Frosty ground and brilliant sunshine – just perfect for an early morning walk and that is exactly how we started the day.
Charlie enjoys the frosty morning on the playing fields of The Sheepmount Stadium.
Mum and dad promised that we would get out today ahead of the forcasted snow, which as yet has not arrived.
Buster has taken to wearing his fleecy jacket at this time of the year to try and keep his hip warm. For an old man he does very well on our expeditions.
Buster wears his winter coat
The frost over the last two nights had made the ground all firm and non-splodgy so we were in for a long walk as we would stay dry and above all clean.
Dad did not fancy getting the car out today as he didn’t want to de-ice it or face the busy roads full of Christmas shoppers so instead we walked to the starting point for todays walk.
Icicles form on the underside of the Waverley bridge
Engine Lonning was once a busy rail yard for the London & North Eastern Railway. The rail yard closed in the early sixties and nature has been swift to reclaim the area.
Recent renovation work in this area has improved the major paths through the site and on a frosty day like today it is fantastic.
Wooden steps lead down towards the former Waverley Bridge where we come across some naturally made ice pops.
Water, dripping from underneath the bridge arches, has frozen to form clear icicles which are glinting in the sunshine.
New flood plain created
Dad takes some pictures then breaks one off for us to lick. For some reason they don’t smell right so we decline a cool drink.
He now has wet paws which start to get really cold in the fresh air.
One the other side of the River Eden, mum notices that what appears to be hundreds of trees that have been recently planted.
Frozen leaves
It also looks as if the river bank has been taken away to allow the river to flood onto this area.
Resetting the food chain
After all the recent rain, this spell of dry hard frost is great to seal the arrival of winter and to reset all of the natural rhythms of nature.
Bugs and plants will especially benefit from the cold as it will ensure that the food chain is kept in check and that plants get their winter rest.
Recent warm winters have kept many plants awake and bugs and other insects have not been knocked back by what should be natures leveller, the cold icy UK winter.
Larch cones
Mum had noticed that in our garden the daffodil bulbs had already started to peek through the soil and that many of the bushes had started to grow new green buds.
Sunlight
Clear, fresh sunlight this morning made some of the plants shout out to be photographed.
Golden cones on this Larch tree twinkled with frost and almost seemed to glow as the low sunlight shone through the branches.
Our walk continued along the path past the river monitoring station and towards the Sheepmount Stadium.
Passing straight in front of the stadium we entered onto the playing fields beyond the astro-turf all weather pitches.
Footprints could be seen on the frozen grass where animals and people had been before us. Sunshine flooded the very tops of the trees and in the calm still air we took a moment to look around.
A DRS train
Monster
Nothing was moving on the fields. In the bushes to our left blackbirds scurried amongst the undergrowth in search of beetles whilst above them could be seen the occasional flashes of red as a robin stood guard.
Across the field and onto the lower field we tramped, our footprints left on flattened grass testament to our passage.
Through the ground came a monster rumbling towards us. Breaking the silence a DRS train thundered on the tracks across the bridge which we had walked under about 40 minutes ago.
Direct Rail Services (DRS) is based about a mile up the tracks from here and has recently been in the news helping communities in West Cumbria after the floods.
A brick with the words 'phorpres electricity'
Working on behalf of Northern Rail, DRS are providing additional capacity between Maryport, Flimby, Workington North and Workington to help residents of these areas move around after many bridges were washed away in the bad weather.
Brick
Whilst we watched the train, and to avoid mum getting scared of being under the bridge as the train went overhead we waited, and looking to the ground dad spotted a brick peeping through the low grass and mud.
Unusually this brick had the words ‘Phorpres Electricity’ stamped into it.
Searching the web when we came home seems to indicate that this brick may have been made in London at the London Brick Company works.
Further research by dad possibly reveals that Phorpres was a trade name which came about due to the number of times they were pressed ,four times = four press = Phorpres.
All dad can think of is that the brick came from an electricity building at some point in it’s history. Maybe you know more about this brick? Let us know via the comments area below.
Thats all for now.
Until next time
Buster and Charlie
