We have had a very busy week  due to one thing and another, so it was great to get out of the house yesterday for some sniffs.

The Cummersdale Viaduct near Dalston, Cumbria gets a lick of paint

Due to it being still quite cold it was decided that I should have my coat on today for our walk by the river at Cummersdale.

Although the coat does keep my back warm I am not really a fan of it as it sort of limits my movement due to it being a little stiff.

Instead of our normal path towards town, we headed this time towards Dalston.

Cummersdale viaduct repairs

Within a few hundred metres we came across works being done on the Cummersdale Viaduct.

It appears that Network Rail are spending about £1m on the bridge, replacing the track and giving it a new coat of green paint.

The work is due to finish in June and has been scheduled to avoid the salmon spawning season – between September and June.

Spread out across the fields are these gas pipeline marker posts

This viaduct carries the Maryport and Carlisle railway line over the River Caldew.

The path is part of the 70 mile Cumbria Way long distance footpath.

Marker posts

The recent few dry cold days made the sniffs really strong and Charlie had good fun following trails in and out of the long grass.

He must run miles further than I do as he criss-crosses the path in hunting mode.

As we were not in any hurry, dad took the time to investigate some orange and white marker posts.

He had often seen these at the edge of roads or partially hidden in hedges.

Standing about 2.5m tall the wide white pole featured a day glow orange band around the top.

As it was a clear day others could be seen in the distance, either side of the one we stood next to.

The snowdrops cover the river banks

The small information post indicated that the posts marked a high pressure gas pipeline hidden beneath, operated by Northern Gas Networks.

Snowdrops

A few weeks ago we mentioned that we had spotted a few snowdrops in a nearby churchyard.

Well spring is truly here, as we spotted many hundreds of flowers covering the river bank yesterday.

A whole industry has grown up with the search for snowdrops and snowdrop walks.

Dad almost fell into the river as he tried to get some photographs of the ones above.

Walk over, we headed back towards the car and home for a well earned rest.

Over the next few days we have quite a few things to do including some baking. More on this soon….

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Over the weekend we ventured in to Carlisle, to see how the Roman frontier building works were progressing.

The works, near to the castle and Tullie house museum have brought quite a bit of disruption to the normal life in this area, so we were keen to see if it was all worth it.

Looking down Castle Street in Carlisle

The Castle Street area of the city has had builders and tradesmen working away for many months now, however the end seems to be in sight.

Branded as a renaissance project designed to encourage tourism and as a focus for local Roman history, wooden columns and new pavements have been installed.

Historical quarter

Large red sandstone blockwork has now replaced the old concrete pavement slabs and Castle Street has been reduced to one lane.

Paving stones with writing on them

It is good to know that they have thought about us doggies too…Tall wooden posts, topped with carved red sandstone now grow skyward from the pavements.  These provide excellent sniffs and fantastic marker posts, so get the paws up from us both.

In a bid to recognise Carlisle as having Roman history, this area is trying to rebrand itself as the historical quarter of the city.

Although the Tullie House area has seen the focus of many peoples attention, work has also been going on in nearby Bitts Park.

Bitts Park

Sandstone entrance posts have been erected  at two of the entrances to Bitts Park.

New marker posts have been installed in Bitts Park

A new central round marker stone has also been installed near to the tennis courts.

Measuring about 3m across the circular stones give the visitor an indication of areas of the city nearby.

Visitors through the park, following the Hadrians Wall Path or the number 72 cycle way,  also have new direction posts.

Standing a few feet tall these new sniffing posts feature inlaid information tiles.

Costly to maintain

Now that most of the work has been completed it is clear that the new structures and street works will need time to bed in and become accepted.

It all looks very new and spotlessly clean and as such we have concerns as to how long this will last. Will the short term spend become a long term cost?

Gallery

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.

Kingmoor Reserve sign

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.

Bridges, dry paths make for a good walk

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.

Wooden Sculptures

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.

Oak Tree Trail

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?

Cows come to say hello ...

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.

A very naughty Charlie

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.

Buster enjoys his walk

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.

Cuckoo carving

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.

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.

Finglandrigg Sign

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.

Charlie checks to see we are keeping up

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.

Buster looks at the muddy puddles

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.  

Chalybeate Well

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.

If we jump in both together....

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.

Charlie looks across the peat bog

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

Finally we have a dry day and we can get out to play. Mum and dad have been very busy over the last few weeks getting some of the other websites clean and tidy.  You can take a look at them using the links from the side navigation of this page.

Knowefield Wood

Our walk started at the sign introducing Knowefield Wood.  I had a quick look around the web and don’t seem to be able to find anything about this area.

The trees and the general undergrowth look as if they have been growing for many, many years.

The local council must think the area is special as they have put up a big expensive sign –  so I wonder why I can not find out anything about it.

The walk was about 2miles or so long and in a few parts was a bit boggy after all the recent rain.

Buster loved tramping in the mud and I bet he will need a bit of a bath when he gets home.

Many of the trees in the wood have marker posts near to them.  This marker was for a pine tree.

We mentioned a few weeks ago that the soft fruit situation was a bit bad and that the usual bramble crop seemed somewhat down on recent years.  Well we are pleased to report that it seems as if pockets of the country are having good crops and some bad.

Brambles, the wild black fruit that grows in hedges, road verges and in sunny woodland clearings, seem to be fruiting well in some locations and in others only producing a poor crop.

Apples on the other hand seem to have had a bumper crop this year.

Pear - but is it a Perry Pear?

During our walk we came across a pear tree.  This is unusual as you would normally find apples at the roadside.

The tree was laden with hard pear shaped fruit around 3cm in length.  The pears you would find in a store would be easily four times the size.

Scattered on the ground beneath the tree were the windfalls. They looked to have all sorts of creepy crawly things on them and mum stopped us sniffing around near to them.

The skins of the fruit were tough like an English russet apple. A mottling of light and dark patches covered the skin giving them the feeling of fine sandpaper.

Upon returning home mum did a websearch and she seems to think they maybe the rare Perry Pear. These pears were used in olden times for the making of Perry, a sort of cider.  Can you identify the variety?

That is all for now.

Until next time

Charlie and Buster