Funny image from Cockermouth

Any visit to a town that is trying to recover from a major incident always makes you wonder if you could do more to help and in many ways also slightly depressed.

So it was when we visited Cockermouth over the weekend.

Background

Just in case you are unaware of the hours of news footage towards the end of 2009,  Cockermouth and the surrounding area had severe flooding following heavy rain during November.

The Main Street in the town had torrents of water cascading down it, over a metre deep.

As a result many town centre businesses are displaced and the builders and drying contractors have moved in.

Open for business

Away from the skips and florescent safety gear clad workmen, life continues and Cockermouth, like many other areas affected in the storms, is open for business and is welcoming trade.

Our walk took us through the middle of the town and at the far end, feeling quite helpless, our spirits were raised, well at least mum and dad had a giggle, when they came across this financial institution.

As we have mentioned many businesses have moved from their normal premises and have sought alternative accommodation.

It would seem that this pension trust service, Wensley Mackay, now offer more than just financial support.

Flood recovery fund

Set up immediately after the flooding the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund has now raised in excess of £2m to help individuals and families suffering financial hardship and to support community projects recover.

Update 17 Feb 4pm – Flood fund now closed – BBC News

Until next time,

Buster and Charlie

100w bulbs & Arthuret Church, Longtown

Longtown on the Scottish or English border, depending on your point of view, is one of those places where you normally just travel through on your way to somewhere else, unless you need 100w light bulbs that is.  More on the light bulb story later in our update.

Today however we stopped,  just outside of the town at St Michael’s and All Saints church, or Arthuret church as it is more commonly known.

Just  off the A7 around 15 minutes by car from Carlisle is the lovely church. It is the parish Church for the Longtown area and about half a mile from the town.

Cathedral

Parking the car in the large lay-by at the side of the road we crossed into the churchyard through a black squeaky metal gate.

Known as Arthuret church it is a gothic imposing building built in the early 1600’s. The tower was a later addition almost 100 years later.

Short leads were the order of the day as we kept to the paths and maintained good order as we made our way along the path that ran to the left of the church.

Alongside the path, to the left and stretched out in many long snake like rows, were hundreds of gravestones of all shapes, colours and age.

Dad commented that for a rural area the churchyard seemed tightly packed and unusual. It almost seemed as if it had cathedral status over the nearby land he said.

Excited to stretch our legs, we spotted a gate at the top end of the churchyard and we headed straight for it.

Oh Charlie

Mum and dad had trouble squeezing under the low branches overhanging the kissing gate and I found it a bit of a squeeze negotiating the swingy gate bit, but we soon got through.

We escaped the churchyard and exited onto the top of a steep slope. It was a good job it was dry and light otherwise we could have run straight ahead and tumbled down the hill.

Mum didn’t like this bit and held on to my lead very strongly. She needs to get a walking stick for dads adventures next time.

Whilst mum struggled to get her head in order, Charlie and dad turned right to see what they could see.

Following the narrow path they spotted a wooden seat overlooking the valley and the flat lands.

If they had gone off with a sandwich and a flask then we would not have seen them for days as they could contemplate the world from there.  Thankfully they returned after a few moments.

Turning right from the gate, Charlie started to pull on his lead.  This usually means one thing, water!

Charlie is something of a divining rod when it comes to water as he seems to be able to smell it or sense it in some way.

Roman Bath

Full length of his lead and straight down the stone steps, he hurtled pulling dad behind like an anchor loose in the sea he turned sharp left. The next thing you heard was a splash followed by, Oh Charlie.

This would be St Michael’s Well that he found as he paddled around in the icy cold water up to his tummy. On a warm day this could be an ideal Roman style bathing pool for pooches as the water and the layout were just in scale for us.

I could just imagine paddling in the pool looking out across the fields then sitting on the sun warmed stones to dry off.

Charlie, now soaking wet below his tummy, had sealed the next few hours of outdoor fun, as we would need him dry before returning to the car so dad decided we would walk in to Longtown.

Starting off down the hill, with the sound of hundreds of geese overhead, we walked in a zig zag pattern, ensuring between us every smell was accounted for.

Arriving on to a wide main street dad decided that we would take the left hand side of the road first then return down the other side later.

Dr Robert’s town

Houses, shops and the occasional side street or ally were passed, until we came upon quite a wide road with what looked like open space beyond.

On our way down the hill we passed a fading information panel explaining that this was Dr Robert’s Town. Seemingly Dr Robert Graham was the person who laid out the town with the wide streets and established the Graham Arms as a coaching inn.

At the bottom of the hill was a metal gate with a permissive path sign to one side. This was all we needed to know we were on another part of our grand day out.

Our path led alongside the River Esk and looking back towards the town we could see five arches of the road bridge over the fast flowing water.

Whilst doing some research after our walk it seems as if the River Esk is the only river in Scotland where you apply to the English Environment Agency for some fishing licences.

Our path was firm underfoot and ideal for a damp day when mum likes to keep us reasonably clean.

After a short while we passed a small United Utilities compound  then a little further we came upon a bend in the river and a few water ponds to our left.  You can see them here on the map.

Maybe these were fish ponds in the old days or maybe the remains of a quarry dad was unsure.

Cider

By now we were getting a little cool with walking in to the icy breeze so we decided to turn around and head back towards the town.

Flashing in the sunlight at the edge of the path we noticed that almost at regular intervals were discarded drinks cans. This spoiled the walk a little but interestingly they all seemed to be a popular cider brand.

Mum and dad wondered if a lorry had fallen off the bridge filled with cases of cider or maybe it was the cheapest brand on the shelves in the local store.  This became the topic of conversation for quite a few minutes.

Arriving back into the town we crossed over the high street just before the bridge and started on our way back towards the car.

Fish and Chips

Frozen paws and rumbling tummies were soon forgotten as the local chip shop, The Border Cod, came into view on the other side of the road.

Mum was quickly dispatched with some money to get a single portion of fish and chips for us to share four ways.

Somehow food eaten outdoors seems to taste really good and these were no exception to that rule, as we sat on a bench and tucked in.

100w light bulbs

Right back at the start of this update we promised to reveal the story of the light bulbs, well this is it.

Half way down the High Street in Longtown is the John Graham hardware store.

Written in big letters on boards outside the shop this morning are a number of notices advertising 100w light bulbs.

These kinds of lamp are being banned by the EU for not being energy efficient however many people are still wanting to use them. The BBC reports that many people are hoarding the lamps.

So if you want to get your hands on some old technology then Longtown is the place to visit it seems.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

The cold weather continues in Cumbria

Week three or is it four weeks now that the temperatures have remained below zero in many parts of the county.

Our regular walk to the park to check on the unfreezing puddle indicated that in part the water has become solid with ice. However, it is very thin and mum stopped us walking on it in case we fell through.

Interestingly, as can be seen by the photograph, the overnight snow has not covered the puddle over, so maybe some heat is still left in our thermal spring.

Maybe dad could buy the land and build a spa complex on it just for pooches.

We do get sore muscles and bad skin like humans, so why shouldn’t we get a bit of pampering…

Snowballs

Today Charlie learnt all about snow balls and chasing them. Mum tried like mad to make them so he could have something to run after.

The latest fall of snow was very powdery, just like false snow you would find in a shop window at Christmas or the stuff straight out of an aerosol can.

Mum had to warm her hands before picking up the snow so a little of it would melt and form a sort of icy-snowball.

Twitter

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The link to Twitter can also be found to the right of this page (the big blue stripe that says Follow Us)

Video

Dad has been busy with the video and stills camera over the last few days snapping away taking pictures of snow.

He has put together a gallery of some of the stuff taken over the last few days below for your enjoyment.

Both mum and dad are now very busy writing up various articles for some of their websites and just letting us lay by the fire, toasting slowly.

We take it in turns hot-bunking on the rug whilst the other gets comfortable in a cooler part of the house. Mum thinks that maybe we were marshmallows or gods in a previous life.  I suppose that dog is merely god spelled backwards. So following that way of thinking we must also be a wollamhsram. Whatever one of those is?

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Gallery

Some of dad’s pictures and a video he has put together for Naturearoundme.com

Frosty start in Carlisle, -5 deg C overnight

Bright sunshine and with mum and dad on holiday once more we escaped the confines of the house and out for a walk.

First thing on our list was to check to see if our puddle, the one we spotted the other day, had frozen.

Despite the temperatures overnight dropping to at at least -5deg centigrade the puddle still remained unfrozen.

Mum and dad now wondered what was keeping the water from freezing over.

Maybe it was being fed from an underground hot spring left undiscovered by the Romans when they left the area a few thousand years ago.

It is thought that the nearest bath house to us is to be found on the site currently occupied by the Market Hall in the centre of the City so quite a few miles away from our location.

Overhead

Today has been a busy day for the air ambulances in the area.

Whilst we were out on our walk a green and white helicopter flew over us quite low as he went in to land at the nearby hospital.

As we type this blog update we can hear again the sound of whirling rotor blades as for about the fourth time today a helicopter is on route to the helipad at the Cumberland Infirmary.

Really winter

Everything is looking very festive and somehow just right for the season after the weeks of cold temperatures.

For many years our winters seem to have been only wet, damp and miserable however the cold, crisp days with the bright sunshine just seem to have lifted spirits.

It has been very unusual to have a white Christmas all through the holiday period.

We have been out far more in the last few weeks than at times during the summer.  Yes we get cold paws and Charlie gets a soggy tummy but we stay clean.

Peaking through undergrowth

Another thing we have noticed is that when it is cold the sniffs really do smell a whole lot better.

With temperatures dropping outside mum brought some of her plants indoors to escape the frost. In normal times they would be ok in the greenhouse but it anything below -4 dec C she says will freeze their roots and stems.

Suddenly the bathroom and the kitchen look like jungle film sets and at anytime you expect a Bear Grhyls or some other explorer or naturalist peaking through the undergrowth.

Bright yellow flowers surrounded one side of the field we went for a walk in today.  Despite the icy conditions and the recent snow falls the gorse still seems to be flowering.

Mum says this is unusual in the north of England however many reports suggest that gorse is now flowering all year around.

Against the white ground and bare branches of nearby trees the many bushes about 2m high really stood out and provided a happy sunny hedge.

Buster once again wore his blue jacket with the reflective stripes to help keep his hip warm.  He is not really a fan of it as it is a little bit ridged on his back and makes him feel a little awkward. The benefit comes when he gets home and doesn’t feel too clunky and sore.

I love my walks and am always keen to get onto the scent of a new animal.  Today, left in the snow were sets of four paw prints mum thought had been left by bunnies.

Now I don’t know what one of these critters looks like but they seem to have rounded rectangular paws and smell slightly of damp earth. I think they must be fluffy like me.

Coloured snow

It is hard work being out in front on walks and looking after Buster. Sometimes I just take a break and sitting or lying on the snow just take a moment to look around.

Did you know you can eat snow? Mum picked some of the white stuff in her hand and like magic it turned to licky water,  what a great trick.

This got me wondering what would happen if I licked the snow up on my licker.

I have to say it was cold and it sort of crackled but it soon melted and I was sorted. Drinks whenever I needed,  for this walk anyway.

Just a note of caution at this point,  coloured snow is not good.  I need say no more. Yuck.

Husky

Towards the end of the big field we had to descend down quite a big hill. You can see a picture of it to the right of the page.  Next time it snows we know exactly where to come for some sledging. I can run in front with a harness on and pull Buster around just like a sled dog team.

On the subject of sled dogs the Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain have been holding a rally this weekend near Penrith.

Usually in the UK the sleds are equipped with wheels and are pulled by a team of dogs over forest tracks. Maybe this year the full experience may have been possible with the sleds running on the snow, as they would do in the frozen wildernesses of Siberia.

Picture

One of the unseen problems with this website is the number of blurred photographs my dad takes of us. This is not, usually, because he can’t take a good picture but because we do not stand or sit still for very long.

Very often dad will load the pictures on to the computer and all you will see across the screen is a black and white blur  or a shaky tan coloured splodge, sorry Buster.

So you can imagine his relief when he downloaded the above photograph from the camera.

Have a safe and peaceful 2010

Until next time

Charlie and Buster

Happy New Year 2010 from a blog from my dog

Despite our best efforts last night mum and dad insisted on staying up way past their bedtimes and saw in something they call the new year.

In what has become an annual ritual dad gets his coat and shoes on and leaves the house just before midnight, clutching a small bag of salt, a cork with a coin in it and a candle.

This year things were a little different as the candle had been replaced by a very bright and shiny lamp filled with oil. Earlier in the day dad was seen feeding the lamp a stinky water through a hole in the base.

Dad brought this lamp into the house a few weeks ago.  It had been bought for him as a gift by his mum and dad.

As midnight approached the bang pop things could be heard from the garden and we went out to see what all the commotion was about. A few well timed woofs soon sorted them out and silence was restored.

A short while later, with mum pacing around the house dad returned and knocking on the door mum lets him in. He had lit the lamp and it shone really brightly but did smell a bit stinky.

Mum does not see the point in any fuss with new year and always gets a bit frumpy with dad as he goes about his ritual. However, she had prepared the cake and a bottle of some fizzy pink stuff on a table.  One final ritual and dad and mum hold the cake knife and make something dad calls a wish as they slice into the new cake. Again mum not really amused but she puts up with it with a grump and a smile.

At last we can go to bed.

Charlie is first to wake earlier this morning and he seems a bit excited. Dad lets him out into the garden and he starts woofing and running around.

Dad takes a look at what is causing all the commotion and finds that it has been snowing again overnight. Charlie is loving it running round and round the garden like something possessed.

Not even allowing mum and dad to have their breakfast we encourage them, in the unique way that we can, to take us out for a walk.  We wanted to play.

Given it was cold we all got wrapped up for a walk around the local field.

The paths, just recently cleared of ice, now had a new layer of white dust on them.

Footprints from all sorts of animals could be seen. Birds and the moggy from next door were some we spotted.

Interestingly this puddle in the field had not frozen although it was surrounded snow and the temperature was below zero.

Maybe we have a hot spring or maybe some new kind of un-feezing water has just been discovered.

New sport

Dad thought that it would be great to invent a new sport, the cold must have got to him  and Charlie was to be key to his ambitions.

Waiting until Charlie was almost out at full lead length dad assumed the crouch position and waited for the slack in the lead to be taken up.

Dog snow skiing was to be the title and charlie was the substitute for a powerboat.   Sadly for dad,  Charlie only pulled him 2cm before he stopped and sat down.

I don’t think this sport will make it to the Olympics.

Happy New Year

2010 has started with snow and the discovery of un-freezing water.  What more could we want ?

Let us hope 2010 is not as wet as 2009 and we can get out into the big world for more adventures.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

Frosty Carlisle but no snow yet.

Frosty ground and brilliant sunshine – just perfect for an early morning walk and that is exactly how we started the day.

Mum and dad promised that we would get out today ahead of the forcasted snow, which as yet has not arrived.

Buster has taken to wearing his fleecy jacket at this time of the year to try and keep his hip warm.  For an old man he does very well on our expeditions.

The frost over the last two nights had made the ground all firm and non-splodgy so we were in for a long walk as we would stay dry and above all clean.

Dad did not fancy getting the car out today as he didn’t want to de-ice it or face the busy roads full of Christmas shoppers so instead we walked to the starting point for todays walk.

Engine Lonning was once a busy rail yard for the  London & North Eastern Railway.  The rail yard closed in the early sixties and nature has been swift to reclaim the area.

Recent renovation work in this area has improved the major paths through the site and on a frosty day like today it is fantastic.

Wooden steps lead down towards the former Waverley Bridge where we come across some naturally made ice pops.

Water, dripping from underneath the bridge arches, has frozen to form clear icicles which are glinting in the sunshine.

Dad takes some pictures then breaks one off for us to lick.  For some reason they don’t smell right so we decline a cool drink.

He now has wet paws which start to get really cold in the fresh air.

One the other side of the  River Eden, mum notices that what appears to be hundreds of trees that have been recently planted.

It also looks as if the river bank has been taken away to allow the river to flood onto this area.

Resetting the food chain

After all the recent rain, this spell of dry hard frost is great to seal the arrival of winter and to reset all of the natural rhythms of nature.

Bugs and plants will especially benefit from the cold as it will ensure that the food chain is kept in check and that plants get their winter rest.

Recent warm winters have kept many plants awake and bugs and other insects have not been knocked back by what should be natures leveller, the cold icy UK winter.

Mum had noticed that in our garden the daffodil bulbs had already started to peek through the soil and that many of the bushes had started to grow new green buds.

Sunlight

Clear, fresh sunlight this morning made some of the plants shout out to be photographed.

Golden cones on this Larch tree twinkled with frost and almost seemed to glow as the low sunlight shone through the branches.

Our walk continued along the path past the river monitoring station and towards the Sheepmount Stadium.

Passing straight in front of the stadium we  entered onto the playing fields beyond the astro-turf all weather pitches.

Footprints could be seen on the frozen grass where animals and people had been before us. Sunshine flooded the very tops of the trees and in the calm still air we took a moment to look around.

Monster

Nothing was moving on the fields. In the bushes to our left blackbirds scurried amongst the undergrowth in search of beetles whilst above them could be seen the occasional flashes of red as a robin stood guard.

Across the field and onto the lower field we tramped, our footprints left on flattened grass testament to our passage.

Through the ground came a monster rumbling towards us. Breaking the silence a DRS train thundered on the tracks across the bridge which we had walked under about 40 minutes ago.

Direct Rail Services (DRS) is based about a mile up the tracks from here and has recently been in the news helping communities in West Cumbria after the floods.

Working on behalf of  Northern Rail, DRS are providing additional capacity between Maryport, Flimby, Workington North and Workington to help residents of these areas move around after many bridges were washed away in the bad weather.

Brick

Whilst we watched the train, and to avoid mum getting scared of being under the bridge as the train went overhead we waited, and looking to the ground dad spotted a brick peeping through the low grass and mud.

Unusually this brick had the words ‘Phorpres Electricity’ stamped into it.

Searching the web when we came home seems to indicate that this brick may have been made in London at the London Brick Company works.

Further research by dad possibly reveals that Phorpres was a trade name which came about due to the number of times they were pressed ,four times = four press = Phorpres.

All dad can think of is that the brick came from an electricity building at some point in it’s history. Maybe you know more about this brick?  Let us know via the comments area below.

Thats all for now.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Mucky paws in Bitts Park, Carlisle

How many times can we start a blog entry by saying it is raining again?  We make a quick dash today, between the showers,  to Bitts Park so that we can get out and stretch our paws.

Finding a car parking space was difficult for dad as something must be going on at the nearby Sheepmount sports complex. Interesting and just an aside, the Sheepmount description from the link above says that the site has two cricket pitches and a cycle track, where?

The number of times we have visited the area and we have never seen anyone playing cricket or getting on their bikes except on the public paths through the park.

Our walk

Back to our walk and after parking the car and avoiding slipping in the muddy grass we finally got onto long leads and a scamper about.

In a previous update we mentioned that areas of Carlisle had been flooded in the recent storms well it looks like the new moat by the side of Carlisle Castle has now vanished.

Silt and mucky puddles line the path and it wasn’t long before the tidemark around our legs became visible.

Mum suggested that we should get some wellington boots.

We meet biscuit

Victoria Park, next door and along the same path, had not dried out and the calm duckpond reflected the sky like a mirror.

Previous visits to this park had revealed a number of burrows in the plant borders possibly made by rabbits or maybe a badger or two.

Mum and dad wondered if they had found new homes or had possibly drowned as the waters rose.

Bounding along, stick in mouth, came biscuit. Straight past us and into the pond he ran loving every minute of his walk.

We have met biscuit a number of times on our walk around the park and her human. Charlie gets fussed over as a fellow nutter and did make a bit of a collection of paw prints on his trousers, for which he can only say sorry.

Blossom

Many of the plants in the park have now hunkered down for the winter after loosing leaves and shedding flowers. However, some love this time of year including a winter flowering cherry.

Bright white flowers with pinkish centres contrast brilliantly against the dark grey sky and brown tree trunks.

Nearby, spreading scent across a wide area is a viburnum. Small white flowers dispense a perfume in to the cool breeze similar to jasmine.

One of the casualties of the flooding is a very tall willow tree which now has its roots above ground.

Willlow usually enjoy their feet in damp soil but the soft ground has given way allowing this tree to fallover.

Maybe the grounds staff will be able to replant it once the waters go away but more than likely it will be turned into chippings.

Let’s hope a new tree is planted in it’s place.

We return home and entering the house it becomes apparent that we may have picked up quite a bit of mud and debris from our walk.

The entrance hall floor quickly becomes covered with small mucky paw prints and as is so much the procedure these days, we go straight to the bathroom.

Yipee not a full bath, but a washing of our legs and tummies to remove the grit and dirt.  I think a few hours infront of the warm fire is needed now to dry off and chill. It is a weekend after all!

Until next time

Buter and Charlie

Calm sea at Silloth after Cumbrian storms

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ?

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.

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

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.

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

Halloween preparations – Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria

Our adventures this week have taken us to a small village called Hesket Newmarket.

You may remember we visited a place called Caldbeck a few weeks ago well, Hesket Newmarket is about 1.5 miles beyond this, down a narrow ‘B’ road.

The village is stretched along the main through road and has a Post Office, pub, church and has even been visited by a royalty.

It also has a strange custom of putting orange heads on display.

Possibly to scare away little boys, as we did not see any, or maybe it is a local custom only known to those who live nearby.

Brewery

Our journey today took us out of the city past our frequent walking place of Dalston, past Rose Castle, the home of the Bishops of Carlisle and high onto the Caldbeck fells.

This is sheep country and many of the woolly beasties were to be spotted grazing on the fells.

After parking the car, in one of the eight or so car parking spaces, we got the whiff of something a bit odd, a bit strong and actually quite sharp.

Hardly noticing the big collection of wooden sticks and debris ready for bonfire night in a week or so we sought out the source of the smell.

Charlie is best at seeking out smells, being a cocker spaniel, so he set to work and came upon a man moving big plastic drums around to and from a van.

It turns out that not only does the village have a pub, The Old Crown, but also has it’s own brewery.

Funnily enough called the Hesket Newmarket Brewery.

All now became clear as mum discovered that the smell was coming from the brewery so was a mixture of hops, yeast and something she called beer.

Co-op

Now that the source of the smell had been resolved dad took our leads and we went for a sniff around the grass and further investigation of the bonfire preparations.  Mum meanwhile visited the brewery information area for further research….. Good job she only likes wine and whiskey.

After a few minutes mum returned and recounted that the pub was the first co-operative pub in the country and is owned by over 100 people.  The brewery is also a co-operative started by around 60 people after fearing the micro-brewery would close in 1999.

Since this time the brewery has grown and now produces over 50 barrels a week of which some is bottled and sold in many specialist stores in the area.

Prince Charles visited the pub and brewery in 2004 where he opened a new temperature controlled storage facility.

Twelve roads or paths

Our expedition finally moved to the main high street and the pavement in front of the Old Crown Pub.

Opposite the pub and across the road is a strip of green grass with a number of ‘Do not park notices’ pushed in to it.

The pavement led, slightly uphill, towards a low canopied structure and the shop.

Hesket Newmarket is very old and is the meeting point of some twelve roads, bridle-tracks and footpaths.

Many of the buildings date from the late 17th to early 18th Century.

Hesket, as it is referred to occasionally, was granted it’s market charter in the early 18th Century.  However, the only evidence of this past is the Market Cross and the annual agricultural show held in September.

Unusual

Alongside the Market cross is a building known as the coach house. It is currently for sale with an asking price of around £210k

It is an unusual building and was used to house a carriage on the ground floor  with sleeping accommodation above for the groom.

Opposite the Post Office is a fine example of a finger post road sign which looks as if it has been recently refurbished.

We wondered if the company in Lanercost, Signpost restoration Ltd, had done the work on this black and white icon of our transport past.

Apart from the pub a community must have a good shop for all of life’s essentials.

Holiday rental

The village shop and tea room, with it’s old post box on the wall outside, stood behind us. A wooden bench was a tempting place to stop for a moment for something sticky and a warm cup of hot chocolate but it was a bit too cold and we were not allowed inside.

Maybe we can return in the summer.

As we continued up the hill dad spotted a large wooden sign which read ‘The Temperance  Hall‘ .

Research upon our return indicates that this property, like many others in the village, has become a holiday rental often owned by people from outside of the area.

Now at the edge of the village we turned around and returned, this time using the opposite side of the main street, towards the car.

With pink railings, guttering and downspouts the Free Church in Hesket Newmarket would seem a little bit of a rebel, decoration wise that is.

Carved into the stonework next to the main door is an unusual inscription for a church which reads, we think,  ’Dr Altham’.

We have no idea who Dr Altham is, or his connection to this building, maybe you know?

Crossing Point

Our walk took just about 40 minutes taking time to sniff and investigate so it is not somewhere we would come every week. However, it does make for a Sunday stroll or maybe a transit point on the Reivers Bike Trail to stop off and gather your thoughts over a pint of real ale and a pie from the village shop whilst sitting on the village green.

Further information

Appraisal of Hesket Newmarket Conservation Area -LDNPA

Keswick Railway footpath

Keswick was our destination on Tuesday when we went for a family outing.  With the weather a little breezy dad thought it would be best if we visited the Keswick Railway footpath and went for a strole.

After parking the car near to the Keswick Leisure Centre we climbed the wooden faced steps up to the path built on the trackbed of the former Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway.

Built around 1862 originally as a mineral line between Workington in the West and Durham on the North East coast  the line was progressively closed starting in 1966 when all the passenger services ceased.

Track and assorted parts of the infrastructure continued to be removed during 1967 with the final official closure in 1972.

Being on old railway trackbed the path is ideal for buggies, bikes and motorised wheelchairs. However we would suggest that manual wheelchairs may struggle in places as the gradients are a little bit high.

After a few minutes we come across a very strange black object. It looks like a fish with it’s head buried in the ground but turns out to be a C2C Millennium milepost.  The two tail fins pointing towards Keswick in one direction and Sunderland in the other.

Mum and dad wondered if markers like this could, in a few years time, be seen as headstones for the Millennium quango society.  Marking the passing of organisations, as the credit crunch and quests for efficiency bite, such as the Millennium Commission, the banks and the National Lottery as funding conduits.

The conversation got a bit deep at this point so we tugged on our leads eager to explore further.

Sniff of Water

Towering above, in matt white concrete, was the massive structure of the Greta Bridge carrying the A66 from the M6 to Cockermouth.  It turns out that this is an award winning bridge thanks to the readers of a ‘must have’ journal about concrete.

Dad felt compelled to make up some concrete puns at this point, he wondered if they would be ’set in their ways’ or maybe able to handle pressure because they were ‘pre-stressed’.

We could hear the cars above but could not see them which made us a little puzzled however, Charlie got the sniff of water and this became our quest.

To our left was the river flowing towards Keswick. However,between it and us lay some sheep and a few fences. No splodging to be had here.

Just beyond the bridge we entered an area of wooden boardwalk strapped to the side of a sheer stone cliff.

A bright blue and red sign nailed to a post nearby indicated we were on the British Cycle Network route 71.

The boards had netting over so no risk of our paws slipping between the gaps and we were able to look through the sides onto the valley below.

The path at this point started to fall towards the water and our hopes raised of a paddle soon.

Hydro-electricity

Exiting the boardwalk, we were suddenly amongst a number of humans and fellow dogs all congregated in one area.

It was not a bottleneck of people waiting to get onto the boardwalk but an area with a lot of history going on and everyone wanting to learn more.

To our right was the former entrance to a tunnel for the railway. It is all bricked up now so this is the reason we needed to take to the boardwalk to get around the hill the once tunnel cut through.

Below us and to our left, obscured by the tree canopy, are assorted structures in the path of the river.

These were the former workings and footings of possibly the earliest hydro-electric scheme in the county, generating electricity for the Keswick area.

The plant started to generate power, around 30Kw, in 1890 and was owned by the Keswick Electric Light Company. It continued to operate up to 1941.

Small tunnel

We negotiated through the many people and resumed our walk after saying hello to a few dogs and humans along the way.

The slight slope to the path continued for a while then resumed the more natural flat and level route you would expect on a rail line.

Ahead of us was a tunnel. At last, we could make ourselves sound really big as our woof would echo around.  However, it was not to be as it was only around 5m long. A bit of a disappointment .

Bobbin Mill

It turns out that the bridge we have just passed under was built to allow traffic to get to and from the Low Briery wooden bobbin mill which it to our left.

All is explained about the area in a couple of Lake District National Park information signs.

Just behind these notice boards is the former station platform at Briery and doing what comes naturally to boys we climb the few steps and walk on this ‘upper path’ leaving mum to walk on the track bed.  We are still not a tall as her … but we are almost…

Around 120 bobbin mills used to operate  in the Lake District  producing almost half of the worlds wooden bobbins.

One report on the web indicates that this mill alone exported over 40million bobbins per year at it’s peak. If put end to end the row of bobbins would be around  800 miles long.

The mill closed in 1961 due to the collapse of the British textile industry and increased competition from abroad.

Water

Mum and dad read the sign boards, it is what humans do, however we are eager to find a paddle.  The river is still to our left and we are now starting to want a drink.

Charlie is the key to finding water and so far this walk is frustrating him.  He can hear it and can smell it but just can not get his paws into it.

Our path leads onto another wooden platform, like the boardwalk earlier, and Charlie gets all excited.  There it is, below us, glistening in the sunshine, all the water we need, now how do we get to it?

No problem as a small path leads down from the far side of the bridge to a rocky area at the base of one of the bridge supports.

Cool, clear fresh water right up to our tummies and as much of it to drink as we want.

The bridge above us is what is known a bowstring bridge and like all the bridges on this route was designed by Thomas Bouch .

Mr Bouch was born in Thursby and is also responsible for the Northern Viaducts in the Upper Eden Valley which we visited towards the end of 2008.

Research on the web mentions that the Queen travelled on this rail line  in 1966 in the Royal Train.  Maybe this is the same bridge shown in this photograph with the Royal train passing over.

With our legs starting to get a little sore, we climb away from the river and start our return journey. We decide it is easiest just to retrace our steps back to the car.  The return takes about 40 minutes as we take our time.

Thats all for now, until next time

Buster and Charlie.

Further information

LDNPA Latrigg walk

Discover uses of rock in the landscape around Keswick and Borrowdale

Organisation trying to re-open the Keswick rail line

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