Fields of gold

Did the circular walk from Steel Rigg, up onto Peel Crags, to the Sycamore tree.

Spent some time there waiting for folk to move on and for clouds to move on.

A ewe and two lambs obligingly walked through my shot and two jets put a cross in the sky above Sycamore Gap.

It was Father's Day and every one seemed to be out for the same walk as me. I carried on up onto Highshields Crag, a tour group had stopped for a break there, it's a good place to stop with great views over Crag Lough.

There was even a fisherman out on the Lough, first one I've seen this year!

Lingered a while taking photo's of the boats the headed off behind Hotbank Farm.

There's a new foal on the farm and he was determined I wasn't going to pass through the gate. He set his hind quarters and everytime I pushed the gate he pushed back, typical cheeky youngster.

Eventually I managed to persuade him to let me through, I paused to take a few shots of his mother against the landscape of the Wall and he nibbled at my backpack, much to the amusement of other walkers who were passing us by. Beautiful animal.

The track back to the car park runs parallel to the Wall and I was walking through fields of buttercups, literally a field of gold.

Passing the Galloway cows, youngsters with the bull enjoyoing the sunshine. Quite recently a vet was killed by cows but she was walking with two dogs and the cow was protecting it's calf from the dogs.

It did say in a situation like that dogs on a lead will hide behind the owner so you should let the lead go so the dog can run off diverting the cow away from you.

Back to the car park and ready for a lunch, off to the Old Forge Tearoom at Greenhead where I enjoyed a bacon, brie and cranberry toasty with a nice cup of tea. Perfect way to end an afternoon out.

Catch you later.

Misty mornings

Up for the sunrise, it was foggy at Gilsland and I drove along the Military Road wondering if I'd be doing a fast about turn.

Discussed it with the friend I met up with and we thought that, as we were up anyway we might as well climb up to Cuddys Crag, maybe a bit of height would take us above the fog.

Half way up and we came into a magical morning, mist swirling and moving around so that bits of the way appeared and disappeared in minutes.

Gorgeous light too.

The sun is coming up over Sewingshields Crag and that's as far as it will go to the north before moving back around.

It's been hot, very hot over the last couple of days and it was refreshing to be out in the cool morning air.

Some mornings the display takes your breath away and this was just that sort of morning, not a highly coloured sunrise but the sun diffused with the mist cast a golden glow over the scene.

This view from Cuddys Crag east has to be one of my all time favourites and now matter how many times I go there each one is different. As it got to 6am the sun got swamped with cloud and we put our gear away, a last look over the shoulder and much to my suprise the sky had cleared so it was bright and blue. I dashed back for one last shot.

One other person walking on the Wall this morning but they joined the Pennine Way path at Rapishaw Gap. We could see the person stopping every now and again to take in the scene.

The day has been beautiful, clear skies and sunshine, bet there were some hot walkers on the Hadrian's Wall Trail.

It's unfortunate that there is nowhere to buy refreshments along the Wall between Chollerford and the kiosk at Walltown.

If you're planning to walk make sure you have plenty of water with you and maybe try a sunrise start time, if it was like this morning it will be well worth it.

I can see for miles...

Some people say that Hadrian's Wall was built as a defensive measure, others say it was built as a way of controlling movement, a sort of customs post.

What is indisputable is that the Roman Army chose a great place to build Hadrian's Wall, using the natural contours and landform to accentuate the mighty Wall riding on top.

Todays slot belongs to the zigzag tree high above Simonsburn Common between Chesters Fort and Limestone Corner. There are bits of the Wall still in existence on this stretch but I chose to picture the hawthorn tree that's been growing on the line of the Wall for many years. One lady told me her son used to look out for the tree as he went back and forward to school each day, he's now in his 40's. The views behind it show the flatter plains to the north and, for me, the tree illustrates the harsh conditions the soldiers would encounter as the winds roared up the valley.

Just to the west of this tree is Limestone corner where huge boulders have been strewn like dice across the hill. Some of the stones bear the marks where the Roman builders tried to break them apart. Pass this and the Hadrian's Wall Path takes you over Fozzy Moss towards Sewingshields Crag, walking on the crest of the Vallum Ditch for some of the way. b A flatter stretch and perhap some might not think it very interesting but because it's a moss and there's water, in the summer months your feet are buzzed by beautifully coloured red of turquoise Darter's.

Catch you later.

Tea and temples

I had hoped for a sunrise morning but at 4.45am the sky was covered with cloud so I went back to bed.
Things did improve as the morning developed and by 10.30am it was a lovely spring day in Gilsland.

I had a quick look at the Hadrian's Wall webcams and, seeing a few patches of blue sky amongst the grey on the Winshields camera, I decided to head east.
It's some years since I've been to the Temple of Mithras so that was my destination today.

You'll find it between Sewingshields and Limestone Corner but there's a well signposted car park so you really can't miss it. I parked up and followed the track down to the Temple of Mithras.

It's in a lovely sheltered spot and larks were singing, lambs were gambolling and there were even a few tortoiseshell butterflies enjoying the yellow flowers of the dandelions.

While the temple seems to be in a strange place a look at the Google Earth map (NY858710) shows the outline of Brocolitia Roman Fort just above the Temple on the higher ground.

I had a good look around the mole hills, and there are lots of them, many have bits of Roman roof tile and bits of pottery but I suppose only an expert can date them and it's really not done to 'plunder' historic sites. Nice to find though even if you do leave it behind when you go.

A bonus here is the Coffee Cart, the owner tells me he's in the car park all through the year and on your behalf I did sample the coffee, it was excellent, just the thing to refresh the parts after a mole hill rummage.

There is a car parking fee but that ticket covers you for the other HW carparks ( machine doesn't give change so have some with you) or the AD122 bus service stops here.

There's information about Mithras on the University website http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/archive/mithras/frames.htm

Catch you later.

It pays to advertise

Gilsland is one of the Hadrian's Wall Villages and some of the best bits of remaining Wall are at Willowford.

I had a wander down that way yesterday and what did I see before me, some mini advertising hoardings gambolling about in the Willowford Farm fields.

I'm a sucker for lambs, they really are so cute and play just like children everywhere, running and jumping in gangs until they tire themselves out, or the ewe calls them back to her.

When they're newly born the ewe's can be very protective, when a camera appears the ewe will put herself between the lambs and the photographer, but on this occasion I managed to get a couple of shots.

I was so taken by all of this that I didn't get much further in my walk.

Hadrian's Wall webcam link

Gale force winds and rain showers today, not ideal for photographs but I've discovered there are webcams now at Cawfields and Walltown, great for checking what the weather is like on Hadrian's Wall.

http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/parklive/webcams.htm

Picture of Cawfields Quarry on a summers day, obviously not today :(

12th March 2009

Not such grand weather this morning so I popped into Haltwhistle our nearest town, called into La Toot for coffee and a chocolate Brownie .

While Haltwhistle isn't actually on the line of the Hadrian's Wall Path it's worth a visit to stock up on your essentials, it has a good range of shops Billy Bells is one of those real old fashioned shops, fish, veg, meat, baked goods all at a good price. There's a bookshop, PO, Flower shop £1 shop, Boots, Sainsbury and the Coop. Be aware that some of the shops close for lunch but there are several places where you can get something to eat and rest your feet while you wait.

Internet access at the library but check the opening times.
While I was in La Toot one of my neighbours, Scott, came in to show the owners, Sue and Mike a door knocker he's made

The door knocker was beautiful with a ram's head as the focal point complete with lovely twirled horns.

Scott Goodfellow, a traditional blacksmith who's creating some beautiful things, I called into theforge at Chapel House Farm and borrowed a poker to photograph, and show you here.

I did wonder about a sculpture for the garden but it would probably be too expensive for me, I guess it takes a lot of time to create these lovely things.

Be nice to support someone starting out in a traditional business though so I will think of something.

Sheep are the main farming business here on the high crags of Hadrian's Wall, you'll see plenty of them if you walk the Hadrian's Wall Path or even if you visit for the day, so items with sheep are popular around here.

10th March 2009

A great spring day, sunshine and lovely clouds - perfect day for a walk on Housesteads Crag with my camera.

I park in the 'red box' layby ( just west of Housesteads Fort), left over from those days when there were red telephone boxes, and head up past the restored lime kiln to Cuddy's Crag.

This footpath is part of the Pennine Way as well as a handy access point to Hadrian's wall.

The sheep of Bradley Farm, Cheviot ewe's watch me as I pass, they lamb in April and are being fed on the fells.

The view east from Housesteads is wonderful and on a crisp day like today you can see the line of the Wall as it climbs over the lumps and bumps of Kennel Crags, Kings Hill and onto Sewingshields Crag.

Someone had left a jolly little scarecrow, with green trousers and a straw bonnet, stuck into the ground and I wondered who and why, is it like the gnome who was photographed all over the world? Of course I took his photograph, who could resist that little happy face?

Something else that was in the picture is a white bag of stones, it's been lying in the dip between Cuddy's Crag and Housesteads Crag for a year now and look like a dead sheep. I'm going to see if I can get it moved but don't hold your breath.

The sunshine brought out plenty of visitors to the Fort at Housesteads, I hope it's a sign that we'll get plenty of visitors to our area this year, not just to walk the Hadrian's Wall Path but to visit our Roman sites and museums.

Larks were singing and one of my favourite signs of spring the bright yellow Coltsfoot was flowering as I headed back to the car, it's so nice to be out again.