Route: Willington - Brancepeth - Brandon - Broom Park - Ushaw Moor - Esh Winning - Waterhouses - Stanley Crook - Willington
Distance: - 17 miles
Weather: - Dry but overcast
After 3 weeks in China followed by Easter and incessant rain it seemed an eternity since our last wander out. With so much rain over the last week or so and lots of flooding our routes were severely restricted. Anywhere over grass would have been boggy and very wet so we decided our best bet was to head out along one of the railway tracks as they would be drier. So Bob picked me up and we drove the short distance to Willington to park up near the Co-Op store and repeat our first walk of the year.
With such a long time passing since our last venture out there was plenty to talk about, certainly on the rugby front - a good start to the season followed by a horrendous injury list (9 first team players out) meant a series of defeats to Huddersfield & Wigan in the league and knocked out the cup by Huddersfield again. Some promising displays from the miriad of youngsters who had been bloodied. Still, things were looking better for our impending visit of Leeds with most of the injuries cleared up.
The paths were incredibly free of puddles though there were plenty of signs of all the rain with the streams, becks & rivers all full and fast flowing.
We passed through Brancepeth & Brandon and soon arrived at Broom Park, heading on towards Usher Moor & Esh Winning before stoping at the same spot by the river near Rog Path woods for lunch. As usual Bob kept our stop to a minimum and after 20 minutes we were packed up and heading off again.
The scenery changed to woodland as we followed the river through a series of small towns & villages on our way back to Willington.
Rugby continued to slip back into conversation as did talk of all the potential clients we have - fingers crossed some of them commit to dates in the diary. As we came of the railway track to hit the road back to Willington we were joined by a small flock of Goldfinches who accompanied us for half a mile or so. Bob also decided to taunt a large Alsatian dog through a fence as it tracked us barking at Bob's verbal - though this quickly stopped as he realised that there was an open gate & the dog was in fact not fenced in!
Starting at 10.50am we finally got back to the car at 4.15pm and incredibly the weather had remained dry, though the forecasted sun only appeared bang on 4pm (as predicted) for a full 2 mins!!
A good run out after such a long break from walking. Good preparation for our trip out with the Jolly Boys in a couple of weeks time in Kettlewell.
After 3 weeks in China followed by Easter and incessant rain it seemed an eternity since our last wander out. With so much rain over the last week or so and lots of flooding our routes were severely restricted. Anywhere over grass would have been boggy and very wet so we decided our best bet was to head out along one of the railway tracks as they would be drier. So Bob picked me up and we drove the short distance to Willington to park up near the Co-Op store and repeat our first walk of the year.
With such a long time passing since our last venture out there was plenty to talk about, certainly on the rugby front - a good start to the season followed by a horrendous injury list (9 first team players out) meant a series of defeats to Huddersfield & Wigan in the league and knocked out the cup by Huddersfield again. Some promising displays from the miriad of youngsters who had been bloodied. Still, things were looking better for our impending visit of Leeds with most of the injuries cleared up.
The paths were incredibly free of puddles though there were plenty of signs of all the rain with the streams, becks & rivers all full and fast flowing.
 |
| Small becks become rivers |
 |
| Fast flowing rivers |
We passed through Brancepeth & Brandon and soon arrived at Broom Park, heading on towards Usher Moor & Esh Winning before stoping at the same spot by the river near Rog Path woods for lunch. As usual Bob kept our stop to a minimum and after 20 minutes we were packed up and heading off again.
The scenery changed to woodland as we followed the river through a series of small towns & villages on our way back to Willington.
 |
| The village of Waterhouses |
Rugby continued to slip back into conversation as did talk of all the potential clients we have - fingers crossed some of them commit to dates in the diary. As we came of the railway track to hit the road back to Willington we were joined by a small flock of Goldfinches who accompanied us for half a mile or so. Bob also decided to taunt a large Alsatian dog through a fence as it tracked us barking at Bob's verbal - though this quickly stopped as he realised that there was an open gate & the dog was in fact not fenced in!
Starting at 10.50am we finally got back to the car at 4.15pm and incredibly the weather had remained dry, though the forecasted sun only appeared bang on 4pm (as predicted) for a full 2 mins!!
A good run out after such a long break from walking. Good preparation for our trip out with the Jolly Boys in a couple of weeks time in Kettlewell.
