Sewingshields

Nice sunny day on Tuesday so I took the chance to get out in the fresh air and headed off to Sewingshields Crag.

It's coming to the end of the school holidays and everyone seems to have headed up here to Hadrian's Wall at the first hint of sunshine, the car park at Housesteads was completely full, fortunately I know of a space not to far from Sewingshields and managed to park.

It's a steady climb up to Kings Wicket, the hay had been baled up in rolls and I spent some time trying to get a picture against the blue sky, but the angles were wrong. Grass hay doesn't have the same wow factor that a nice straw roll has does it?

Once up on the Hadrian's Wall Path I was amazed at the numbers of people about, this is usually one of the quieter spots, but in an hour I must have been passed by thirty or forty people.

Great news for the local economy.

(But here comes the grumpy bit!)

I was, however, dismayed by the numbers of people climbing over the Wall, it seems the signposts at Kings Wicket and Kennel Crag by the wicket gates need to be clearer. Folk were going through these gates, which are for the Penine Way, discover they're on the wrong side of the Wall and instead of retracing their steps they climb over.

At this point the Wall is also a field boundary and I wonder how these folk would feel if someone went climbing over their garden fence -I'm sure they'd object.

Of course if they'd been watching the Look North programme the other night they'd have seen Paul Paxton on one of his 'great short journeys' out at Cawfields and standing on the Wall - not setting a good example.

A real autumnal feel in the air now, where has the year gone?

Soon my season for sunset shots will begin as the sun moves back around towards the line of the Wall.

It's a lovely season with low light and gorgeous colours, already the trees are laden with berries, are we in for a snowy winter I wonder?

Catch you later.

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.