We visit Isel and Cockermouth

In the words of the Rogers / Hammerstein song ‘ Oh what a beautiful morning’ and what a great day it has turned out to be as we left the city behind and headed in a south-westerly direction for the hills.

Mum had a grand plan for today with a mission to find a carpet of snowdrops for dad to photograph.

She had read in some article that a church in the Cockermouth area near to Bassenthwaite Lake was reported to be the ideal location.

All seemed to be going to plan until mum sort of mentioned that she had forgotten to pick up the map and directions for our destination.  By now it was too far to turn around so we started to explore.

Road closed

Turning off the A591 we headed towards Sunderland, just because dad had never been to it. Before anyone asks, Sunderland the village in north Cumbria and not Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

Little exploring to be done here however it did give mum the chance to check the map.  Nearby was a river and a footpath.  Had mum come good after all?

Mum was back in charge,  as we headed down some narrow roads.

Occasionally dad would gently swerve to try and avoid driving through steaming piles of  ’rural essence’  left by a farmer spreading muck nearby.

All was going well, up to the point where the road was closed.

It was not mum’s day and as we were starting to get all excited dad decided we would find somewhere to park and go for a walk anyway.

Isel Bridge

Somehow dad always seems to manage to find an adventure and today was no exception as we walked over a stone bridge turning left on the opposite bank and onto a well trodden grass path.

The overnight frost had hardened the ground and we were able to take a good sniff around.

It turned out that we had arrived in Isel with it’s small church, a few houses and farms and our new walk.

Isel Bridge, now behind us, has been closed following the floods back in November.

Many routes in the area have been disrupted due to safety works, inspections and remedial maintenance needing to be carried out on them.

Interestingly this bridge, with the C2026  on it,  has been closed in the interests of road safety and to avoid damage to very minor approach roads. Is that code for a ‘rat run? ‘

River weed

Our path took us upstream along the side of the River Derwent.

Across the other side of the river the wire fence had become a washing line for river weed as it hung drying in the winter sunshine.

I don’t think the farmer will be along in a hurry to clean it off. It may however be great nesting materials for the birds in the spring.

Beyond this fence could be seen fallen fence posts and the bend in the river.

Gold

Between us we seem to spot most things on our walks. Charlie and I are in charge of the sniffs and mum and dad keep an eye on bigger things.

After the disappointment of not winning over £100m on the Euro Lottery last night, dad once more was on the lookout for ways to make money and he thought he had found it when he spotted a glinting stone in amongst the grass.

Mum picked it up and after a quick look ruled out gold and instead said it was possibly iron. ‘Oh well, another week at work’, said dad.

Magnificent view

Our path now started to climb between two wire fences alongside a field of sheep.

The damp conditions underfoot made the path a little slippery in places, especially when a tree root came close to the surface.

Suddenly the climb turned in to a set of steep sloping steps down towards the river.

Short leads were the order of the day and we were not allowed to pull incase we pulled mum or dad over. I think it would be fair to say they struggled a bit at this point.

After the fall then the inevitable rise up the other side of the narrow valley and what a reward at the top with the view upstream towards the Cumbrian mountains.

Placed in memory of Maurice Todhunter this seat offers a welcome rest stop and time to take in the magnificent view.

On the left of the image can be seen a trail of silt, rocks and other debris which looks like it has been left, possibly in a slight dip in the ground, as the river has taken a shortcut across the fields.

Fence flap

The path became a little bit more gentle at this point as we left the river path and came onto a tarmac road  but not before we negotiated a well designed stile.

Mum and dad went over the wooden fence steps and we had our own fence flap. Well done to the National Trust for thinking about us and for finding such a simple solution.

Lambs

At this point dad’s inbuilt compass kicked in and rather than turning left heading up hill we turned right, past Kirkhouse Farm with the hens in the yard and alongside a bright green field.

Looking at us through the wooden gate was a proud mum and two new lambs.

So as not to frighten them our mum put us on short leads and we quickly passed.

Turning right we dropped back down to Isel bridge and to where we had started our circular walk.

Church

During our walk we had not spotted the local church so, whilst dad was taking yet another picture, mum asked another dog walker if he knew where it was.

We were only about 100m from it however, following the floods the church and the area around it had become dangerous and it was closed.

Tall metal barriers with assorted parish notices on them prohibited us getting near to the building.  We wondered when it may open again as it seemed to be in a lovely location and no doubt full of history.

Cockermouth

Being so close to Cockermouth, and that Dad needed the loo, we got back in to the car and headed down the road to Cockermouth.

Back in November this town hit the worlds headlines as the main street became a raging torrent of water as nearby rivers burst their banks and cascaded through the town.

Almost three months later and Cockermouth is in part open for business and trying to restore normality.

Open for business

Damage is very much in evidence as you walk along Main Street.

Television images of the wool shop, the police station and the first houses visited by reporters in the aftermath come flooding back as you stand and view the town as the camera lenses did at the end of last year.

Dad has produced a gallery of what we saw today which you can see below this update.

Fed and watered from a couple of the open shops in the town we headed home after an hour or so. Mum clutching some lamb chops from a butcher on the Main Street for supper.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Isel and Cockermouth galleries

Brambles, apples and a smoking beast at Lanercost

Dad took some persuading this morning to get us out for a walk as he was heavily into some computer stuff however, we kept nagging him and eventually he gave in just before lunch.

With dark misty clouds on the horizon he decided we should not to go too far and so we decided to go to Lanercost near Brampton.  We have been here before, however our visit today was timed to see if mum could get some apples.

Trees all over the country are weighed down with apples of all varieties this year and it was with this hope we travelled to a known apple source, or should that be apple sauce.

Near to the Priory is a large old apple tree in a garden of a private house and for a number of years the owner  has had a small stall by his front gate selling, for a moderate sum, bags of apples.

With this in mind mum hoped she would be able to get a big bag full to make into pies and other apple produce.

You can imagine her disappointment however when, upon arrival at the garden gate, no apples were in sight.

All was not lost however as we followed one of the many public footpaths away from the village and up onto the surrounding fells as we came across some brambles.

Out came the bags kept for such purposes at the bottom of pockets and mum started harvesting.

She said that the fruit was firm and seemed a lot healthier compared to that collected two weeks ago on the other side of the city, that just became mush when you attempted to pick it.

About now the hazy mist started to thicken and as if like fog rolling in from the sea the air became soggy and the rain started. Oh well about 2 miles from the car, little cover and rain….. We are going to get soggy and in turn a little muddy… Yipeee.

At this moment we re-created a bit of history it seems, as from the sky, fell an apple almost hitting Charlie on his thick head.

Dad mentioned that a long time back, even before dad was a boy, and that is a long way,  a guy called Isaac  Newton had a similar experience with a falling apple. Mr Newton went on to research why the apple fell to the ground and came up with a theory called gravity.

Whilst mum continued to collect fruit Charlie, Dad and I wondered what would have happened if he had mis-understood the situation and researched luck, because he was not injured by the apple or genetics as to why the tree was unable to hold onto the apple in the first place.

The discussion became very silly and we started to become very wet so we headed back towards the car and it was here we came upon a caged beast.

Hidden behind a slatted wooden fence, which seemed a bit thin to secure such a terrifying creature,  and pouring smoke into the sky was a roaring beastie.

It flashed bright lights at us and growled, a lot louder than either of us so, after a little bit of investigation we hid behind dad for safety.

Our worries however were soon put to one side when we sniffed the air…. and could smell meat.

Maybe one of the beasts had been turned into sausages and we set out to investigate, pulling dad along with us.

Around the back of a recently restored old farm, to the edge of the Lanercost Priory, was the source of the nice foody sniff.

Cooking away on an open air grill was sausages and other meaty assortments.

Dad kept us away from the cooking area however we sent mum in to investigate.

The cooking was part of a display celebrating local produce at the recently opened Lanercost Tea rooms and Farm Shop.

Mum went out of sight for a few minutes as she went into the farm shop only to return a few minutes later with a white carrier bag with sausages in.

Guess what we had for lunch?

Enough for now. We need to get warmed through and dried off.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Rain affects crops & stops our walks

When will the rain ever stop and we can get out for a good long walk? Over the last several days we must have had many centimeters of rain and we are now starting to get bored of it.

Running around and sulking is all we seem to be doing recently and it is also very dark…. Actually we are just miserable.

Dad has just suggested a big pot of stew and dumplings for dinner, so he must also be feeling the weather in his old bones also…

Outside the garden is struggling as the tomato’s are failing to ripen and the shrubs, once full of flower and wildlife, are rotting in the damp conditions.

Mum has even gone as far as to suggest not growing tomato plants next year and is consulting the books as to what to do with the greenhouse growing season which seems to be only 3 months long, May, June and July.

We are hearing a lot of discussions about chutney this week. Maybe it will be an excuse for the cooker to be on and at least one room in the house to be warmed up.

Earlier in the year you may have read about the canopy thing in the garden mum put up so she could do some of the web work outside.

Well this is now being put to great use by us to avoid us getting wet when we go outside to play.

All the rain however has started to make it look a little black so we don’t think it will be long before it is washed and packed away for the winter.

Apples and soft fruit seem to have had a great growing season this year.

To the left is the apple tree, Lustre Elstar, at our  grandad’s in Lancaster. He says that he came about this tree after saving tokens from one of the national newspapers.

The label on it says that is is a heavy cropper, however the weight of the fruit is starting to bend the branches and may even snap one or two of them if some supports are not rigged soon.

Soft fruit also seems to have done very well despite the horrible weather and mum has been busy over the last few days sorting out some damsons and plums given to them from a friend. Keep an eye over on Food on a budget for harvest updates.

Other news.

Mum and dad continue to add stuff to Spirit-of-orkney.  Highlights this week include some desktop wallpapers and some graphic banners to help people link to the site.

Mum has also contributed by writing an article about the wild fuchsia seen in many places on the mainland.

You may have noticed a few tweaks also on this site.  You can now Twitter articles direct from the page using the new green buttons at the top of every article.  Go on –  follow what we do on the social microblogging site. Our username is ablogfrommydog.

Did you know you can now print out any of our expeditions or web posts?   Thanks to a new bit of software dad has installed on this web thingy a print button has now appeared at the top left of every post.  Clicking here formats the page so it prints out ok on most printers.

Darker nights mean early chews.

Finally for this update we should make you aware of the change in the clocks.

Usually we get a chew at 8pm human time,  after we have been on night time garden patrol.  However,  recently we are asking for our chews a little bit too early, at around 7.30pm human time.

So either our internal clocks are a little out or something else is going on.  Can anyone explain?

That is all for now

Buster and Charlie.

We visit Allonby on the Solway Coast, Cumbria

Earlier today we headed west to Allonby on the coast of Cumbria just south of Silloth.  Our approach to the area was met with a bit of rain, however once the car was parked the sun came out.

Stretched out before us was plenty of grass to run on so we took full advantage to stretch our legs and get aquainted with our surroundings.

A strange swooshing sound filled the air and the grass smelt a bit different but we were just glad to be exploring once again.

Following a grass path we came upon a small bridge which we crossed and after negotiating a sandy overgrown banking we rushed exitedly to the source of the swooshing sound.  Dad said it was the sea, however Charlie saw it as just water and ran headlong towards it.

Yuck, the water tasted horrid and not at all like the water in the river at Dalston the other day.  Now this takes some getting used to.

It feels like water, looks like water and is cool like water but the taste on our delicate lickers is really bad so we avoid drinking anymore and just play.  Mum says the water is salty and we shouldn’t drink it…. A bit late now mum!

On the horizon Dad spots a load of wind turbines and thinks it must be the Robin Rigg windfarm.

We tried to count the number of white poles sticking out from the sea but the view was a bit hazy.

Stepping away from the water to get dried off a little, mum spotted a red beaked bird she thought was an oystercatcher. It had black feathers on its back and a bright red or orange beak which made it stand out from the pebbles on the beach.

With the rain clouds moving away the sky cleared to give a bright blue sky and with it came the sunshine.

Mum and Dad now wished they had left their coats in the car as they were starting to get a bit hot.

First experiences.

For Charlie this was the first time at the beach and he soon learned about the strange stuff called sand. Wet sand is very sticky and soon he was covered in the stuff all the way up to his tummy.

Mum said it would drop off as our fur dried.  We hoped so, otherwise the backseats of the car were going to be covered!!

Stripes of debris on the beach marked out the various tide marks and they made for some great sniffs. Large amounts of seaweed, that is what mum called it I think, stretched into the distance along with the occasional traffic cone and broken car headlight.

Charlie tried to count the number of stones and pebbles but had to give up at four, when he ran out of paws.

Allonby Bay is on the Solway Coast, an area designated of outstanding Natural Beauty, stretching from Rockcliffe Marsh on the Scotish Border to just North of the historic harbour town of Maryport.

Leaving the sea behind us we move inland a little and onto a grass path. To our right are the sand banks with the sea beyond.  Occasionally, as we walk with our backs to the village of Allonby, we smell the sweet scent of wild rose bushes.

Mum says that these plants must have been here for some considerable time as they are around 20m across and adds that she has never heard of roses growing in salty areas.

Many bees and other insects can be seen on the flowers gathering up the pollen and nectar. Possibly these bushes are the only source of food for miles around.

Looking out across Allonby Bay is this seat in memory of Christine Marrs. This bench, one of many along the edge of the path, caught our attention due to the flowers planted at either end of the mounting plinth.

Screwed to the upper rail is a plaque which reads

‘ In memory of Christine Marrs
Beloved wife of Ernie
Donated by Stuart and Christine (C.S.H. TSPT ) 2006′

We pause for a brief rest whilst dad ties his shoelace and then we are off once more on our adventures.

Underfoot the path is dry and the grass tickles a bit as it is slightly brittle after all the recent sunshine.

Charlie is about ready for another drink so we decide it is time to turn around and start our return journey.

Although this is the main path, a number of other smaller paths lead off and to get more sniffs, our return route took in some of these.

Down one of the paths we came across the small bird in the photograph to the right..

Without the binoculars mum could not see the bird clearly enough to identify it.  She thought it maybe some form of bunting or a warbler. Do you know?

Only one windsurfer was out on the water today. Many websites indicate that the strong winds make conditions here some of the best in the country for this sport.

Across the water, in the distance can be seen the Dumfries coastline with the town of Dumfries to the right and just around the corner Kirkcudbright to the left

Almost back to the car and we take a slight detour into the village and come across The Ship Inn.

To the left of the main door is a blue plaque indicating that Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins stayed here on Wednesday 9th September 1857.

Both were good friends and stayed 2 nights in Allonby during a walking tour they were undertaking.

It is here that our walk for the day ends as we return to the car for a well earned drink and a rest.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

Lime kilns, castles and scarecrows

Bank holidays spent at home and out of the rain seem to be a thing of the past as we manage to get into the big world once more.

Lime kilns and castles were on the agenda yesterday as we went in search for content for one of our other websites called heritageandhistory.com.

Our first stop for a sniff and stretch was a small village called Orton.

This village is situated a few miles NE of Tebay just off the M6 and is known in the area for the farmers market every second Saturday of every month and Kennedys chocolates.

Our approach to All Saints Church was greeted with flags as the annual scarecrow festival was taking place.

Whilst we shelteredf rom a slight rain shower in a pop up tent erected in the church yard, Mum went into the church to be greeted by many happy friendly folk. She emerged with a scarecrow trail map and small booklet about the church.

Scarecrow number one was easy, a big christmas pudding at the entrance to the church.

Now to find the other 30 scattered around the many streets and gardens. You can see some of the ones we spotted in the gallery below this article.

Half way around and Charlie spots water. Like a magnet to a can he is attracted to this stream and he goes for a paddle.

Dad notices that this bridge is very unusual as it has two gaps for the water to flow through. Further investigation reveals that on the other side of the bridge the water is diverted in two different directions.

One stream continues straight on the new stream heads off left alongside the road.

We are not sure why this diversion takes place so maybe someone can advise using the comments area below.

After spending a good few hours in Orton we return to the car and head off into the hills in search of lime kilns.

Dad now got lost.

The map came out and the usual comments of why don’t they put roadsigns on some of these junctions was heard. Things were not helped when we saw this sign warning of rhino.

We have noticed recently that although the M6 seems to be getting millions of pounds spent on new electronic signs the backroads, where it could be argued are in more need of signage, seems to be loosing out.

So we say please bring back the fingerpost roadsigns on our rural roads to stop Dad gettng lost.

Single track roads and quite a bit of reversing later we emerged onto a road know as the Tommy Road between the A683 and the B6259. Observing what looked like a lime kiln to our left dad parked the car and we got out.

We were glad of the walk as all the stream water we had swallowed in Orton was now in need escape and the last 10 minutes in the bumpy car had not helped. Oh such relief.

After a walk over the mossy tuffets to the top of a nearby hill to take a look at the view we returned to the now deralict kiln constructed into the hillside.

We kept well away from the kiln itself to ensure we didn’t get hit on the head by a falling rock however we did have a good sniff around.

Used now by the sheep as a place of shelter these structures were once used to produce quicklime by heating up limestone rocks.

Quicklime was used as an additive to building mortar and as a render on walls.

The tower of All Saints Church in Orton visited earlier would have had a lime render giving the white appearance which can be seen from miles around.

Looking back towards the car we became aware of this very confident sheep who tried to block our way.

Mum thought he must be guarding something, so we gave him a very wide berth and kept our distance.

He was very scary with his big horns and stance on top of a small hill, even dad looked worried.

Dropping further down the hill and over the Settle to Carlisle rail line we arrived at the ruin of Pendragon Castle.

According to legend, Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur, is said to have built the first castle here and unsuccessfully tried to divert the river to provide its moat

Mum and dad are of a certain age that whenever King Arthur is mentioned they quote Monty Python and this was no exception. We climbed the hill to Spam, spam, spam… and a certain parrot sketch.

Walking around the base of the castle many holes, possibly former windows, just needed to be looked into.

The many sheep and lambs had left a number of trails through the ruin as they searched for shelter from the weather on this exposed spot overlooking the river Eden.

Measuring about 20m square the Pendragon Castle we see today is said to date from the latter part of the 12th Century and is built on a hill.

This offers a commanding view of the nearby countryside and with its walls over 2m thick in places, a strong defensive position.

Charlie investigates the many sniffs inside the ruin whils mum and dad try to work out what the building would have looked like all those years ago.

Many small plants have started to live in between the stones of this now giant rock garden giving the walls a pink and green look. More contents for mum for Naturearoundme.com during the next few months

Our investigations were being watched by a friendly lamb who seemed very interested in what we were doing in his back yard.

We left the site just as a minibus full of visitors arrived clutching cameras, tripods and rucksacks full of stuff.

Our final visit of the day was as the small village of Outhgill in search of the Jews Stone.

Not sure what we were looking for we parked the car in a road to our left just before the church and dad went for a look around.

Amazingly we were in the right place and ahead of us, surrounded by a wooden fence, was a single stone column with green lichen growing on it.

At the base was a large interpretation board explaining all about the monument and the history. Dad will write this all up later over on Heritageandhistory.com.

It seems that the stone is a replica of the “Jews Stone”, which was set up in 1850 by the eccentric William Henry Mounsey ( 1808 -1877).

It is over 2m high and about 10cm square and is made of a limestone known as Dent Marble.

With our challenges for the day accomplished we headed homeward relieved that we had not been caught by any bad weather .

As we past Appleby the signs had been posted warning of slow moving traffic.

Appleby Horse Fair starts in a few days time and with it comes a large number of horse drawn vehicles.

We return home safe and well after a very busy day. Dad downloads the pictures from the camera and mum gets the dinner ready.

Stew is on the menu with little trees . Mum has spent today, Sunday, planting loads of seeds to grow next years supply of turnip and little trees in the allotment.

We just love them fresh from the fridge. Trees are given as a general reward whilst a nice piece of cold turnip is favourite after a meal to clean our teeth.

Thats all for now

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Gallery

Speed trap scarecrow – Crosby on Eden

Early this morning we went in search of scarecrows at a local village called Crosby on Eden.

The annual scarecrow trail is taking place in the village this bank holiday weekend organised by Crosby on Eden Parish Council in aid of church funds

One of the first scarecrows we came across was a Policeman standing by the roadside armed with a speedgun.

This character has made the headlines in many of the national and local newspapers as drivers are slowing down as they spot him from a distance, thinking he is a real policeman.

Dad wondered if once the scarecrow festival is over the local Constabulary will position officers here in the future to impose the 30mph speed limit in the village.

Arranged as a trail the scarecrows are to be found up many of the side streets and on the main A689 as you approach the village from Carlisle.

The local newspaper has reported that four of the scarecrows had been stolen but have since been returned.

Here is our gallery of some of the scarecrows we spotted.

Gallery

Click on the images for a larger view. Click again to return to the gallery

We go in search of Bluebells …

Dad has been very busy over the last 10 days and we have been unable to get our usual walks however, today we went in search of bluebells near to Buttermere.

Mum wanted a few pictures of bluebells for an article she is writing over on oldvarieties and after a quick search on the web we came across a location where a whole valley is reportedly filled with these small flowers.

Our arrival in to the Rannerdale valley started as we passed by this sign.  The rugged mountains surrounding Crummock Water provided a great backdrop for  our walk and dad was eager to take some pictures.

Although the sun was shining the air was a little cool and mum and dad both had their coats on.  

Finding a car park a little way further along this road we parked up and set off following signs to the valley.

It didn’t take long before we came across our first local inhabitant.  

With a dark thick coat this sheep took a moment to look up as we past by, then resumed eating the lush green grass just as dad got the camera focused.  

Many sheep, found on the fellsides in Lakeland are Herdwicks.   Without our sheep recognition books we were unsure as to what breed this one was.

The herdwick is well suited to the rough scrub of the Lake District fells and is key to maintaining the grass length. It is the native breed of the central and western Lake District and live on the highest of England’s mountains. 

Charlie, out in front as usual, led the way as we followed the track towards the hills.  To our right was another of the common sight in the Lake District, the drystone wall.  

Marking boundaries, these walls are made from stone gathered locally and do not contain any mortar.  The waller uses his skill to pick out a stone and place it into the wall so it locks with adjacent rocks forming a solid structure.

We arrive at a wooden gate with a silver sign on it after about ten minutes walk.  After a brief pause, to allow mum to read the notice, we open the gate and pass into the secret valley beyond.

Mum and dad stop and try to take in what they see.  Green grass, cascading from the mountains to our left and right, had a blue tinge as it arrived into the valley bottom.  

The effect was subtle, and was brought about by thousands of  small, about 10cm high, green stems with dainty blue flowers peeping above the grass.

Native bluebells it would seem are a little way behind our common garden bluebells which already are into full bloom and like the daffodils starting to wither.

Maybe in the next few days the blue effect will be much more pronounced.

We were not short of drinks on this walk as the many streams provided ample cool refreshing water and excuses for paddles. 

Charlie drinks so much when he is in the big world,   this walk was ideal for him.

As we walked along the valley bottom we crossed over this wooden bridge.  Our soggy paws evidence that we had escaped the trolls and managed to get to the otherside.

Our walk started to climb ever so slightly as we ventured further up the valley.  It was unusual but is seemed that the bluebells were only in one small part of the lower valley as now were to be seen in this area.

Mum wondered why they were there in the first place as it is normally recorded that they prefer growing conditions with shade not in the full glare of a fellside.

Passing through a gate our path narrows to a single well worn track with the fells ahead and to our sides. 

Charlie is still out in front as if he knows where we are going. It would seem as this walk is a favourite with us dogs as many of us have reported their visits on the web.

Casper came here in 2007, and Harry, as a young pup, visited in 2004.  Maybe you have visited then let us know via the comments section below?

The path turns left after about 700m and after passing over a stile we start our decent back to the car.

Our return is punctuated by two old gate uprights, complete with hinges,either side of our path but not near any wall.  

This puzzles dad as he wonders why anyone would erect them in such a location.  Maybe the wall only appears to sheep but due to planning regulations is invisible to humans. 

Crummock Water comes into view and we take a moment to look out onto the fells and mountains.  

It is 2.5 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and 140 feet deep and is a clear, rocky bottomed lake flanked by steep fellsides of slate. Crummock Water is owned by the National Trust.

We are almost finished our walk which has taken about two hours at a leisurely pace and allowing for dad to take loads of photographs.

Mum says that you should take walking boots or strong wellies to do this walk as it is a bit soggy in places.  

It is ideal for humans who don’t fancy going high on the fells but just fancy a simple walk not too far away from the car and of low risk.

As with all good walks we ended with a picnic. In the basket on this occasion was  large french sticks stuffed full of cheese, ham and salad.

We all shared the goodies before returning home via Buttermere and Keswick.

We go on a woodland walk near Caldbeck

Today we went in search of Montague Mouse and his woodland friends during a woodland walk at Wigton just outside of Carlisle.

Montague Mouse and his friends, Sebastian Shrew, Maudie Mole and Willie Water Vole live, along with a host of other characters, amongst the trees and shrubs of High Hall Nursery around 12 miles south-west of Carlisle just off the A595.

After parking the car, slightly in the shade to try and keep it a little cool, we were eager to go exploring.  A large noticeboard showed us what we could expect to see and a map of the trail ahead.

We started on the woodland path but after about 30m our attention was drawn to a distant voice coming from behind some of the trees.  Dad thought it was the ‘woodland folk’ and looked all around until he realised a lady was trying to get our attention.  She asked if we wanted a ‘ Find the Woodland Homes ‘ form.  

After a quick drink from a bowl of water supplied at the entrance to the forest trail we set off once again, this time armed with two pencils and a clipboard, in search of the front doors of the  woodland folk.

Recently reopened after the winter the woodland trail was in good condition and ideal for a scamper about.  The notice at the entrance to the forest walk asked if we could stay on our leads and take care to stay on the path.  

Our form had 30 empty spaces, so our challenge was going to be tough however, it wasn’t long before we spotted our first front door nestling at the base of a tree stump almost hidden by the long grass.

One down 29 to go.  Red, blue and green doors all come into sight as we get used to spotting them.  Some of them are low down others a few feet off the ground, but all are visible from the path.

Charlie becomes a bit of an expert and is soon searching for the doorways but he gets distracted as he can hear running water.  

The River Townthwaite is flowing nearby and it is a good job he is on his lead or he would be off down the hill for a paddle.

Red squirrels could occasionally be seen scampering across the path in front of us and in the trees many birds were busy singing their hearts out high in the branches bathed with early spring sunshine.

Crossing a small bridge we return to the car park with five empty spaces on our form.  There is only one thing for it, we will have to go around again.

So another quick drink and we start all over again checking off the doors as we find them.  This time the pace is a lot slower as every tree, stump and hollow is checked for doorways.

Now we are not sure if we were allowed to start the circular path again in search of the woodland folk, but it was a challenge we were going to achieve.

 I found the first of the missing doorways hidden at the bottom of a tall tree and it wasn’t long before all of the doors were found.  

Our celebrations were short lived when we came across another door not previously on our list.  This made 31 doors and only 30 slots on our form,  Oops.

Dad then recounted a phrase he learnt at school just before exams, ‘ Read the question!’

 

We had counted on our list some of the doors marked as ‘Stores’ where the woodland folk would keep provisions for the winter.  

This was incorrect according to the rules of the game, as only houses were to be listed.  

 

After the removal of a few ’stores’ we calculated that we still needed two doors to complete our list.

Esme the Earwig and Tomas Toad’s residences were soon found and our form was complete.

Our walk ended as mum filled in our names on the form and posted it in the competition letterbox  at the entrance to the plant nursery.

A small wooden bridge crossed a moat, designed to keep deer away from this area of the garden, where a small plant nursery was to be found.

Charlie was in his element sniffing all of the garden pots and curios displayed under the many tables containing plants.  

Watering cans, hanging baskets and even an old bike were arranged as if just lifted from a film set or department store window.

Dad said he could have spent hours photographing the bits and pieces especially in the early morning or evening when the light would be just right.

Mum said that many of the plants available for sale in the nursery were different to those found at the usual big garden centres, with many of them suitable for a semi shaded or woodland habitat.  She picked out a few for our garden, whilst dad sat on a small chair in the shadow of the garden shed and we lay on the warm gravel and enjoyed the sunshine.

Worth a visit.

We really enjoyed our walk and sniffs and if you are looking for a simple, easy, non complicated way to spend a couple of hours then High Hall Nursery is ideal.  

It is slightly off the beaten track, so few humans know if its existence. You will not find toilets or a cafe but  you are assured of a friendly welcome and it offers something different and unique from the run of the mill gardening hypermarkets.

We will be back hopefully later in the year to see the arrival of the autumn colours.

 

 

Entrance to the woodland walk and nursery is free (at time of posting).

The walk is just under ½ mile in length and takes you through woodland, which in Spring is full of bluebells, ramsons, and foxgloves, not to mention a variety of fungi.

Website A well written website with some great contents and many  links. You can also download audio files of birdsong and get details of membership of The Friends of the Woodland Folk.  http://www.highhallnursery.co.uk

The address is High Hall Nursery & Woodland Walk, Westward, nr Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 8NQ,

Telephone number 016973 44 308

Brochure available here

Opening Times (2009) available here

GPS data 

• Postcode: CA7 8NQ , 
• Grid Reference: NY269436 , 
• Latitude: 54:46:57N (54.7825)
• Longitude: 3:08:12W (-3.1367)

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

We get involved in a world record attempt.

What  a busy weekend we have had.  We have already mentioned our inspection of the flood defences and the works going on at a nearby garden but we also got involved in a world record attempt.

Towards the end of last week we got a message from the Britglyph project who are trying to recreate a very big image out of stones.

The idea of pictures marked out on the ground, a geoglyph,  is not new and dates back thousands of years, but for this piece of art it is set to be one of the biggest.

People throughout the country have been traveling to a number of set locations with a stone and a camera.

Once in position they record their visit as a photograph and leave the stone behind.

Once all the stones are in place an image, based on  John Harrison’s Chronometer H5, will be visible on a map.

The project is being supported by by Shozu and Moblog

We get involved

It was decided that our stone should be placed in Carlisle near to the castle.

Charlie sat next to the stone we had chosen and had his photo taken.  This photo would join the many others on the Britglyph website when we returned home.

My dad had to help us upload the image to the website. He had a few problems until Alfie, from the website, got in touch and sorted things out.

You can now see Charlie sitting next to his rock just next to Carlisle Castle on their website.  

Once the photo was taken we moved the rock to the side of the castle wall, so that it is out of the way of any grass cutting equipment, but still nearby for the world record attempt.

Get involved

You still have time to get involved as a few of the stones have not been placed.  Go along to The Britglyph Project and Own a Moment.

 

We will let you know as soon as we know if the record attempt has been successful.

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