George

Longstrother (Wark) - Burmoor - Horneystead - Stoneyhaugh - Sadbury Hill - The Barnes - Longstrother.

It started very windy and got even stronger. Cloudy, very mild with occasional sunshine and some small rain squalls. The heavy rain and hailstones held off until the end of the walk but Sandy was rained on by pine needles.

George, Ron, Sandy, Michael, Michelle.

Ashley - Hash do.

Bernie - football match.

Evelyn - taking part in an ice show.

Ken - injured knee.

Carol - busy.

Comments

We survived what was probably the windiest and muddiest walk ever. We encountered no other humans and very little wildlife.

There were several interesting fence crossings including a bridge with a climb stile at one end and a squeeze stile at the other. We found a collapsed stile towards the end and a stile on the the Pennine way which had been thrown away. There was lots of lichen on the finger posts. One stone wall crumbled at the top when we climbed over it.

It was a one-stop walk, with lunch being taken beside a bridge over Warks Burn, where several tree stumps provided ideal seats.

Navigation went a bit awry in the middle section. There was no sign of the totem pole that used to stand in Stonehaugh but a famous Saloon Bar was spotted with Boot Hill behind.

There was a very muddy section on the return leg. We passed four wrecked cars and two farmhouses with conservatories which had spinning machines in them. George and Michael kept getting stuck together by each other’s velcro. We found a dead sheep and several spent clay pigeon shooting targets.

Wildlife/Flora/Animals:

We were followed by a small herd of bullocks and met a friendly labrador. We saw three horses, two of which were friendly, but the other wasn't friendly. There weren't many birds out and about, but we saw some fieldfares, a murmur of starlings and another bird which was blown away before we could identify it.

The Swan, Heddon-on-the Wall. Very good value. Everyone except George visited the carvery. Sandy must have had her eyes and belly transplanted (she wanted to try everything).

Up and over

In and out

Cross country

Horses

Over the bridge

River

Winter colours

Lichen signs

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