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December

 

Fields

Wintry fields

 

Walk leader

Ron

Route

Wooler – Clavering – Weetwood Bridge – Doddington Moor – Doddington – Turvelaws Farm - Wooler.

Weather

A good covering of snow all round the walk. Weak sunshine early and late on with an overcast cold spell in the middle.

Walkers

Ron, Sandy, George.

Excuses

Ashley - Hash weekend.

Comments

The weather conditions were a total surpise. There were near blizzard conditions en route. The snow-covered trees were very attractive. A digger was clearing the snow at the car park. Overhead conditions cleared as soon as we started and the 3 to 4 inches of snow made for very pleasant walking conditions.

A local butcher in Wooler was displaying roast pig on a stall outside his shop and we saw a VW Golf on top of a skip as we left the village by St. Cuthbert’s Way. We met a lady on a horse out walking her dog.

We crossed Weetlock Bridge with its leaning buttresses and leaning conical-topped pillars at one end. We couldn't find the stone circle on Doddington Moor but lost Sandy in the process, when she wandered off in one direction and was then found in the opposite direction at a Shepherd’s cottage with a windmill. We found a four-wheel drive at the top end of Wooler golf course before descending the 17th fairway, whch had a good enough snow covering to make a passable blue ski piste. We were shouted at by a grumpy householder at Doddington, when we accidentally wandered off the public bridleway on to private land.

A plastic cow at Doddington farm seemed much happier than the three miserable cows in an adjacent field. We couldn't find the desired path so we tracked back and took an alternative route. We had a late lunch on a snow-covered wall. We spied a bastel and a keep. We crossed the River Till by an impressive new wooden bridge which had replaced a collapsing stone arch one. Navigation deviation took us on to the metalled road sooner than expected, before a long trudge down the road to the cars, past the engineering works, where we saw some of the rolling stock acquired for the Aln Valley Railway.

Wildlife/Flora/Animals:

Birds: Wren, heron and several partridges. Large flock of geese circling around a field at Doddington. Unidentified big bird.

Mammals/others: Large hare, rabbit, two labradors in a cage, an Irish wolfhound, a Doberman and a black cat.

Meal

The Badger at Ponteland, joined by Carol. Filling desserts. The service had improved since last time although the dishwasher didn't seem to be very good at its job.

Photo Gallery

Discarded

Discarded

climb

Snowy climb

sheep

Sheep

S and G

Sandy and George

descent

Snowy descent

Footprints

Making prints

Golf course

Golf course

 

 

Plastic cow

 

 

sunset

Toward the sunset

 

 

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