Sunny in Tow Law!

Date: 16th February 2012
Route: Tow Law - Salters Ridge - Waskerley - Waskerley Reservoir - return
Distance: - 16 miles

Weather: -Bright & sunny to start (& finish), overcast & windy on the Moor

An early start saw Bob pick me up just after 9.15am for the short ride up to Tow Law. We parked up in a layby near High Houselop and with shades on set off to pick up the old railway line that would eventually get us up to Waskerley. The going was pleasant and the scenery impressive as we quickly discussed business before turning our attention to rugby.

Sunny in Tow Law - unheard of!

It wouldn't be Tow Law without wind turbines!

Reservoir

 











With FC's game against Catalan been called off the conversation was unusually short on this day. The focus was more on the mentality of groundsmen who "soften" pitches by watering them in minus 7c temperatures, and then wonder why the pitch is unplayable due to frozen surface water!!!! Deep in conversation we followed what we thought was the track only to find our way ahead halted by a large padlocked fence & gate. A trek back up the path (so a mile or more extra walking!) and subsequent review of the map did little to help.
It appeared that our way forward had been thwarted by some poor pre-walk assumptions about public footpaths! After 10 minutes of careful scrutiny we managed to find a detour around a large plantation of trees that would eventually meet up with Waskerley Way railway line. The interesting thing we noticed as we walked around the plantation was the large concrete fencing all around it - why?

"Who put this here?"

Who are you trying to keep out? Or should that be in!

We came to the conclusion that it maybe had something to do with the MoD or perhaps an old PoW camp. By now we were up on moorland and the scenery was much bleaker with little sign of wildlife other than the large numbers of Grouse. It wasn't long before we hit the railway line we had been aiming for and the going should have got easier. However, a constant steady climb up into a very strong headwind meant we were only making <2 mph and with the wind howling in our ears conversation was somewhat subdued.

The Waskerley Way

After what seemed an eternity (but was in fact only 45 mins) we managed to find the smallest bit of shelter and stopped for lunch.

Wind breaker!

As the windchill factor began to bite into our hands we wolfed our scran down in 10 mins and set off back on the return leg. Downhill with a tail-wind we made excellent time. As we left the Waskerley Way and headed back towards Tow Law the wind died down and once again the sun was out - a welcome warmth on the body. Incredibly we managed to get ourselves lost and ended up trekking across a field and over a wall to get ourselves back on the correct path. It never ceases to amaze me how different a route can look coming back the opposite way - why is that??!! We managed to find our way back to the car by 3.30pm and despite a cold spell it had been another cracking day for the time of the year.

Barney or Bust

Date: 7th February 2012
Route: Barnard Castle - Cotherstone Hag - Egglestone - Romaldkirk - Lartington - Barnard Castle
Distance: - 15 miles
Weather: -Bright & Sunny.

A late start (10.45am) this week due to an early morning business meeting in the Nest at Barney with a colleague of ours. We set off from Barney and headed along the river Tees towards the Hag at Cotherstone. How lucky have we been so far this year - yet another dry and occaisionally sunny day.
No surprise that the early conversation revolved around FC and how they seemed to be able to evaporate any optimism you managed to hold on to. Having watched their win against Wakey (and in fairness it was a poor performance) we were then treated to an away defeat to Salford. Every season we manage to lose daft games and this was one of them. Despite all the changes that have gone on at FC we still seem to be playing the same dull, up-the-middle, one man rugby we've seen for too many seasons. Despite this woe and doom & gloom the early signs of Spring cheered us up. Snowdrops, wild garlic and a variety of birds made the walk quite pleasant. After a bit of a climb from the Hag up to a caravan park we stopped for a couple of minutes to watch a couple of Buzzards circling as well as spotting long-tailed tits and goldcrests. We then headed towards Egglestone and a lunch stop. Finding a nice bench outside a large hut we sat sheltered from the breeze for dinner. Incredibly our break lasted nearly a full 30 minutes - though this was due to a dog walker we both knew stopping to talk to us for a while and not a softening on Mr Garton's behalf!
The return leg took us towards the old railway line and back through Cotherstone towards Barney. Like two grumpy old men we had a good old moan about the many inefficiencies we see around us every day; for example the carparking arrangements at the KC stadium. Why do you need stewards to stand at barriers that are down to stop cars entering?! Why is there only ONE bloody entrance in for the 12,000 fans? Why at the one entrance do you need two people - one to collect money & one to give you a ticket FOR GODS SAKE LET TWO CARS IN AT A TIME AND LET EACH PERSON GIVE A TICKET AND TAKE THE MONEY. Anyway with our ranting over we approached Barney and the best part of the day. The sun was out in full force and the Castle and river Tees looked resplendent. Another lovely day out.

Upper Teesdale

Date: 31st January 2012
Route: Bowlees Visitor Centre - Dirt Pit - Etterdgill - Hurth edge Caves - Hanging Shaw - Sayer Hill Bridge - Watgarth Bridge - Cronkly Farm - High Force - Low Force - Bowlees Visitor Centre
Distance: - 12 miles

Weather: -Bright & Sunny with some snow flurries.

Arriving at Bob's in Barney we drove on to park in the layby just past Bowless Visitor Centre. Yet again we had struck lucky with the weather with a bright, sunny, albeit cold, day. There was still some snow on the ground particularly as we gained height but not enough to cause us any worries - so very different from the previous year!

The Snow covered Dales

So we set off at 10.00am, well wrapped up from the cold and headed off on a route we had covered a number of times previously. As we headed to the Caves we reviewed FC's friendly games, a defeat to Rovers and a convincing win against the Bulls. Why of why do we seem to have a problem winning against the Dobbins? Friendly or not they always seem to be more fired up for a derby game than we do. Still, our pre-season optimism was not wavering and our imminent first game against the Wire was met with a degree of positivity.

From the caves we headed towards Sayer Hill Bridge (the last time we'd been here was in Summer with the FAC boys. We managed to find some shelter from the wind and settled down for lunch. however, as the flasks came out the snow began to fall - for once Bob's short 15 min lunch break was not met with any complaints from this quarter.

Man / Bird / Rabbit!

The view from Cronkley Farm

 As we passed through Cronkly Farm and began our climb upward the scenery was pretty impressive with a nice dusting of snow despite the attempts of the sun to melt it away.











We were now following the Tees towards High Force, which was looking mightily impressive due to a fair amount of water flowing into the rivers.

High Force in full flow

Even Low Force was looking good as we passsed it and returned back to the car at 3.00pm.
A good look out for our second walk of the year.

Low Force

First walk of 2012

Date: 11th January 2012
Route: Willington - Brancepeth - Brandon - Broom Park - Ushaw Moor - Esh Winning - Waterhouses - Stanley Crook - Willington
Distance: - 17 miles

Weather: -Bright & sunny

Time to blow the cobwebs off and begin 2012's walking diary. With the forecast pretty good for this early in the year we decided on a walk along the old railway lines. So Bob picked me up and we drove the short distance to Willington to park up near the Co-Op store.
Setting off in high spirits we headed towards Broom Park near Durham along a by now familiar route. With a new owner, new board, new coach and a raft of new players at FC pre-season optimism was running high. Is this going to the beginning of a new and more fruitful era for the Black & Whites - lets hope so.
With surprising speed we quickly passed through Brancepeth & Brandon and arrived at Broom Park. We stopped briefly to watch as a Kestrel buzzed us a couple of times (too fast to get a good photo, but incredibly close for us to see the detail and colour). We cracked on heading towards Usher Moor & Esh Winning before finding a canny spot by the river near Rog Path woods for lunch. 

Time for the last of the Christmas Cake. As usual Bob kept our stop to a minimum and after 20 minutes we were packed up and heading off again.

 

The weather was incredible, sunglasses in January! Conversation had turned to work and discussion around the many different opportunities we were already pursuing. We were now into unfamiliar territory and the scenery had changed to woodland as we followed the river through a series of small Town & Villages on our way back to Willington.

Starting at 10.00am we finally got back to the car at 3.30pm and incredibly the weather had remained bright, dry & sunny just like our dispositions!