It has been a long time since Buster and I have updated our blog and I bet you were wondering where we had got to.
Well my mum and dad have been working hard on a project called Berkeleygrange.
This is a virtual Estate bringing together all of our sites under one roof.
The result of all this work has been that we have had only short walks and quite a load of down time. But the site is now live and, bar a few tweaks, should allow us to go and enjoy some summer walks and paddles. Our walk was to somewhere new, as a reward for putting up with the hassle of the new website.
We parked the car in the small railway station carpark at a place called Wetheral and all got out eager to investigate and get some new sniffs.
Right by the car park is a public footpath sign to the 99 steps… we just had to investigate..and sure enough were faced with many steep steps.
With only having 4 paws I had to use Busters and my mums hands to count them all and it would seem that indeed there are 99 or is it 101 or maybe 66? Well, never mind, it was a lot. A few of them were a bit worn, so I am glad it was not wet as they may have been a bit slippery.
At the bottom of the steps you could look up and see the underneath of a massive bridge. It is called the Wetherall viaduct. From the carpark you don’t really know it is there but from here it towers above you.
My dad, always with a camera, took this picture
I spotted people crossing on the walkway and got all excited because I too wanted to be ‘king of the castle’… more on this later. We have done a bit of websniffing and come across an old picture of a similar view in the Science Museum from1835.
We continue along the riverbank heading towards Warwick Bridge and after about 1/2 mile come across a sign to St Cuthberts Well. Now my dad says that a ‘well’ usually means water, and water means drinks, so we follow the sign along a narrow country lane
Passing past a private tennis court and onto a road we realise that no well is to be found.. oh well.. as they say.
We head back towards the railway station and my dad spots the entrance onto the viaduct where we saw those people earlier. 
With bright white railings on one side and the railway tracks to your right we ventured out into the valley. Don’t look down, it is a very long way.
We venture all the way across and back again… just for fun.
Up and over the railway tracks using a very old footbridge and back to where we parked the car. 
That round trip didn’t take long so more adventuring was needed. We headed up the hill and past the Post office onto The Green.
Time for a quick run around and my Mum spots a brown sign to The Priory Gatehouse.
.. our adventures continue….
Wetherall Priory Gatehouse
Around 500m along a quiet single track road, past some bulls in a field and a farm we come across the gatehouse. An imposing single column tower structure with an entrance wide enough just to get a car through.
You often think of a gatehouse across a road but this is off to the left at right angles to the modern road and led to the outer areas of the now demolished monastery.
The gatehouse has a number of rooms reached by a narrow curved staircase. You can see from the first floor where the now removed floor above would have been. More about the monastery can be read here
It was good to cool down in the stone building whilst we went investigating.
To the woods
We continued along the road away from the tower and making sure we kept into the roadside we came upon another public footpath sign. This time to the woods.
Passing alongside a field with some sheep in it
and through a kissing gate we came onto a well trodden path and what looked like some really old woodlands. Oak trees seemed to dominate the landscape with the usual mix of ferns and wild garlic below. For information wild garlic stinks and is not recommended to be sniffed.
The path had the occasional steep edges so I would suggest you stay on your lead just in case. The river Eden down to our left was so tempting as by now we really could do with a paddle and a drink.
After about 15 minutes we emerged onto the edge of the river and, after scaring a duck, we ventured into the quite deep water for that cooling of the paws.
Now it is said that large amounts of stone was quarried from around here for Hadrians wall and that nearby are fishtraps used by the monks in the nearby Monastery. But my dad didn’t get any pictures of these… so I think we will have to come back again.
Why is it that after a walk you find out about all the things you should have seen… and that a few leaflets are available.
Eden Countryside – Wetherall and Cotehill
Hadrians Wall Mini Guide
We returned back to the railway station via the same route and waiting for us was a friend sitting in the sun and keeping an eye on the car.
Our walk took about three hours and was great fun….
we got a bit messy, actually a lot messy so it was straight to the bath when we got home.
