Day 1 – We have arrived, a preservation problem

We had a great day day as we drove to Northumberland. Much of the drive was through countryside that we had not visited before. From the East Coast to the spine of England along the northern Pennines. Once past Darlington it became more and more remote with many sheep, no people, and a few isolated farm buildings, many of which seemed desolate. A look in a local estate agents proved that this was indeed the case; an isolated farmhouse with 2.5 acres and no services was £20,000. It would suit somebody who really likes DIY and then complete isolation. It was difficult to see how anybody is making a living in these areas, however for the casual visitor the desolate beauty is impressive.

We stopped for lunch in Alston at, surprise surprise, a heritage railway. The railway line to Alston was shut in 1976 and part has been re-laid as a narrow gauge heritage line. For me however it posed some interesting questions about preservation, the station was a perfect example of a Victorian country building by the North Eastern Railway. However a modern canopy had been built over the station, a striking glass and steel construction. It completely spoiled the appearance of what was a lovely building. A great shame because it obviously cost a lot of money, which probably could have been better spent. I think that it shows what can be wrong with much preservation. Hopefully I will have a photo to accompany this so that you can make your own mind up. Anyway the lunch in the accompanying café was excellent.

So refreshed we drove on to the cottage that would be our base for the week’s walking. It has a great situation and will be very comfortable, although it is doubtful that any of the party will be using the Jacuzzi. In the field behind the cottage are two alpacas or llamas; in truth I cannot tell the difference.

Tomorrow we venture west for the start of the Hadrian’s Wall walk from Bowness-on-Solway. The first stage is a straightforward flat stroll along the Solway Firth. I will be attempting to tweet about this using the hash tag wallwalk. More tomorrow. 

Hadrian’s Wall Beckons

On Friday I start the conquest of Hadrian’s Wall, no this is not a re-enactment where unruly Picts descend on the wall to defeat the Roman invader. Instead with a group of friends I am tackling the long distance path that runs parallel to the wall. It runs from the Solway Firth in the west to Newcastle in the East for about eighty miles. We will be walking it in seven stages of about eleven miles each. That makes it suitable for the entire group of plus sixties that are walking.

We have rented a large house, at Lambley Cottages, roughly halfway along the walk near the village of Haltwhistle. That will be our base for the week; travelling out and back to the various start and finish points. We will alternate between eating in the house and frequenting local pubs meaning that nobody has too much catering to worry about. Also of course we can sample the local ales!

I am looking forward to the walk as it covers part of the country that I do not know at all. It is of course of historic significance, but it also traverses some very beautiful countryside. I will attempt to blog each day with our progress every day. Those who read yesterday’s blog will recognise some of the walkers, particularly Ben the spaniel, who will of course walk three times further than anybody else and get much dirtier.

I suppose the only thing that could dampen our spirits is the weather as for the most part the walk is very exposed. The forecast for the first few days is good so hopefully it will remain so.

Well late on Thursday the provisions have been bought and the walking kit packed ready for a prompt departure tomorrow. Unfortunately our numbers have been reduced to nine, but our spirit is good. Look forward to my daily reports from Cumbria and Northumberland, starting tomorrow.

The Walking Group

Every month five of us take a day walk in the local area; we are fortunate in that we have the North Yorkshire Moors Park on our doorstep. There are a huge number of possible walks, which can take us through forests, over exposed moors, visiting remote villages, and walking around a beautiful coastline. Almost as critical there are many local pubs that serve great lunches with a good pint of real ale.

Ian Showing the Way

Our leader is Ian who arranges each of walk and is brilliantly prepared with map, walk description, and compass. He has always researched the pubs, and indeed has often reconnoitred the walk with his wife Sylvia.

Today’s walk started in the village of Goathland, better known as Aidensfield in the long running television series Heartbeat. At first we followed the track of a historic railways, one of the first to be built in Britain and first operated by horses. This was the inclined plane where carriages were attached to a rope and hauled up and down by a stationary engine.

We climbed up to the heather covered moorland where Ben had a great time disturbing the nesting grouse. He also had a fantastic time rolling in all the standing water and mud. Ben as you may realise is a springer spaniel. I ask why he always shakes himself over me.

Ben with Author (on the right)

The moors were very wet after the downpours that we have had recently, so it was good to descend into the valley of the river Esk and an adventure – we had to cross two streams by stepping-stones. Fortunately they were not too slippy. Interestingly we observed two dead salmon in the river. They were substantial fish. Ian thought that it was male fish that after fertilising the female’s eggs in the river just give up.

Brian usually drives on these trips, as he has to accommodate the wet and dirty Ben on the return. His innovation today was to include a box to place our kit in as previously Ben has slobbered all over our belongings.

Lunch beckoned as we walked into the village of Grosmont and the Station Inn. As it was warm enough to sit outside we could observe the movements of the steam trains on the nearby preserved railway. It was also a chance for the others to rib me about my nerdish knowledge in this subject!!! After we had finished our substantial stotties (a large flat bottomed bread roll), we climbed up the hill out of Grosmont, through some attractive woodland back onto the high moors.

The final part of the walk took us across a footbridge over the river; in turn a larger bridge carrying the railway between Grosmont and Goathland covered us. You can see the fifth member of our band Simon pointing out this feature. Simon is our newest member having only recently enjoyed the fruits of retirement. He is the voice of arbitration when Ian is unsure of the way.

Simon pointing with Brian in the background

So a great day's walking, the weather kept fine, we had a lovely lunch and much stimulating conversation, what more could you want?

Boules Party

It was the bank holiday weekend, and what a surprise it has been glorious weather. Topping out on Monday at 20 plus degrees in Scarborough. I took a walk by the beach on Monday afternoon and it was absolutely heaving. There were industrial quantities of sand being shifted in order to make impregnable sandcastles. People were even swimming!!!

The weather was fortunate for us because on Sunday we held our second annual boules party. Although the winner may say otherwise really this is just an excuse to socialise with our friends while there is a game of boules being played in the background. Well those of you who know your French games will realise that boules is played on a dusty gravel pitch known as a bouleodrome by sun tanned older men smoking evil smelling cigarettes and drinking bizarre smelling concoctions. Our version was somewhat different, for a start it was mixed; the fairer sex was invited and given no quarter. Indeed Eilis had the temerity to reach the final. Sacre-bleu, it was played on the back lawn to produce a sort of cross between bowls and boules. There was of course one downside to this, due to the heavy rain in mid-week the boules did tend to stop where they landed. So now we know why gravel is necessary. The change to the rules did not prevent fierce competition, although I suspect the hazards of garden steps is not present in most French venues!

As far as I know nobody crept off for a crafty smoke, however French traditions were upheld as plenty of champagne was quaffed, while Marion had prepared a superb lunch. There was much revelry and plenty of good conversation and friendship.

These are the contestants in suitably relaxed mode at the presentation to Iain (seated) of the traditional silver boules in lieu of a trophy. All in all a great day, made even better by the superb sunshine.

A Sheppard’s Ramblings is back

It came as a surprise to me that it is almost two years since I last blogged. So much has happened since then. This new post is not about the past and is certainly not going to be a nostalgic reminiscence about what has happened over the last two years. I am determined that it is going to be forward looking.

I have realised that the quality of experiences is much enhanced by writing them down. Not only are you able to appreciate the experience more and perhaps enjoy it in greater subtlety, but also it forms a history that can be referred back to. How often do you realise that you cannot remember one day from another. So by reviving the blog I hope to remedy this.

So my objective is to be more descriptive and probably less pontificating than previously (hooray, I hear you say). We have much planned over the coming year, and no in answer to my children, it is not all holidays but a real cornucopia of things. Of course there will also be the unexpected and those events that just hit you from left field. There will also be of course those things that I just want to write about.

So that you are updated below is the latest picture of Marion and myself taken at a wedding in July. As you can see it was a glorious day.

So please make any comments that you would like, suggest topics, or indeed make your own contribution. Sheppard’s Ramblings is back!!!

Tem is Over

Yes, 13:00 today was an important deadline, all of my course work had to be uploaded to the university web site. Term was over!!! Time to relax. My absence from the blogosphere over the last few weeks has perhaps been down to not relaxing. I found the process of essay writing difficult to say the least. The information age is the student’s friend, but he should be wary, the sheer scale of the information available is mind blowing. For instance I was able to read unpublished university theses by subscribing to a British Museum site. Distilling this down into a coherently argued 3,000-word essay was challenging to say the least.

I have learnt much over the last ten weeks. The first is that my note taking must be better and more consistent. I need to plan my time better and probably get down to the assignments earlier. This will be especially important next year as I must make the most of Marion’ absence in the States to get a good start on the work. It is also very easy to disappear down rat holes, I would see an interesting article and read it, even if it was not directly relevant to the subject at hand. It has also been a humbling experience, I thought that I was knowledgeable about Victorian Railways, it turns out that I had a high level of ignorance. I am aware that I have also become very boring on the subject. Apologies to my family and friends.

What is worrying is that the bug has taken me over. So today even as term finished I am looking forward to next term’s reading list and topics being placed on-line, later this week. I can then get down to exploring the more dusty corners of Amazon’s offerings.