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March

Route

Route

 

Walk leader

Ashley

Route

Wedder Leap carpark - Barrowburn- Ward Law - Windy Gyle trig point - Russells Cairn - Trows - Rowhope - Wedder Leap.

Weather

Cloudy throughout. Very windy and cold on the tops. Cloud above the tops.

Walkers

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

Excuses

Bernie - term-time work.

Evelyn - dodgy knee after skiing.

Comments

We were led today by the latest screen sensation, fresh from being blacked up as 1920’s miner for a Newcastle Brown TV advert to be shown in the US.

Wedder Leap: the story goes that during mosstrooping days, a ‘lifter’ one night carried off a nice plump ‘wedder’ from the flock grazing on a nearby hillside. The daring sheep-stealer had not gone very far when the loss was discovered and the owner and his men gave chase. Handicapped by the wedder tied around his neck, the thief decided his only chance of escape was to to leap the chasm over the River Coquet near where the footbridge is today. His feet touched the opposite bank, but the wedder around his neck proved a millstone and dragged him backwards into the murky depths of the pool below, never to be seen again!

Boom, boom, boom – lots of big bangs and smoke from the military range. There were plenty of stiles, many of which were broken. In places there were several stiles where one would have done. Ron had a muddy fall. We passed Murder Cleugh, where there is a stone commemorating the murder of Isabel Sudden by Robert Lumsden in 1610

Lunch was taken behind a wall in a wood, accessed by rickety stiles. It was relatively sheltered but didn't have a good view. Similarily the second stop for a cup of tea was in a wood, where Ashley mislaid his glasses.

We met lots of people, including a noisy group, who were poorly dressed and looked miserable, although their friendly dog jumped up on George.

Windy Gyle lived up to its name. We crossed the border and just managed to see the Eildon Hills out of the cloud. Michelle tried to take some artistic photos beside the Border signpost despite her subjects not co-operating. Near Rowhope we encountered a posh, immaculately dressed lady with a Northumbrian accent on a beautiful horse with a fantastic saddle, accompanied by a young girl.

We had afternoon tea at Barrowburn Tea Room. Fabulous home baking. The farmer, who had a really nice Northumbrian accent told us a bit about sheep husbandry:

Tups are coloured yellow-orange, so that they can readily be identified when, in the autumn, their hormone levels rise and they try to escape from their field to get amongst the ewes. Ewes have a seventeen day cycle and are marked either blue or red, according to when the tups were put to them. The occasional black sheep is a genetic throwback to the eighteenth century, when most were black. Then, white sheep were bred specifically so that the wool could be dyed. The tups are sold off at about six years old, when their back legs go or they become toothless. They are often sold to Halal butchers, as they have not been castrated.

Meal

Falcon’s Nest, North Gosforth; reasonable, nice puddings.

Photo Gallery

Leader

Leader in disguise

 

Wedder Leap

Wedder Leap

Getting ready

Getting Ready

Walkers

March walkers

On our way

On Our Way

Barrowburn

Barrowburn

Muder Cleugh

Murder Cleugh

 

 

Lunch

Lunch

 

 

Group

Group

Windy Gyle

Windy Gyle

 

Tups

Tups

 

Nearly There

Nearly There

 

Tea

Tea

 

 

 

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