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A Path to Newbiggin

Traveling along the A6 from Carlisle to Penrith you come across a sign to your right indicating Wreay.

So not sure what lies ahead, it maybe the road to nowhere!

After about 2 miles we come across a village green with a church to the right and a pub. 

Parking the car we all get out and go for a run on the village green.

A quick drink before we go exploring and then we set off heading further along the road we came in on.

We join a firm path past some nice houses and onto a tarmac lane leading down a hill.

It looks like this lane has been here for many many years as it is green with slippy moss in the middle.

The hill is not too steep and is shaded by old stone walls on either side.  

A small garden fire was burning behind one of the walls.  The smoke from it highlighted the sun breaking through the overhanging trees and filled the air with a comforting warm smell of hot wood.

Mum looked at the assorted hedges along our route beyond the wall. Holly seemed to be the basic hedging material with gaps filled with metal netting to stop the sheep and cattle escaping.

Continuing down the path, eager to sniff every smell and explore every gap in the fence or wall, the path opened out and we came upon a open view with no trees either side.

Metal railings indicated the approach to a bridge  and we were eager to peer through.

Below us was a big drop to some shiny brown snake like objects which mum called railway tracks. She said that trains use them to ride upon and that they should not be approached as they are dangerous. So we both ran over the bridge to get away and continue our walk.

As we left the bridge mum spotted an apple tree on the side of the embankment.  She wondered how it came to be there and how long it had been in residence.  Was it a discarded apple core from one of the early settlers many hundreds of years ago, she pondered?

The path led on past some allotments and we said hello to one of the gardeners.  He was eating his lunch whilst in his car listening to the radio,  maybe after a hard day harvesting from the smallholding.

The public footpath continued down a banking and to the rivers edge.  But first you had to use this very unusual contraption to get into the field.

A quick look at the steps and we all thought that we would give this a miss today as it had been raining and looked slippy and a little fragile.  So we continued along the solid road up the hill.

We have mentioned on a number of occasions that we love to paddle in water and Buster was the first to discover the stream.

Running alongside the road the trickle of fresh water cooled our paws and refilled our tummies, and you guessed it, made for two soggy doggies. 

Beyond the hedges on this bit of track were animals and crops.  To our left were cows munching on very green grass whilst to our right were soggy fields of corn.

Rustling in the wind the corn stood about 2m tall and if Buster had wanted to play hide and seek we would never have found him amongst it.

The ground, despite being on a hill, looked quite soggy and maybe was why this crop had not yet been harvested.

Dad says that we shouldn’t eat corn as it is bad for us.  Oh joy, another thing we can’t do.

Buster was starting to slow as we climbed the hill so we decided that we should start to make our return back the way we came.  At least it is downhill.

More information

Go to the Heritage & History site to find out more about Wreay

Leaflet about our walk and others in the area

 

Until next time and the rest of our adventures in Wreay.

Charlie and Buster

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