Bernie

Powburn – Low Hedgeley Farm – Gallow Law – Beanley – Titlington – Shawdon Wood House – Powburn.

Much better than on the originally scheduled day, two weeks previously. Bright and crisp - sunny, cold and windy. Icy underfoot with some snow in places.

Bernie, Ashley, Michael, Michelle, Ron, Sandy, George.

The usual

This was possibly our first DEFRA walk – several artificial ponds on the Hedgeley Estate were being built by them. We were passed by a huge earthmover which then negotiated a narrow concrete bridge, whose upstream supports looked to be slowly giving way. We lost Ashley when he had not asked permission of the teacher to leave the Estate. There were several very old knarled and twisted trees early on.

We crossed a bridge over the disused railway and speculated what the letters BRB on the parapet stood for. Observation suggested it might be “bladder relief bridge”.
We passed a capacitor switch station.

Our lunch stop was by the river in the sun, although we had to sit on uncomfortable stones watching some black cows cross the river one by one. The last one had not gone by the time we had started to walk again. We followed the meanderings of the river Breamish for a while before crossing by bridge up to a farmyard with lots of expensive farm machinery – farmer boy’s toys. There were some posh farmhouses, one with a strange half peel tower.

We encountered a sheep with a bad cough. There was a very muddy farmyard . We admired the lovely views of the Cheviot Hills and Hedgehope.

We had an anti-social second tea stop – we sat in three wooden shooting butts which could only take two or three, and watched some unfriendly swans

We wimped out of climbing a small hill. We didn't meet any other walkers but were passed by plenty of cars as well as two horse riders.

The last stretch of the walk was along an old railway line. We had to climb over a large fallen tree. There was a sandstone embankment with trees growing out of the gaps.

Wildlife/flora:

Kestrels, buzzards, geese, herons, swans, ducks, long tailed tit, chaffinch, rabbit, mouse or vole.

Northumbrian Piper, Red House Farm – very nice, good food, good value. Joined by Evelyn.

 January Walkers

Lakes at Powburn

Water expanse

No go

Group on the bridge

Meandering

Snowy panorama

The path's here somewhere

Lunch

Daisy

Tricky

Hide

Lust for life

View of Cheviots