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Kingmoor Nature Reserve visited, Carlisle

To the woods near Carlisle today for our big walk of the week.

The Kingmoor Nature Reserve to the north of the City was to be our destination as dad didn’t fancy going to far with rain clouds circling overhead.  He thought that at least the trees would provide a bit of cover if it did start to rain.

Parking in the car park just off Kingmoor Road, once dad had negotiated the tight entrance with the car, we put on our leads and started getting aquainted with our surroundings.

The 33 hectares that make up one of the oldest nature reserves in the country has recently been awarded Green Flag status.

This area has been enjoyed by the public for nearly 700 years, only becoming a nature reserve or is reported on some websites a bird sanctuary in 1913.

King Edward III gifted the original moorland to the citizens of Carlisle in 1352.  Granting grazing rights and allowing peat cutting for fuel.

Following a quick glimpse at the notice boards at the entrance to the woods, our adventures started along a well made and dry track forming part of a circular 800m route suitable for buggies and wheelchairs.

We decided however, after a few yards  to follow our noses along some side pathways and off into the woods.

Scattered all over the woodlands are sculptures, seats and things to see.

Tall marker posts indicate what trees can be found nearby, so a visit would keep children interested.

One of the oldest suviving horse racing prizes used to be contested on these moors. A tradition which dates back to 1599.

The Carlisle Bells are still fought over every year at the racecourse at Blackwell towards the end of June and can be seen at the local Guildhall.

Many little signs.

What do these signs indicate and where do we find out more information, as yet again on a walk we come across new signs?

Mum finds it very frustrating when she can not find out about routes, paths or the history of why someone has taken the trouble to waymark a route.  Here are two examples of trails we followed in part today but even searching the web we can not find out about them.  Can you help?

Our path takes us into an area known as Kingmoor Coppice and a woodland planted between 1992 and 1995.

Here we meet up with these bullocks who are very friendly and say hello through the bars of the gate.  We keep our distance so as not to scare the young things.

Charlie is being kept on a very short lead today,  as mum is not happy with the way he is behaving. Constantly pulling on his lead he is always out in front but mum has had enough, and his wings, so to speak, are being clipped.

For a dog that has had lots of hours training spent on him, he has just lost his head today.

He even got right out at the full length of his lead only to take a right into the dirtiest, muddiest trickle of a stream before mum could reign him in.

It could be because of the millions of new smells or maybe it is a ‘moon thing’ that is making him have a ‘trying day’.

Either way, he is in the naughty books and mum is not pleased.

The walk for me however, is great.  The soft woodland floor is great for my dodgy hip and the dry paths keep us both clean and reasonably tidy. The overhanging branches kept out the heat of the sunshine and help keep us cool.

We did miss a bit of a paddle and a slurp of water from a flowing stream as they had all dried to a claggy mess.  So we were glad when our path swung around and we headed back to the carpark for a well earned drink.

It was here that we spotted this gigantic woodpecker. We missed him when we first arrived possibly due to our excitement but he is is carved into an old tree.

See if you can spot him when you go for a walk in the woods.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

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Gardeners’ World live in Birmingham

What time do you call it when in summer time it is still dark when you get up?  Very early, is the answer and so it was yesterday morning when the alarm clock shrieked the getting up noise.

Charlie and I had wondered why the picnic box had been made ready before we went to sleep and we had not been anywhere.

Mum and dad said we had to be on our best behavior, as they were visiting an event called Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham and would be away all day.

It was dark, we need our sleep and so they packed up the car and left.

Charlie and I would hear all about their day when they returned about 11pm.

Busy roads and wet weather.

Arriving at the NEC in Birmingham around 8.45am after a journey that involved negotiating roadworks, many speed limits and remarkably not getting lost, the olds headed straight for the exhibition halls for their grand day out.

This was the first day of the event and all the stall holders were eager to talk and discuss their products or offer samples.  Being a little quiet with visitors at times also helped to get everyone into the spirit of the event and iron out those last minute niggles before what is hoped will be a busy weekend.

The main event is the Gardeners’ World Live section featuring the very large RHS floral marquee, assorted outdoor exhibits and gardens and the main hall exhibition hall full of retailers.

One of the first items on display that caught dad’s eye was this wooden garden lodge constucted from arctic pine grown in Finland.

Featuring a central fire pit, bench seating and loads of space, both mum and dad could imagine spending time lightly toasting in a new office, however, they did note that a doggy flap would need to be fitted to allow us to share the warmth.

Seats, lights, tools, gadgets and clothing were all available from the hundreds of stalls scattered around the vast compex.

Comfy shoes were definitely needed as many miles are walked up and down the rows of exhibitors.

You can not visit an event like this without a certain amout of celebrity spotting.  Alys Fowler was the first as she appeared on one of the many stages at the show.

She has recently published a new book called The Thrifty Gardener: How to Create a Stylish Garden for Next to Nothing available through Amazon and other retailers.

Carol Klein was spotted in the RHS floral marquee surrounded by the many people that make up a BBC film crew.

Possibly she was recording for the BBC Gardeners’ World television programme this Friday on BBC 2, or maybe it was for something else.

Also in the floral marquee was Toby Buckland, again surounded by safety jacketed  film crew all busy watching screens, scribbling notes and keeping the autograph hunters out of the way whilst recording was going on.

Outside Joe Swift was to be found with some very technical camera kit mounted on a very sturdy pole.

The camera was operated remotely and could twist and turn in all directions.  It also went high in the sky to give those aerial views, way above the gardens before being lowered to be just in front of the presenter.

Other outdoor exhibits included the Dig in van, which by the time mum and dad visited was showing a hand written note on a piece of cardboard indicating they had run out of the days allocation of seeds.

With the rain starting to pour mum and dad went back into the main exhibition area to visit the Summer Good Food Show area.

Here were stalls selling sausages, pies, cheeses and many other tasty goodies.  Dad looked around to see if he could spot a new whisky or maybe some juicy fruit cake to bring back for supper.

Amongst the beers, ciders and assorted flavours of vodka he spotted Black Bottle. Dad likes his single malts so a blend is often shunned. However, after mum had a taster and given it the seal of approval, a bottle was purchased for later.

It turns out that this blend is made up of Islay Malts, dads favourites.

The fruit cake proved illusive but many stalls offering goodies for us were to be found.

You could be forgiven to thinking you had gatecrashed a dog show, commented mum, as she went from stall to stall finding new things to bring home for us as a reward for being good.

My allergies to certain proteins limited the choices at times, so I would like to say a big thank you to all of those offered up samples for us to try.

Mum did purchase some new treats including some very unusual sweet potato crinkle cut chews.

We will report back over the next few weeks as to which of these new flavours we like or dislike.

Mum and dad did not expect to see pet food suppliers at a good food show as it seemed out of context amongst all the sausages and cheese.  But it made the choice of prezzies for us easier.

With the quick downpour out of the way it was time to venture outside once more and see some of the show gardens.

This one caught the eye especially with the washing machine water feature and the interesting use of hundreds of common household items including a set of drawers filled with plants.

Both mum and dad were very tired when they got home so after a quick sample of some of the goodies we all went to sleep and had a good nights rest.

We do miss our mum and dad when they are away, but is is great to get some new treats to know they have been thinking of us.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

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Early morning walk in Rickerby Park, Carlisle

Sun beaming through the curtains and once again summer is here, well it seemed so looking out on the world this morning.

Breakfast was finished with much haste, our leads are attached and we are off for a walk to Rickerby Park. It is 7am.

Recent rain and the much cooler conditions have allowed mum and dad to do some much needed housework and to tend to the plants in the greenhouse without fear of missing out on a grand adventure.

So today it was our turn to get out and have some new sniffs.

Parking the car was a bit of a problem this morning as some naughty people had left rubbish including an old BBQ in the parking area.

Council cleaning people do a great job cleaning all of the parks and streets in the City but they must feel saddened when they come across a mess like this in a park full of sheep and cattle.

After saying hello to a fisherman trying to catch his breakfast, we left the car park and headed off in the direction of the Stoney Holme golf club following the path at the edge of the River Eden.

Dad mentioned that the water passing by our vantage point overlooking the River Eden, could have been in Appleby around 60 minutes ago and maybe one of the horses at Appleby Fair may have been bathing in it.

This gave Mum and Dad something to talk about whilst they tried to stop Charlie from scooting down one of the many trails from our high path and into the calm, reflective water.

Charlie is like a piece of steel attracted to a  magnet as he is constantly drawn towards water.

It is a good job he is kept on his lead or he would be in swimming around and drinking gallons.

Our path was occasionally obstructed by often quite large, hard to miss if you are running through the grass, piles of waste left by the cows.

These piles of manure really do stick to your fur as you squelch accidentally, honest mum, into their soft, stinking, moistness.

Avoidance is the name of the game however, like cracks in a pavement,  the more you try to miss the more you end up standing in or on as the case maybe.  It also turns our fluff a lovely shade of green.

With the Memorial Bridge ahead of us our path our path follows the line of the River Eden slightly off to the left at about 11 o’clock.

It is a good job we are not following a map requiring this confusing marker post for directions.

Tarmac paths  and well used earth paths criss cross the park which was opened in 1932 in memory of those who fell during the Great War 1914-18.

On this side of the park the river has started to erode into the natural earth banks causing them to crumble and decay.

This area is natural flood plain and during the winter can often be under many meters of water.

Work has started to try and stabilise the banks using willow trees.

It is hoped, according to the notice nailed to one of the fence posts,  that the saplings will grow and create a flexible, live, growing structure which resists and deflects the water flows enabling the bank and vegetation to re-generate and stabilise to prevent further erosion.

A quick websearch into the use of willow to prevent bank erosion also uses a very similar form of words….

Willow it seems has been used since the Middle Ages to shore up river banks, so is not a new technique.

We will keep an eye on the progress off this project over the next few years.

The post and wire fence along this stretch of the riverbank is an attempt to stop the sheep and cattle from eating the recently planted stems of willow however, if you just strain your neck you can reach some lovely fresh grass.

Many of the older trees in this part of the park have small white plastic number plates attached to them.

Mum assumed that maybe it was part of a survey and that somewhere a complete list exists of the trees in the area.  We wondered how many trees maybe documented. Five thousand, fifty thousand, a million maybe?

Our path turns sharp left here as we reach the top edge of the park and start our return journey.

At this point we must put our paws up and admit that the recent bad weather was our fault.  Wel, actually Mums fault as she decided that given the hot weather Charlie was in need of a haircut.  This scene in the park reminded me of the chaos in our back garden last week when the deed was done…. Fluff everywhere.

It looks like some of the sheep have also had a haircut here, or maybe it was one of those giant dogs used on the paint adverts.

Until next time, Keep wagging

Buster and Charlie.