Early this morning we packed our water bottles and put on our leads and headed for a small village called Cumwhinton. It is about 5 miles south east of Carlisle on the other side of the M6.

Dog Lonning - Cumwhinton

Our walk started on a footpath named, it would seem, just for us, called Dog Lonning.

The path, bordered by high hedges and fields beyond, seemed to be well used by walkers and at least one horse recently. We noticed the unmistakable curved imprints of a horses shoe were embedded into the mud path.

It would appear that a ‘lonning’ is a local word for a small path or walkway.

After about 5 minutes our path ended onto a narrow road, just one car wide in places. Turning left, we followed the road leaving the village behind us.

Ahead, a man led the way with a newspaper under one arm. Behind us a couple were also walking with their dog, a black Labrador.

Grass verges cut allowing for wild flowers to still grow

Cumwhinton is an unusual village that seems to shun all the failings of many modern similar communities. It has a shop, a pub and, from the noticeboards we see later, quite a busy social scene.

Either side of the road the fields contained either bailed grass or grass drying in the summer sun.

The farmer in this area was collecting the grass as rectangular bales and not, like you see in many fields the big, plastic wrapped rolls.

Nature strips

Turning left and left again we arrive on quite a busy wide road. For our own safety we are both put on short leads,  so not to cause any problems for other road users as we walked along the edge of the road back towards the village.

Now that must be from a very big dog...

A strip of mown grass provided the ideal path for us to walk along. To the right hand side a strip of grass had been left, allowing wild flowers to grow.

Buttercups, purple vetch, ox eye daisies and meadowsweet could all be seen as well as a collection of bees flying between them gathering pollen and nectar.

Passing back past the car we continued into the village and up a side path towards an open field to our right.

We were heading for a place dad had spotted on the map called Quarry Banks.

Fresh tasty grass

Keeping a wide berth from two very well behaved horses, and minding we didn’t stand in any very big doobries,  we exited the field via a very convenient gap in the fence alongside a bit of a climbing frame for the two leggers.

Mum and dad went over the fence and we scooted underneath. Well done for the builders to think of us.

A concrete measuring stick by the railway lines

Quarry Banks is also known as the Allan Wilson Memorial Reserve, a former member of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust‘s education committee.

A concrete ruler

Dropping down from the horse pasture we come alongside the railway line between Settle and Carlisle.

Taking a moment for a rest in the sunshine

Dad notices, on the other side of the tracks, a tall slim column of concrete with what appears to be a scale of numbers on.

He ponders on this and decides it is possibly to measure the depth of snow during winter or possibly the height of the fallen autumn leaves.

Buster and I think it is part of a game played by the woodland beasties to see who can tiddle up the post the furthest. We may be correct

Our circular path takes us past an old quarry filled with very stale water and surrounded by mud.

Charlie is kept well away from anything that will make him dirty as we follow the path  around the back of the quarry and back towards the horse field.

Mum picked some big sprays of creamy white flowers from the bushes, called Elderflowers…she says she is going to make these into an Elderflower Cordial.

As nature reserves go this is quite small,  and only took us about 40 minutes to walk around and sniff everything we could.  However, it no doubt holds a wealth of insects, birds and other critters we did not see on our visit.

Mum suggests that visitors wear proper walking boots or wellingtons as the paths could get quite boggy and slippery  in the winter.

We returned back to the car after a quick walk around the village ready for a bit of a rest and a long drink.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Sunshine and a bit of frost greeted us this morning so Charlie ensured mum and dad were up early because we wanted a good walk, no excuses.

Floods, gales and horrid weather has kept us close to home for too long and today it was time for Silloth.

Over the last week we have seen dreadful weather with many of the rivers and streams bursting banks and cascading down main streets in towns like Cockermouth.

Many humans have switched on the flickery light show in the corner of the soft room and seen heroic rescues of some of us from flood waters.

Distressed

Specialist rescue teams from an organisation called the RSPCA have helped look after our colleagues who became stranded or split up from their humans.

More than 60 RSPCA staff  came to West Cumbria and working alongside the usual emergency services cared for dogs, cats, horses and many farm animals who became distressed or lost as conditions became dangerous.

Although the flood waters have gone away,  many friends may be spending time away from the normal routines and possibly their humans due to homes being waterlogged. Good luck to you all.

High path and low path at Silloth

Thankfully our town was spared any real damage and it seems the recently installed flood defences have worked.

Some localised flooding did occur and dad made a video of it for Naturearoundme.com. You can also see the video at the bottom of this post.

Silloth

We have visited Silloth many times, as regular readers will know but today was the best.

Mum and dad had both wrapped up well against the expected sea breeze but it was calm and still.  Even the sea hardly rippled as it ebbed and flowed.

Many pockets of water lay on the path and we just could not resist the temptation to go for the occasional paddle.

Sea birds at Silloth

Charlie spent quite a bit of time on the sea side of the flood defences today and let me be king of the castle by walking on the proper top path. We kept meeting up at the steps every few hundred meters and exchanged information using our inbuilt moist nose technology.

We have heard mum talk about something similar for humans when she uses bluetooth on her mobile talky thing.  It sounds very primitive and way behind what we have.

Penguins

As we walked along the path we noticed a lack of the usual seagulls but did see a number of these black and white birds.

White dots on Silloth trees

Dad commented that they must be penguins as it was cold and they were  the same colour as a penguin.

Mum replied, in a jokey sort of way,  that she thought penguins were blue with a yellow tummy.  It was going to be one of those days.

White dots

Our walk took the usual route up past the lighthouse on the path then passing through the gap in the sea defences at the landing stage and onto the grass.

Cat lurking in shrubs

Wide open space all to ourselves, quite an achievement on a Saturday morning.

Here our noses went into the air as we could smell the unmistakable odour of cooking bacon.

Maybe it was from the nearby care home or from one of the many hotels or houses on the street. That is just a cruel game to play without letting us share.

Just beyond the tennis courts is a small wood with what seems to be something mysterious going on.  Many of the trees here look as if they have been marked with white dots of paint. Could they be for the chop ?

Silloth on Solway - town crest

Our attention was soon drawn to a rustling coming from the undergrowth and a pair of wide eyes looking at us.

Mosaic

It is so frustrating that we are on our leads.

Silloth on Solway is the official title for this area and this is proudly displayed in this circular mosaic at the edge of the main green grass space.

Birds flypast at Silloth

Charlie is not really interested but I take a good look  and check out the sniffs.

Walking on the grass is not too bad as the main green area seems well drained and is not muddy at all.

Overhead hundreds of birds are flying past in a column hundreds of meters long.

They are too far away to see what they are.

Christmas

Silloth Christmas tree preparations

Christmas is now only a few weeks away and it looks as if Silloth will have a splendid focus for the festivities.

Planted firmly into a plastic trough with wooden wedges rammed home to stop any movement, is the giant Christmas tree.

Cake

Standing many meters high the fir tree still needs the lighting and other decorations added.

Dad spots a bakery and cake shop on the other side of the road called Berry and Sons.

Berry and Sons, Cake shop in Silloth

Mum is dispatched to get some provisions, clutching a couple of pound coins from dads pocket. The earlier smell of bacon just had our taste buds all a tingle.

One small paper bag is what she returns with a few minutes later and it smells sticky.

Sitting on a nearby bench the wrapping is removed and two vanilla slices are revealed.

We helped mum and dad eat them. It would have been a shame not to help.

Tummies full and circular walk completed we returned to the lifeboat station car park and  the start of our journey home.

That’s all for now, until next time

Buster and Charlie

Carlisle floods video

[youtube We8WaU3EjSY]