Date: 25th November 2016
Route: Mickleton - Romaldkirk - Cotherstone - Lartington - Barnard Castle
Distance: - 8.2 miles
Weather: - Bright, sunny day
Who would have believed that at the end of November the sun would be out in a blue sky with an absence of wind, rain and clouds!
So this walk we decided to get the bus to Mickleton and walk back so I headed up to Bob's to catch the 10.55am bus from Barnard Castle to Mickleton. A short ride and we were walking by 11.15am, after a short walk up the road to join the railway track.
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| Dusting of snow on the tops |
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| Fabulous views |
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| Sunglasses in November! |
The weather was glorious and we both commented on how lucky we are to have this scenery on our doorstep.
By 12..00pm we had covered 2 miles and hit Romaldkirk. As always we had the obligatory talk covering Hull FC's new kit, their squad numbers and the introduction of Toronto Wolfpack, a team from Canada playing in the lower leagues!!
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| Seat with a view |
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| .... and what a view of Egglestone |
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| Frosty in the shade |
In between our conversations we both commented on how quiet it was, there was no noise, no sounds of wildlife, nothing. It was a bit surreal and initially I thought it was my hearing which was suffering from attending a Limehouse Lizzy concert the night before!!
At 12.30pm we found a bench and stopped for lunch, again straining to catch a sound of something, anything!
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| Tea up |
At 1pm we set off along the railway track, noticing that even the sheep were quiet. We passed through Cotherstone, our only deviation off the railway track. I regained Bob with my tales of my visit to see Sunderland thrash Hull City at the Stadium of Light (ironically plunged into darkness due to a power cut!).
We hit Lartington next, crossing the road to rejoin the railway track to Barney. The only muddy bit of the walk, everywhere else being firm underfoot with frost.
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| View down from the viaduct |
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| The viaduct |
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| Back on the track |
As we arrived at the edge of Barney we followed the river along up to the castle - I never tire of this view. There was even some colour still left in the trees and great reflections in the river.
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| Last Autumn colours |
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| The Tees |
The only noise we had heard all day was a solitary motorbike passing by and the river Tees itself.
The weather had been so nice we even forgot about our usual Victor Meldrew moan about the state of the country!
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| Almost home |
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| What a view! |
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| Barnard Castle |
A great day out and beautiful 3 hours walking in fantastic weather with gorgeous scenery.
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