Over the top

Last night was spent at Saughy Rigg, a farm that has been converted to attend to the needs of walkers and cyclists who need refuge on the Pennine Way or Hadrians Wall, and what a jolly good job they make of it.

We met lots of fellow walkers, and with such a common denominator there was great camaraderie. Many thanks to William the Spaniel for his generous donation to funds, and to Jane who made such a fuss of me (nobody ever does you know) and also gave generously.

At breakfast, the DD chatted to a gentleman who is working on the dig at Vindolanda. He was telling them how frequently finds are made, and that only yesterday, somebody had unearthed a small decorative gold bead - how exciting. There must such excitement throughout the volunteers when such a find is made.

Well, our day didn't get off to a great start, with a late start, a dead sheep (sadly with its lamb next to it), and some pretty grim weather. But we made it to the wall in good time, and overwe went without interference from Romans or Picts.

At the same time we rejoined our old freind the Pennine Way, who we had left behind in Middleton when it went off for a long weekend in Dufton.

In anticipation of today, and indeed the next 2 days, mum swotted up on her eye spy guide to woodland life last night. Our journey takes us through forest for much of these 3 days. She has paid particular interest to footprints. So.....

'Oh look, a deer print' - 'No, it's a sheep print'
'Aha, an otter print' - 'No, it's a duck'
'Well what about that red squirrel print' - 'No, it's a grey squirrel'

She's decided to ditch footprints and concentrate on visuals!

In the middle of the forest about 8 miles into our journey through bog, we came across a falconry centre, advertising coffee, tea, etc, so dad decided to give it a whirl. After setting off 3 sensored alarms, and being greeted by a rather angry looking dog, he decided to give it a miss.

A little later we came to a farm that had put up a sign inviting walkers to go in their shed and use their kettle, tea and coffee for drinks. We thought about it, but decided that the huge black Labrador in his kennel opposite constantly barking would not have made for a relaxing drink. We had water instead sitting on an old tree.

So that was it really, lots of bog, lots of rain, but a happy day. Here we are ensconced in our pod. It's about 8' long by 6' wide, a wooden construction, well insulated with sheeps wool, with lights and a heater. That's it. We have access to showers/loos etc. so it's pretty basic, but we have everything we need and we're cosy comfy. Dave and Julie are coming soon to take us out for dinner, and it will be good to see them.

Byrness tomorrow - long haul.

Sorry no pics tonight.

Keep spreading the word

M
xx