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.

King Edward monument – Burgh by Sands

Yesterday our update ended after our walk in Finglandrigg Wood  however, we managed to get a second walk done as we visited the King Edward 1 Monument at Burgh by Sands.

Burgh, pronounced brough as in woof, is on the Solway plain between Scotland and England and is the site possibly for the remotest monument for a monarch anywhere.

We followed the roadsigns from the village to a small car parking area and then continued on foot down a farm track.

You can see the monument in the distance slightly to your left as you walk away from the carpark.

Charlie once again was in charge and covered most ground as he sniffed first oneside of the road then the other not wishing to miss anything.

The firm, but slightly dirty, farm track led to a stile and onto the Solway Marshes.

A finger post sign indicates, as if you can’t work it out, that the monument is to your left and that we need to be kept on our leads as it is lambing time. 

The grass here tasted quite salty and was quite short.  In the distance were a number of sheep and we kept our distance following the faint path across the undulating  marsh.

Unlike our earlier walk this land was not really too boggy so we could scamper about quite easily without getting too dirty.

As we approached the monument we noticed that it was surrounded by a small wall with very tall railings.

A padlocked gate stopped us from entering onto the actual memorial site  so we walked all around to see what we could see.

As we looked out across the Solway the monument was the tallest structure for miles around and in winter this place must be horrible as no shelter could be seen.

King Edward I, or Longshanks as he was known due to his height of 1.88m, made camp here as he made one of his many campaigns against the Scots.

A plaque at the base of the sandstone monument reads

King Edward I Monument ( built 1685)

Edward I fought a long bitter campaign to conquer Scotland

Old and sick he made camp on these marshes whilst preparing to subdue his enemy Robert The Bruce.

Edward died here on July 7 1307

 
King Edward was laid in the nearby St Michael’s Church, in the former county of Cumberland, before being taken to Westminster Abbey in London for burial.

His tomb is marked by a simple stone slab which bears the epitaph ‘Here lies Edward, the Hammer of the Scots’.

After we had enjoyed the sunshine and had a bit of a rest we started our walk back to the car.

This meant we had to negotiate the stile again and as is now customary we did a bit of limbo and sneaked under the fence whilst mum and dad struggled to climb over the top whist holding onto our leads.

Charlie spotted a drinking trough on our journey back up the hill and just stopped, as by now he was thirsty again.

Dad reached through the fence to see if the inlet valve worked, it did, so now came the question of how to get our drink.

Dad thought he would be clever and using a trick he learnt in the Scouts many years back made a paper cup from a piece of paper.  It fell apart as soon as we started to lick.  

Mum then had an idea and using a small plastic bag she had in her pocket  she proceeded to make a small bowl.  

Fantastic,  fresh clean water and loads of it.

After two walks we had started to look a bit grubby and so when we returned home it was straight to the bath and a good wash down.  

We were actually very muddy and mum had to was us both twice.  

We had had a great day and some fantastic new sniffs.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

We visit Finglandrigg Wood near Kirkbride

With the dry weather continuing we managed once again to get in to the big world for another adventure this week and our travels took us to a place where we could have so much fun.

Finglandrigg Wood was until now unknown to any of us and was another one of those places you would normally just pass by in the car on your way to somewhere else.

Our original destination was to be Silloth by the sea and our route was to be via the backroads out of the city.  

Dad prefers the quiet country roads when he has time as he says you can stop easily if something takes your eye or you can enjoy the drive a little more at a slower speed.

We left the City behind us and headed out on the B5307.  After about eight miles we noticed a pull in spot ahead and a big white notice saying National Nature Reserve.  

With a place to park the car and the prospect of some new sniffs we just had to stop and investigate.

At the entrance to the reserve was a large noticeboard explaining that we should be kept on a lead so as not to frighten sheep or disturb the wildlife.  The information panel also went on to explain the route we could take and what we could hope to see on our visit.

Leading away from the carpark, past some picnic tables and a bike rack, was a slightly muddy farm track.  It was at this point mum pointed out that her shoes were ideal for the paths at Silloth and not ideal for tramping.  She should have known better coming out with us and dad.

We soon left the track and emerged into a woodland with a dry cinder type footpath underfoot.  Marker posts with green and blue arrows showed us which way to go but Charlie just led the way.

To one side of us were cattle grazing in a field whilst to our right was the quite open forest.  

It was not a heavily wooded forest but quite airy and full of sniffs.

Mum commented that she did not see many of the usual flowers or plants living on the ground as she would have expected and wondered how unusual this seemed.

Above us in the trees were many bird boxes and quite a few unusual conical shaped white fronted houses.  The entrance holes to these  were more like a slit and mum thought these could be homes for bats.

The firm path gave way to a slightly damp path after about 15 minutes.  Although sprinkled with large amounts of wood chips the path was a little soft in places and we heard again about mums shoes…. Oh well, we were enjoying ourselves.

We continued  along the path and stretched out before us was many hundreds of meters of what looked to be decking made from recycled plastic.  

This kept the worst of the dirt from our legs and tummies.  Dad still hasn’t arranged mud flaps for us yet.

The gaps between the boards were also quite close so we didn’t get our paws stuck.

Following the blue arrows we came upon a strange construction to the edge of a field.  

The associated sign board read that it was an Chalybeate Well. I investigated and looking down the hole bordered by the three stone slabs could not see anything to drink.   We were quite looking forward to a bit of a drink and were disappointed.

Mum read the sign nearby that explained that this kind of well was used in olden times for it’s healing properties as the water was rich in sulphates.

After seeing the muck at the bottom of this well I don’t think we would be drinking from it.

We retraced our steps back to the last marker post and started to follow the red arrows to Little Bampton Common, as the path in front of us looked a little muddy.

It was noticible as we passed through the gate between the woodland and the Common area how the vegetation changed and how open the sky had become.

Yellow flowered gorse bushes now littered the landscape and we had grass under our paws.  The ground also felt a little soft and springy.  

The path led us to a wooden pathway which stretched out in front like a big white snake. 

Wire mesh covered the boards to stop mum and dad slipping.  The installation of this bit of path must have taken weeks of work as it made it’s way across a peat bog.

If we peered over the low safety edge we could see water for a drink but it did look a bit funny all black and strange.  

It also smelt a little unusual, like the garden compost bin at home.

Around half way along this path was a seat where we took a moment to take in our surroundings.

The landscape, like the water seemed a little wierd.  We could not see any animals or hear anything scuttle on the ground but we knew we were being watched.  

We found that we could only walk on the wooden platform or we would be swallowed by the soft ground.  This was unlike anything we had experienced before.

Time was getting on and we were in need of a drink so we turned back and headed back to the car where some fresh water awaited us.

On our return journey mum spotted some foxgloves and a wild daffodil.  You can read about these over at OldVarieties.com

You can read more about this area in this leaflet

Our adventures continue….

 

Buster and Charlie

Soggy doggies and no sausages …

The Great British Weather strikes again  - and we get wet.

Traditionally Sunday is a day for taking a stroll, having a nice sunday roast and then falling asleep in front of the fire whilst dad watches yet another film repeat.

All started well, the overnight rain seemed to have passed over and the clouds were brightening, so Charlie and I started to play up.

Dad we want to go out and play, come on dad here are our leads, you know the kind of thing.  After a while, down to about 5 minutes now, we got our way and mum and dad put down what they were working on and put us in the car.

It seemed as if heading west was best, as the clear sky was in that direction, so Silloth was decided on.  Silloth is great because we can go for a walk on the grass or on the paths and stay reasonably clean.

As we travelled the clouds grew darker in our direction and what seemed like a good idea started to seem like a mistake.

Pulling into the carpark, alongside the lifeboat station all we could see was a rough sea, some grounded seagulls and rain

We needed to investigate and so, once mum had put on her hat, gloves, scarf and buttoned up her coat we emerged into the bracing icy wind.

We soon came to realise why the seagulls were staying close to the ground as the rain started.  It was freezing cold and soon soaked the outer layers of our coats.

We spotted a shelter on the hill, above an empty locked paddling pool, and raced towards it to get out of the rain.

The wooden hut didn’t have any glass in the window frames so the wind whistled through a bit.

Charlie soon worked out that he could stand on the bench seats and look out onto the sea and because he has short legs only his head was in the wind and rain.

Our walk was not as long as it normally is but we managed to have a few sniffs and a good run about.

Making our way back to the car we past by the hot sausage shop. It was closed.  So not only did we get soaked, we didn’t even get something warm for our tummies.

The weather had the last laugh because as we pulled away from the sea the sun came out and we saw a couple of fantastic rainbows on the way back home.

It stayed dry all afternoon and we curled up in front of the fire drying off.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Christmas gifts – for the boys

As promised just before Christmas  here are a few pictures from our Christmas Day.

We both got some lovely gifts, so thank you to everyone.

The weather stayed fine but a little cold, so as yet Charlie has not seen a White Christmas.

Maybe you would like to share your pictures or let us know what you did on Christmas Day?

This is what some of you got upto this year…

Christmas Day in the Dog House 
Christmas Day started with a group dog walk – and mince pies in the carpark

The Puppy Dog Blog
Jack received a very nice Christmas rope and celebrates an anniversary.

Christmas Gifts from Blogging Friends! 
Addie was in charge of opening the packages. 

Merry Christm-aire-s!
With loads of cards to open we are surprised you even had time for the prezzies.

A grumpy santa
 You just have to go ahhhh

Our Christmas

A walk from Glasson Dock, Lancaster

With the coast to our left we left Glasson Dock near Lancaster behind and started along the coastal path towards the City of Lancaster.

Mum and Dad visited here a few weeks ago whilst researching an article for our other site Heritage and History and they thought it would be worth revisiting with us.

We parked the car in the main car park by the waters edge in Glasson and after making sure no cars, or motorbikes were approaching crossed the road on onto the sea path.

This first part of the path is bordered to our left by the sea wall and to our right grass around one stretchy lead wide.

This gave us chance to sniff and play in the grass and have a good run about after our car ride here.

 

After about half a mile the path narrows and the grass verge stops and you start to walk on a cinder like path.

The path is firm, well drained and is used by bikes, walkers and horses.

Following the bay the path offers some great views of the marshland and the water beyond.  

We continue over an old bridge with high black railings and the sea underneath.  Charlie wants to go for a swim. Little does he know the water tastes of salt and is not nice.

Just after the bridge we come across a carpark with toilets, dog waste bags and bins and even a plastic tub with water in for us.  We take a drink and walk up the steady slope to where an information sign is placed marking the entrance to the next part of our adventure.

The sign has a big number 6 at the top and pictures and words for mum to read.

It seems, after mum has read the sign, that we are standing on the old platform of the London and North Western Railway Company.

The Condor Green station, on this single track rail line closed in 1930.

 

A number of picnic tables are available on this raised area for you to have your lunch whilst looking out onto the bay.  

After a short while Buster notices that the surface of the path changes. A strip of cobbles lies across his path and he is not sure why.  He investigates but can’t figure out why.  Maybe someone knows and can leave a comment below?

 

A bridge is ahead of us and we must investigate.

Screwed into the side of the bridge are these brackets. No longer it seems being used for anything we wonder what was their purpose. 

Vandals have painted their marks on this bit of heritage but you can still see the black sooty marks left by trains hauled by steam passed under the bridge.

We had to turn around just beyond this point as we were out of time.  So we leave more of the adventure for another day.

We have put more pictures from our adventure into the gallery below.

Until next time

Charlie and Buster