Another Bimble Up Binsey!!

The first thing people probably think about when someone mentions ‘Binsey’ is the little hill in the north of the lakes, and to be fair, compared to the rest of the fells in the Lakes district, it is a small fella.  However, after climbing it a couple of times before the views from the top are quite impressive. 

We were on our annual trip to a well-known lodge site north of Bassenthwaite and we wanted to introduce our new Springer puppy to the fells without absolutely beasting her.  We had taken Alfie, our older ESS, up Hallin Fell when we had bought him years ago so we thought it fitting to take Charlie up there as her first wainwright too, we managed that on the first day and it took approx. 1 hour.  So on the third day we walked from the lodge door and headed towards Binsey.

Now, all the books say a puppy should only complete 5 minutes walk for every month of its life until adulthood.  I’m no expert as such, but if anyone has owned an ESS, or any working spaniel for that matter, you will know that half an hour walk for a 6 month old ESS will be as effective as a fart in a hurricane.  I think these experts who write these books are generalising and mostly referring to either little handbag dogs or very big dogs who have to watch weight stress on their bones. 

So, back to Binsey, the lodge site we were staying is literally across the A591 so we on the morning we had picked to have a look up we throw some cold weather kit on at the lodge and set off out of the site.  We crossed the road and through a gate up a farm track.  The weather gods had graced us with a decent frost the night before and the sun was shining that morning.  In fact the sky was crystal clear which is a treat lakeside, plus this was a week day and the fell appeared to be ‘people free’.  The farm track was a straight approach to the base of the fell stretching east to west, passing through a couple of gates until the ground starts to accent. 

The las time we tried this route, the ground was so frozen and icy it was virtually impossible to walk up the well-trodden path so we abandoned the walk and set up camp in the lodge site bar.  But this time the frost had covered the grass and heather but the ground was softish and was ‘grippable’. 

The accent wasn’t tasking and we were at the top in no time at all.  Both the dogs taking the route in their stride and it’s a joy watching both ESS’s working the heather, running up and down the ghyll and generally running constantly until we reached the top.  I have pondered the idea of fitting a pedometer to Alfie in the past but I can guarantee I’d be replacing it every outing as the amount of scurrying about the dogs do I would lose any attachment down the nearest rabbit hole or off the top of some crag somewhere.  I can imagine my dogs will probably complete 5 times more millage than me and the missus, virtually unbreakable. 

The route up was rewarded with one of the best views in the area.  Like I said, the day was clear and the rest of the Lakeland hills, and thus provides a good spot to look out at the Northern and North Western Fells of the Lake District, as well as the coastal plain and, across the Solway Firth, Scotland. Snaefell on the Isle of Man.  

Some kind souls over the years have built and maintained circular wind breakers out of the tons of stones laying at the summit.  But today it was redundant with only a breath of chilly air greeting us at the top.  We noticed on the way up that a cloud inversion had formed over Bassenthwaite, stretching down towards Keswick and had created quite a spectacle.  So the phones were out at the top and photo opportunities were plenty.  Both dogs were enjoying the sheep free summit which is quite a flat plateau covered in heather.  We were also surprised to see 3 or 4 Christmas trees complete with baubles stood proudly in the heather.  Fell walkers have a canny sense of humour sometimes!

Someone who lost her sense of humour whilst taking pics of the afore mentioned tree was the missus, the temperature was dropping and making handling mobile phones hard, Mrs. Hiker dropped her phone which did land safely on its back on the frosty grass, however the frosty grass was on a slight incline and as Charlie the ESS puppy saw Mrs. H bend down to retrieve the phone, she kicked it down the slope and with its smooth back it set off on its 10 metre journey before coming to rest in some heather, luckily just before a steeper way down which may not have ended well.

Phones retrieved safely and gloves back on hands we set off back down as the clouds were starting to collect in the north and snow was forecast.  We descended the same way we came up for haste and it turned out to be a good call as  when we stepped off the fell through the first gate into the approach field the first flakes of snow hit us and the once cloud free summit was now shrouded in a thick grey hat. 

I do hate to preach as we’re all grown-ups but being able to read the weather before it happens is essential in the hills, we read the weather well that day and both safe and well.  I know Binsey is tiny compared to the likes of Skiddaw and Blencathra, but calling out MR isn’t on my ‘to do’ list on any fell we visit.

We had a few hours out with some very good pics taken.  Charlie’s second Lakeland fell and she took it in her stride.   Small fell with great views!!

Scarpa Boot Cleaning!

After an odd couple of years which you may have noticed I’ve not managed to blog as much as I should, not just Covid but other personal issues, health etc I’m doing a quick blog just to try and get back into the swing of things.   

It’s been a long time since I’ve written about walking kit, or gear as some like to call it, so I thought a nice simple but none the less essential bit of advice of how I do things, doesn’t mean to say it’s the right way but after over 3 decades I’ve picked up a few things along the way. 

Boots! Or more accurately, our (me and the missus have the same boot make/model) Scarpa Terra GTX boots.  In previous blogs I’ve explained that I’m not a kit guru, I find a bit of walking kit and if it work’s I stick with it.  For crying out loud my base layer, a bog-standard Lowe Alpine short sleeve I‘ve had since 1995 and still use it when out and about.  I used to use Karrimor KSB boot for most of the 90’s but when the old boots gave up the ghost, I found the replacement update didn’t suit my feet, not because they’re a bad make, just didn’t suit me.  I tried a pair of Meindl’s which were a nice boot, but again didn’t suit my feet so after a few miles tried a pair of Scarpa’s after the missus had chosen a pair when I got the Meindl’s.   

I know exactly what I like about them, the leather is soft but durable.  They’re light and fit around my feet perfectly.  They’re made from a really soft leather; I’ve heard it called Buck leather or something but it is still hard wearing.  The only thing is they do need to be taken care of to get the maximum wear from them.  So, with that in mind for anyone out there I would like to pass on how I take care of ‘our’ boots, I say ‘our’ as the missus doesn’t even know where I keep the cleaning kit.

 

The first thing I do takes place on the last walk we do before cleaning, I find a stream or long wet grass and clean any dirt off.  Get home and the day after, or ASAP, take the laces out and get them over the sink and using an old plastic bristled pan scrubber I clean off any excess dirt.  I DON’T scrub them within an inch of their lives, the bristles are just useful for getting in the knucks and crannies.  Then while the boots are still damp, I squirt a grape size blob of NikWax leather cleaner onto a soft bristled boot brush.  Massage the cleaner with the brush all over the boot, into the tongue area and the stitching.  I then let the cleaner dry on the boot before putting the laces back in.  At this point some of the cleaner will have collected in the lace loops which the plastic part of the lace will push out, I just rub the little chunk into the leather. 

It isn’t a kick in the arse off the instructions on the NikWax tube but it works well for us, and unless you spend your next route trapsing through cow fields and farm yards, that clean should last about 4 or 5 walks without having to clean again.   

I have walking buddies who never clean their boots and I just don’t get it, they are replacing the boots every 3 to 4 years and complain after a year when the water starts to seep in!? 

Guys I’m not sponsored by these manufacturer’s and don’t sell for them, it’s just my opinion! 

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Roseberry Round!

There are many areas around the North East where you can travel relatively few miles to find somewhere to have a nice, scenic walk.  One of these is the Cleveland/North Yorkshire Moors.  The area around Great Ayton, Stokesley and surrounding villages is one part of the NE where you can find a variety of surroundings in which to walk.

There is a well-known place, Roseberry Topping is visited by school parties, families and just about everyone who wants the feeling of climbing a fairly big hill and taking in the views at the top.  To be fair, it is a bit like Catbells in the Lake District, as in gets a bit crowded and if you like a nice quiet walk out it probably isn’t my first choice, but we thought we’d have a look out but use the surrounding area to ‘beef’ up the walk a bit.

I plotted a route which starts on a small lane called Dikes Lane, which you can get onto by going to Great Ayton and following the sign to Great Ayton Train Station then staying on that small road up into the hills and a carpark that conveniently has a picnic site.

We arrived about 11am and there were a few cars already parked up.  This is a well-used car park as it is also an ideal starting point to visit Captain Cook’s monument.  It was just me, the missus and Alfie the Springer Spaniel walking today and apart from a very strong (annoying) breeze, the sun was making an appearance every now and again and no rain was forecast, which was good.

I had planned this route so we could get our hill fitness back as we had been neglecting mountainous areas of late and the old leg muscles were getting a bit unworked, apart from the allotment that is.  I saw by the map, the route I’d marked out would have 3 short but steep climbs to work our hearts and legs, and one of these was at the very start.  The path is clear, it sets off north up the steep steps up onto Great Ayton Moor, hugging the wall/fence to the left.  This takes you up onto the top, the views in all directions are stunning, as long as you can block out Middlesbrough (just kidding, it’s a lovely place).  For about 2 km keep to the right hand side of the wall until you reach the junction in the wall which goes of in a number of directions.  We decided, even though we’ve summited it a few times, to go up Roseberry Topping.  It is quite obvious which path to take now, it drops down the hill into a dip with Roseberry straight in front of you.  At the bottom of the dip we turned left through a gate and stayed on the path until we saw the gate at the SE of the hill.  Through the gate and up a zig zagged path to the top and loads of people!

The council have tried their hardest to sand blast the etched in graffiti which pretty much dominates the summit, to be fair they’ve done a good job as it doesn’t look half as bad as I used to.

Whilst on the top, we noticed a bit of a drama taking place.  We heard a lot of shouting coming from the start of the easterly decent down.  On further inspection, a bloke was shouting at a youth, about 15 years old, who was on his hands and knees gripping tightly to the rock surface.  Listening in, the young lad was scared the wind was going to blow him off the top, I mean it was a bit breezy but it wouldn’t have blown the dog off, near mind this lad.  Anyway, the lad clawed his way to shelter near some rocks and he eventually stood up.  It reminded me of one of our trips up Helvellyn and a young lass crawling the whole way across Striding Edge because she thought she might be blown off, it was about 25c and no wind (for once).  I didn’t know whether to piss myself laughing or feel sorry for the poor lass…I generally don’t feel sorry for people!

Now, this is one of the things I try not to bang on about but it is one of my pet hates, OK, Roseberry Topping is very popular tourist spot.  It’s a hill or mountain which ever you want to call it or which ever way you define it.  For the purpose of this rant, I’m going to call it a big hill.  This hill is clearly pathed, nice stone steps in places but still places where you can fall and snap bones.  It stands 320 m above sea level, but even the 200m ascent from the car park in Newton Under Roseberry it still needs to be climbed.  Even looking at the map, the contour lines are canny close so you should expect a steep climb.  There are still people wandering up and down in shoes and trainers, unsuitable footwear!  A fall, even at this relatively small hill will need the emergency services to come to you, unless you have a day sack with a good first aid kit.  A good pair of walking boots will give you the extra support and stability you may need during a slip.

 

While I’m at it, if you see me in the hills, you’ll know who I am, tall dark Yorkshire man with a North East twang.  I have what would appear to the average person a large day sack on my back.  I’ve been out with people who say, “You carry too much for a day out”, but I carry a good set of emergency equipment.  The reason I carry this is because unlike others, I realise that mountain rescue organisations are funded by charity, nothing else.  And I would be mortified if I had to call them if one of my party sustained an injury.  As a Leader I would expect to give first aid and evacuate a casualty, unless in extreme circumstances.  You see people up on hills with inadequate equipment who expect if anything goes wrong, mountain rescue have a right to retrieve them! It’s wrong, wrong, wrong!!

Anyway, back to the route.  We decided to drop off the hill in a NE direction and take the clearly marked out path into Hutton Lowcross Woods.  This is a lovely forest area and the wildlife was teeming.  We followed the path to the open ground at the end where it joined a small minor road that goes SE into Hutton Village.  We took this route then joined a path just before the village on the right and started the climb up back onto the moorland through the woods.

As we emerged out of the wood-land we recognised the spot as part of the Cleveland Way, which we completed a few years ago.  Again, the views were incredible and with the path being wide enough to see it from the moon, I could concentrate on the view momentarily instead of reading the map.

RANT No 2 coming up!!

Roughly about 500m down this path there is what appears to be an old air defence bunker built from brick and the building itself is in good condition.  Being very interested in anything military I had a quick look inside.  It was littered with plastic and glass bottles!  Now this is what I can’t get my head around, people that would come across this building would generally be walkers or shooters, both kinds of people who look after the countryside and would not (I would hope) leave so much crap around, for god’s sake there was an old car seat in amongst the bottles!  Dirty, dirty gits!!

We carried on down the path until coming to an obvious junction with a track heading south down into Nab End Woods.  This is a steepish path downwards which is clearly been made for heavy plant machinery.  The countryside opens up on the right-hand side and a view into the farmland of Oak Tree Farm.  Halfway down this track my wife Kel, let’s out a god-awful scream as the dog picks something up in his mouth.  Both me and the dog jump out of our skin and he drops what he had put in his mouth.  The missus shouts, “it’s a giant caterpillar!”, prompting me and Alfie to look down at a Pine Cone lying between his front paws.  With my heart pounding out of my chest I painted the North York air with blue language before both Kel and me crying with laughter at her over dramatisation.

We plodded on down to the main road and turned right up towards the farm.  The last leg went up through the farm buildings and up to the car park.

Just over 7 miles of gorgeous moorland, woodland and farmland, all the boxes ticked!

I feel I need to take more advantage of this area, it’s 30 mins from my doorstep and there are some great routes waiting to be hiked!

 

Lowland Leader Assessment

Back in November last year, I attended a Lowland Leader Course which was ran by Cliff LOWTHER of Roxcool for Mountain Training.  This was a 2-day course to set me up in navigation and other outdoor skills so I could complete an assessment enabling me to take out groups for Lowland walks.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I did the assessment, another two days of intensive navigation and first aid and various other outdoor skills.

The first day started with a meet at the village hall in Borrowby, near Thirsk.  The weather was sunny and looked to stay good for the day.  One of the other candidates was already there as I pulled up, he was one of the lads on the 2-day course in November so we had a chat and put our boots on.  Cliff, the instructor, turned up in his VW campervan, only to be met by my new purchase, my new T5 VW Campervan conversion and he was given a guided tour of my pride and joy.  We set up in the hall which didn’t take too long as one of the 3 expected candidates had cancelled last minute so it was two to be assessed instead of three.  The instructor had a smile on his face when he stated the smaller group would mean a more intensive 2 days, I was happy with that!

The other candidate was called Chris, so Chris and I planned a route on a 25:1 map around the area and had it sorted in 10 minutes.  Cliff said the route had to take in woodland, farmland and road to keep the job right, so our 7 mile offering was accepted and we packed up our kit and drove to the start point.

We had a good session over the route we planned, lots of ‘Distance, Direction, Duration, Description and Dangers’ thrown in and the weather gave us a nice soaking.  Overall the day went swimmingly and Cliff had no problems with our performance.  The drive home was with a head buzzing about any mistakes I might have made and the next day of assessment.

Day 2 we met in Swainby and what looked like an overcast day.  Chris and I knew this day would be the make or break to gain the qualification which to be fair, only had taken 3 days, but a very hard 3 days.  Using 50:1 maps (which I can’t stand due to fences/boundaries not shown) we set of into the Cleveland Hills and farmland.  We started off with ‘blind navigation’ from the start.  This is when only one candidate gets shown start/route/finish point, the other has to know exactly where they are when asked by the instructor at any point during the route.  Which means you cannot switch off no matter what!

The route passed by, changing navigator every quarter mile or so.  But during this, the instructor stopped the two of us and asked about flora and fauna.  This is an essential skill if you want to keep walkers interested during a day out and to be fair, it does make the route a bit more interesting.  So, you have to know your Sorrells from your Jack by the Hedge and your Swallows from your Swifts.

Our course joining instructions informed us to have a 5 minute informational talk ready for the final day, something relative to the outdoors and hiking.  Both Chris and I had discussed our topics and were forearmed and ready for the bombshell to be dropped by the instructor at any time.  Plus, we were braced for our first aid scenarios which were no doubt going to happen when we’d let our guard down slightly, and they did!

I don’t want to give too much info in case I ‘spoiler’ future courses but what I can say, what an enjoyable course and final assessment, well worth a go if you’re interested in walking outdoors.

Organised Walk Around Shincliffe!

On Saturday 29^th December 2018, my sister in law, Alison, who runs the company ‘Journey to Discovery’ had organised a Christmas ‘Bobble hat’ walk in the Durham area.  She told me a few days before that quite a few people had shown interest and she double checked with me if I was still coming because she had almost 16 people told her they were coming, and she wanted my help.

We all met up at Sunderland Bridge which is near Croxdale on the River Wear.  Most had fulfilled the brief and were sporting Christmas Bobble hats, except me, no way was I gonna wear one.  I’m from the old school that head wear is for practical purposes.  I wore my trusty Berghaus ‘Dut’, which once the winter sun got out was swapped for my peak cap.

Ali gave everyone a briefing and forms that needed to be signed and before long we were on the footpath NE under the A 167 then through the woods to Croxdale Hall.  The route is fairly clear and it continued to Croxdale Woods.

At this point the group also consisted of 6 or 7 dogs so the group was pretty lively and at points were stretched out a good few metres, but that’s why Ali wanted me there, ‘Tail End Charlie’ to pick up any stragglers.

The route swang east around Butterby Woods up to High Butterby Farm where a group photo was taken and Ali’s stash of Christmas cake was consumed.  I had a little look at the path we were about to take down into Shincliffe Wood and it was muddy and there were quite a few twigs and branches poking down into unsuspecting eyes, especially for the taller of the group so warnings were given to watch feet and eyes.

The route drops quite quickly as it joins the Wear at the bottom of the slippery path but even though there were a few slips and near misses but all backsides were clear of mud and no eyes had been popped out, bonus!  I must say, this stretch of the route I have walked a million times and I never get bored of it.  The Wear has a good selection of birds using it and this is where the path stays level so you can look about at the scenery instead of staring at the floor in case you end up on your arse.

Ali had explained in the joining instructions a refreshment break would be taken at the garden centre in Shincliffe which I think was a good place, well, that or The Rose Tree pub and I think it was ideally placed for some of the tired legs and feet at the rear of the group.

Sat in the centre’s café it was quite clear that people were in very good spirits and everyone was getting on fine, even the ones who had just met were talking like they’d known each other for years and a good deal of hilarity could be heard.

After a good break, it was time to make a move for the route back, not before Milo the Cocker-Poo helped out the staff at the garden centre by watering a few of the ornamental plants.  Back on the track we walked in on, we took a left turn east up to West Grange then went on to join Strawberry Lane which is a clear route through the farmland and a great view across the area.

We were a good few miles into the walk at this point and we had regained the height lost in Shincliffe Wood on the route in when we took the steep path back up through the woods to West Grange.  The slower of the group, who had struggled on some of the hills were still laughing and joking, even though I know some had a couple of feet problems and tired legs.

Strawberry Lane took us south for a good distance, passed Pigeon Plantation to a 4 way junction in a small copse.  A turn right west, passed High Croxdale all the way back to Croxdale Hall to re-join the first part of the route back to the start.

This walk was really good craic, I made a few friends and actually spoke to people I didn’t know socially, which is not like me.

Ali showed great form on this walk, she has a great ability to make people feel at ease and can control with out being controlling, if that makes sense.

Another great route not too far from my doorstep!

 

Lowland Leader Course!

As I storm into retirement, I have slightly more spare time on my hands, well, after I’ve finished all the housework and hack away at the never-ending list of jobs given to me by the other half and my mother in law.

I decided to book myself onto a Lowland Leader Course which are conveniently ran by one of my old mates.  I had to join the Mountain Training Association first to get on the course and register onto the website and commence a Digital Log Book (DLOG).  My mate told me to get a few quality Lowland walks onto the log to put me in good stead for the course.  This wasn’t too difficult as I have numerous walks under my belt so it was just a case of filling in all the drop-down boxes on the DLOG and adding a brief description of the walk.

The course, if I’m successful, would allow me to take small groups out in Lowland areas for walks and also allows me to take out bronze award Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) candidates.

I turned up on the first day of the two-day course early Saturday morning at a local (ish) cricket club.  The instructor was there to greet me and it was great to catch up with my old friend.  There were only 3 (including me) candidates for the course, but this is better for us and it means the instructor can focus more individually.

The first half of the first day was taken up by kit, weather, walking group dynamics and checking the candidate’s navigation knowledge.  This is a very full couple of days as you could imagine so bait was eaten at the table to get everything covered,  which to be fair is fine by me as I’m not one for standing around gossiping, which I find is the norm in one hour’s meal breaks on these sort of things.

Then it was out into the area with a pretty good route to navigate.  The route was broken down into sections which we took turns in leading.  We used 1:25 for this section of the course and we had some pretty tricky routes to lead.  The afternoon went very quick and we returned back to the base in dusk, mentally knackered.  A couple of glasses of wine were needed back at home and an early night.

The next day we met at Hutton Rudby in North Yorkshire for day 2, the weather Gods were our friends today as rain had been forecast but we were met with broken cloud and sun.

Today was a full day of navigation, risk assessing, first aid scenarios, timed pacing and step counting.  We were using a 1:50 map for this day and route, I don’t like 1:50’s!  The first half of the day was using the ‘5 D’s’.  Distance, Direction, Duration, Description and Dangers.  The instructor showed us individually the section of the route he wanted us to lead.  We then had to study and give a full brief of the 5 D’s we expected to encounter.  Stopping mid walk if we wanted to change anything we had predicted.  Mentally draining, plus we had to described features, wildlife and any other points of interest as if we were out with a group, to make it more interesting.

The second half was ‘blind leading’.  This is where the instructor gives you a section of the walk in private, not telling the others in the group.  Making the rest of the candidates navigate (which they should be doing anywhere to be honest) and show the instructor at the end of the section where they believed they were.  Throw in first aid scenario’s again, ending the day in dusk and individual briefings in the pub.

A great couple of days with top lads and a good few laughs.

Next, assessment day in April!

Daysack Upgrade!

What are we calling it, Daysack, Daypack or Rucksack?!

I think mainly ex military call them Daysacks as we used to use ‘Daysacks’ for range days or carrying a small amount of kit for day exercises etc.  The serious stuff went in our Bergans when we were out for days at a time.

But for my days out in the hills I have been using my trusty North Face 30 litre Daysack.  I’ve had this for at least 8 years now and it was starting to get a bit tired.  When I say tired, I mean bloody exhausted!  It has the old fashioned stretchy mesh compartments on each side, which I used to store my Sig bottles.  But over the years the mesh has become a bit ‘saggy’ and for the last couple of years my bottles have started to fall out when crossing stiles and when taking the Daysack off for whatever reason.  Which usually resulted in me decorating whatever landscape I was in with a deep colour of blue with my language.

Also I was finding the amount of kit I have been carrying has been increasing, especially in the winter, and my old 30 litre was starting to burst at the seams.  I prefer to have a bit of spare space rather than buckle straps at their maximum.  Plus, and I’m gonna get some stick for this, my pet hate out and about, is kit strapped to the outside of a Daysack.  You see them out there, hikers who set of with way too much clothing on and decide to strip off halfway up a fell, but instead of storing it away, they strap it to the outside resulting in bits of kit flapping about in the wind.  I understand hikers who are out for days on end having kit strapped to the outside, like roll mats etc.  I’ve even seen hikers with what appears to be a nearly empty Daysack, still with kit strapped to the outside!

Anyway, rant over, I’ve gone for the Osprey Kestrel 48!  My walking pal has been using an Osprey for some time and I have seen them in action.  He’s a DofE assessor and runs a troop of Explorers and gets the most out of his kit.  I’ve been saving specifically for a new Daysack and decided to take a trip to Go Outdoors in Stockton to have a look.  I saw the one I liked the look of, green of course.  I asked one of the blokes about the one I’d spotted and what’d ya know.  He fitted it for me, measured my back and altered all the straps, showed me how to pack it, the works,  I was waiting for a rub down and a Shiatsu, but apparently the service doesn’t include this!  Bless the bloke, didn’t have the heart to tell him I’ve been packing Daysacks for over 30 years, I let him have his moment.

This choice is no reflection on North Face kit, my old Daysack hasn’t gone to the great kit heaven in the sky, nope it’s been given a part time job as my course attendance bag.  Carrying much lighter kit like books, folders and pens!

New Start…

Like some blogs I’ve noticed they seem to dry up, sometimes for a couple of months and some for years.  I know mine hasn’t been on full steam for some time and this I can only put down to a mixture of uncertain times in my career and my mental health not being as it should be.  If you have read my previous log about mental health that will give you a bit of a heads up on that matter.

Anyway, I am soon to retire from my career as a Police Officer and even though I’m still fairly still young (51) I will have a little bit extra time to concentrate on this blog.  I still have to work but I’ve decided after 30 years of military and police work, I’m going to look after myself a bit better and take my foot off the confrontation pedal.

With this in mind I am going to make the most of the countryside and get back out hiking more, with or without the missus but as always with Alfie my Spaniel who has more mental health issues than me!

 

Route recce around Embleton, Co. Durham.

Thought I’d turn over a new leaf and bring my blog back to life, it’s been some time since I posted a walk and had not been motivated enough to write about anything, but after writing a few Trip Advisor reviews I thought I’d show my blog some attention.
My sister in law owns Journey To Discovery, a guided walks venture, and she asked me if I’d recce a route with her in the area, so I said I would have a look out with her on my day off.
We met at the car park on the A689 on the north side near the bridge where the walkway from Hurworth Burn Reservoir crosses. It had been raining the whole journey to the spot but seemed to ease off as I pulled into the ‘free’ car park and met up with Ali.
We had a quick chat as I donned my day sack and I greeted my old mate Bruce, the enormous German Shepherd. As we chatted the rain started again so we made tracks and headed north east along a track towards Low Swainston and walked through the farm , heading north up to Embleton.
There’s a few buildings in Embleton but it is apparently a medieval village, like Swainston we’d just passed. After turning right and checking out the derelict church, the track drops down into a dip that someone has built a great, hidden house in fantastic grounds. The path goes straight up through a gate and across a large field called Embleton Moor. The path goes up to ’11 oclock’ and drops down into a beck and over a wooden foot bridge.
By this time it had been raining horizontal and the waterproofs had been put to the test. We laughed about the first time we went out walking about 8 years ago, the weather was exactly the same and it cost me a mobile phone due to getting so soaked.
The path circumnavigates

a large field and then heads north towards Embleton Old Hall. The path then goes around the house and grounds initially but cuts through the rear of the garden onto the track out of the grounds, west on another track towards the Castle Eden Walkway. We decided we’d stay on the small track running parallel ish with the walkway to Green Lane Cottages. Here we joined the walkway south down to the a car park and 4.9 miles later, back at the car.
A good short range route sorted for future use by Ali’s clients, hopefully the weather will be better next time.

Another look up Roseberry Topping!

I have a few friends from work who like the outdoors, we go on small dog walks and generally get together about once every two months (if we’re lucky) and take Alfie out for a leg stretch.  We have a ‘What’s App’ chat group where we basically chat about anything and take the piss every chance we get too.

During one of these chats my friend Shiv stated she had never been up Roseberry Topping, which is situated in the hills in North Yorkshire, or Cleveland if you want.  So, we decided to meet up and have a walk up the tiny hill.

 

 

Seeing as we all work shifts finding a date would be hard but managed to find a day we were all off, and would you believe it, the weather was even nice to us.

I’ve blogged about Roseberry before but it’s always nice to revisit and share different experiences.  We all meet at ours and drive down the A19 and head for the hills.  In the lovely little village of Great Ayton a quick left turn up Dikes Lane and before we knew it we were at the car park putting our boots on.  We started walking up the path which heads north up onto the heather and the awesome views that stretch across for miles and miles.

 

 

 

 

We walked next the dry-stone wall which is an easy way of knowing you’re going in the right direction as it keeps with you the whole way.  Once we all got our breath back it was time to start taking the micky out of each other.  As anyone who knows

and does the work we do, getting the piss ripped out of you is a sign of affection.  With a mixture of food chat and light hearted insults, the junction in the wall where we turned left was up on us before we knew it.  From here you can see the path up Roseberry, which to be fair looks quite steep from this distance, but at least the drop down to the start of the path gave us a chance to build up the enough steam to march to the top which we did quite quick.

The night before, Kel had knocked up some Millionaire Shortbread and Lemon Drizzle Cake for the top after our sarnies, well to be honest, she had only made the Shortbread but she was guilt tripped into making the Lemon Drizzle by Lou so she knocked one up just for her.  The top was busy and we settled down to stuff our faces and take in the view.

The top is covered in graffiti, or rather ‘etchings’ with ‘art’ stretching back to 1881 which, I can quite imagine the Victorians spending the day on the top taking in the view of the mines and the smog.  After half an hour of munching and being robbed of any remaining lemon Cake by Lou we made our way down the way we came.

The journey back was filled with the workings of a ‘She Wee’ and the appearance of a football on the route which wasn’t there on the way in.  Lou couldn’t get her head round the shape and the ‘fittings’ of the female urination equipment.  Kel didn’t make the conversation any better by saying the last time she used it, “It squirted out the back!”  And the football, well that’s still a mystery, although if it was a youngster who brought it with him and left it there to collect after he’d summited Roseberry, Alfie didn’t help by hiding it in the heather. 

Towards the end of the route the talk turned to a conversation that is well ploughed during any of these walks: my accent!  I’ve lived in the north-east for nearly 20 years now and have known people for the best apart of that, but my accent is still a source of amusement.  I don’t mind to be fair and find it funny!

Back at the cars the talk turned to the pub and where to go, we found a nice little place in the village where of all places we started talking to a chap from Easington who had been in Yorkshire for 30 years.

Great day and lovely weather to boot, back to Casa De La Hyde for Toad in’t Hole!