Humans say that as they get older they don’t need much sleep, so dad must be really old as he was up very early this morning playing on the computer sorting out websites.

As the tweeting birds welcomed in the morning we were up and ready to face the day and headed off towards Lanercost Priory, near Brampton.

Lanercost Priory

Regular readers will know we have been regular visitors to the Priory grounds over the years, however today we were on a mission. More on this later.

Charlie needs a hand

Our walk started by the edge of the River Irthing but instead of following the river down stream we cross the road and, with the river to our right, we go upstream.

Over the years the Irthing has cut quite a deep edge into the river bank and it wasn’t long before Charlie disappeared.

One moment he was pulling on his lead trying to get near to the water, which he could hear and smell but could not see, the next the lead went slack and Charlie was not on the horizon.

Dad pulled on the lead and it felt as if Charlie was still attached.  So working our way along the string there was Charlie down the banking eager to go for a paddle.

Thomas Addison - physician and scientist

Mum was not amused, as dad grabbed hold of the handle on the back of Charlies new rucksack,  lifting him back onto high ground.

This ruined any chance of a paddle, as we were walked at double quick speed towards the grounds of the Priory and our mission.

Thomas Addison

Buried somewhere amongst the hundreds of graves near to the Priory was said to be Thomas Addison.

Despite our many visits to this area we had not heard of this gentleman. However Mum, being a medical person, had and of the disease named after him.

Art installation - Jesus on the cross

Dr. Thomas Addison was fascinated by diseases of the skin and this led to the discovery of the medical disorder, Addisons Disease.

Row upon row of headstones were checked until we came upon a series of stones around a large flat topped memorial.

Hidden under a canopy of trees, the lettering was in perfect condition and could be read easily.

We had succeeded in our mission and mum had another article for Gravestonepix.com.

Art

Our challenge accomplished we headed back via the recently opened shop at Lanercost.

Outside the main entrance we were again greeted  by an art installation.

Sculpture at Carlisle Cathedral

Last September when we visited, we met a smoking beast,  this time it looks as if the cafe may have been closed for a while or maybe the queue had been a bit long during the winter.

All became clear when dad remembered he had seen an art installation similar to this ,a few weeks ago outside the Cathedral in Carlisle.

When we got home dad checked his extensive photo library and sure enough they both looked the same and possibly were the same work.

Buster and Charlie

Costing £4,000 the work by local artist Ian McMean was on display in Carlisle during Easter and is called the Crucifixion, according to The Cumberland News.

Bewcastle

With the sun rising in the sky, we were in need of a bit of cooling down, so we headed back to the car and the air-conditioning.

Icy cool sniffs pour out from the nozzle in the rear part of the car and we notice that we seem not to be heading towards home.

Bewcastle Cross

Climbing upon to the fell tops we arrive after 15 minutes at Bewcastle, famous for the Anglo-Saxon Bewcastle Cross.

Bewcastle is not one of those places you would accidentally find or go to unless you know of the historical significance of the column of stone in the churchyard.

Said to date from the 7th Century, the cross is in it’s original position.

We took a moment to look around the small museum nearby and mum and dad went into the church.

New season lamb and free range hens

Two ladies made us most welcome and said hello in between sorting out flowers for the church.

Lambs

Away from the city noise, the countryside air was filled with the sounds of new lambs playing in the sunshine.

Bright, fresh white lambs contrasted with the dark coats of their mums and the grey green grass.

Tails wagging, like Charlies’ constantly does, the lambs seemed very happy exploring their new world and making friends.

We stayed on our leads and kept a distance just to ensure we did not scare any of these new families.

Enough excitement for one day we thought, as we returned to the car and our journey home.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Charlie notices that dad is still in bed as the sunlight shines through the bedroom window and he starts to get excited as he knows it is a day for us.

Mum and dad hoped they would maybe have a bit of a sleep in but paddle paws decides otherwise and starts charging around the house all in a tizzy.

Richard Rose Academy building

After the normal waking up routine is accomplished, Charlie sits looking hopefully up at our leads, hung by the side of the fridge. As if mum or dad needed a hint that we needed to go on an expedition.

Although the sun was shining the sky looked a bit overcast so it was decided we would go to Rickerby Park.

We have been here a number of times and it is a great place to let off steam and not too far away.

Debris left on fence

Walking along the edge of the River Eden the sky is dominated by the high rise cranes still in use above the new school being built nearby.

Bright white concrete contrasting with the dark sky clearly showed off the modern obelisk to education.

Further along the river,  much of the wire and wood post fence has been removed or still has river debris stuck to it.

This fence was installed early last year but the floods in December seem to have taken their toll.

Numbered post in park

We reported in December on the amount of debris left behind as millions of gallons of water cascaded past this location and out to sea.

Depending on the weather we can either go all the way around the park or if the grass is a bit muddy stick to one of the paths that cross the wide green spaces.

Snowdrops were much in evidence on the banks of the stream that flows through the top part of Rickerby park.

Although it has not rained for many days, the ground was still a bit damp so as we started our return we made for the nearest path to help dry our paws.

Rickerby Park War Memorial

Sticking out from the base of a large tree we spotted a marker post with a red and white label stuck to it.

Do you know what it marks? Let us know via the comments section below.

Memorial

We have walked through Rickerby Park many times but we have not, I don’t think, mentioned the large stone War Memorial.

Our walks frequently seem an excuse for mum and dad to get photographs for one or other of their websites and this walk was no exception.

St. Michael's and St. Marks's Church in Carlisle

Many photographs were taken of the memorial for one of mums websites called Gravestonepix.com, so as we rest this afternoon she can be busy writing it up.

Up the hill

Just as we thought our walk was over we headed straight past the car and towards a new set of steps built into the bank.

We were heading for a place called Stanwix and the church where, as we drove past the other day, dad had spotted a clock he had not photographed by civic-time.com.

Bench Mark on side of Stanwix Church

St. Michael’s church is set in some lovely grounds with thousands of small crocus flowers providing a carpet of colour on the south facing bank.

Photograph of clock taken we were just about to leave when dad spotted carved into the wall near the entrance this benchmark and bolt.

Consulting the bench-mark database, as we did last week, it appears that this is quite an important mark as it has been used in the First  Primary levelling done between 1840-60.

It was levelled with a height of 110.9510 feet [33.8179 metres] above mean sea level.

Alongside the cut mark was also a square reflective tag which also looked as if it was from some kind of mapping exercise.  A number of these tags were stuck to the outside of the church. Do you know why?

Images taken and information recorded, we head back down the hill and to the car, arriving home just in time for mum to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix qualifying.

Celebrations are the order of the day as we clock up one hundred posts on this version of our blog.

Long term readers will know that actually the number of posts we have published is a lot higher than this but the clock was reset when we moved to this software called WordPress.

Did you know you can follow us on Twitter?  Our username is ablogfrommydog

Looking back over the last 100 posts we have done quite an amazing amount of stuff and explored some fantastic places.

Cranes of Richard Rose Academy

Today we have been on a walk taking full advantage of the overnight frosts hardening the ground and in turn making them un-muddy.

Our circular walk started at the Stoneyholme golf course car park just off Victoria Place in Carlisle. Here is a link for  Google maps.

Cranes

Leaving the car park and golf course buildings behind us we crossed over the bridge  and entered into Rickerby Park.

The River Eden was still flowing quite quickly and had the colour of whipped hot chocolate.

Two cranes dominate the skyline as they keep watch over the new Richard Rose Central Academy on Lismore Place.

Flood debris in Rickerby Park

Costing about £30m to build it is hoped the new school complex will be complete by  January 2011.

The cranes – a Potain and a Liebherr – were supplied by Kier Plant and are 34m and 24m high with a 55m radius.

Debris

Following the edge of the River Eden towards the town we pass this debris covered wire fence.

Flood damage near Sands Centre, Carlisle

Many tonnes of grasses, twigs and litter have become lodged against one side of the wire.  It is not hard to work out that the river flows past this location from right to left.

Log balanced on Eden Bridge

Looking across the river and towards TheSands sports complex some damage looks to have been caused to these railings.

Ahead of us and balanced on one of the Eden Bridge supports is this very big log.

Maybe this former tree was carried down stream during the last flood and became stuck here.  Let’s see how long it lasts?

Restored

Our path now leaves the river edge and after climbing the bank we take a look at Eden Bridge Gardens.

You may remember that earlier this year a programme of restoration and renovation was undertaken on the gardens which are locally known as the Chinese Gardens.  You can find out more about the work done here over at heritageandhistory.com

Flood defences in Sands Centre area, Carlisle

We leave the park via the steps and exit onto Stanwix Bank crossing over the River Eden via Eden Bridge and onto the path by the side of The Sands.

Flood defences

A new sign has appeared around the town recently marking the 2005 floods in the city. Bright red with an outline of the River Eden in blue the sign simply says ‘Flood January 2005′.

Five years have almost past since the horrid floods of 2005 when all of this area was underwater. The new flood defences will hopefully make this a thing of the past.

Keeping The Sands  Centre to our right we make our way down a few steps and onto a path by the side of yet another golf course called The Swifts.

Eden Riverside trail sign

Golf

This facility  was one of the first official PGA Golf Starter Centre’s and features a tight par 3 course, 16 bay driving range, grass hitting area, practice bunker and a chipping facility. Whatever that means:-)

Hidden in debris on this side of the river dad notices this post marking the Eden Riverside trail.

Not exactly a modern sign, we wondered how long it had been in place and doing it’s duty.

Golf club in tree

Also lurking amongst the branches mum spotted this golf club.

Resting high up in a tree we puzzled for a while how it would become in such a position.

Given it would not float easily we concluded that it must have been placed here by a frustrated golfer who had lost his grip and thrown his golf stick high into the air.

Four years growth of bushes

Maybe it is waiting for next autumn to get down from the tree along with the elephants.

Four years

What a memory my dad has for images, maybe he is an elephant?

As we rounded a bend in the river dad spotted a row of bushes and commented that he had a photograph in the archive, which currently contains over 60,000 images, of when these bushes were planted.

Canoe or Kayak on River Eden

Sure enough he was right and here is the proof.  Interestingly the image was taken almost exactly fours years ago to the date (27 Dec 2005).

The large image is from 2005 and the inset is now.

Kyack

Floating down the River Eden to our  left was this man in a kyack. Had he travelled far and what had he seen on his travels. Given the high water he possibly had travelled for many miles.

If you were this person then please get in touch so we can find out about your journey and what you had seen?

Our journey now ended where we began.  It had taken about an hour but had been great fun. Thankfully we would not need a bath as we had kept very clean if not a little damp from the damp grass.

Until next time and post 101

Buster and Charlie

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.

Rickerby Park - Carlisle - Just look at that rubbish

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.

River Eden - Rickerby Park - Carlisle

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.

Cow Pat

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.

Which yellow arrow should we follow?

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.

The River Eden is to our right

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.

Willow trees in Rickerby Park - Carlisle

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….

Reaching for the best bit of grass

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.

Number plate on a tree

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?

What a lot of fluff...

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.