lime mortar takes longer to set, although leaving the tarps on for months on end seems a bit excessive.
Past Willowford Farm B and B which can truely claim to be right on Hadrian's Wall, along the track and back into Gilsland.
We saw just one other couple in all the time we were out and they were visiting from Japan, brave souls.
Catch you later.

Walking the Wall

Walking the Wall is a great idea, walking ON the Wall as so many people tend to be doing lately, is not.

I went to Willowford and Birdoswald on Saturday, lovely weather and loads of people out enjoying the day. But just about every group I came across were walking on top of the Wall.

Some had really small children and in places the Wall is over 6 ft high with an uneven top. I'm wondering who they'd sue if their child fell and was seriously injured, you can bet they wouldn't accept any blame themselves for being silly enough to allow a child up onto the Wall in the first place.

I'm not a great fan of warning signs everywhere, but I do think English Heritage should do more. Hadrian's Wall is a historic monument, yet folk treat it like an adventure playground.

The river at Willowford is one of my favourite spots, just by the bridge is a lovely area to stop for a picnic. The River Irthing is fairly shallow at this point so dogs and children can play in the water. Lots of good boulders for building dams and forts or a sculpture if you have an artistic bent.

Look out for the dippers and wagtails, on Saturday I saw a kingfisher there, a beautiful flash of flourescent blue. Amongst the stones are loads of fossils, mostly shells but sometimes plant fossils too.

Come along and enjoy our lovely area but please respect it.

Catch you later.