Steel Rigg - Melkridge - Wealside - Greenlee Lough - Pennine Way - Hotbank Crags - Crag Lough. Saga walk - missed out the first bit and went direct to the bird hide at Greenlee Lough.

Weather

Sandy and the girls - having haircuts, going to karate

Philippa - had company

Good walk - lots of loughs. Ashley's description of a ten-and-a-half mile flat walk - turned out not very flat. Generously described as gently undulating. Dry underfoot except for one muddy bit. Longest duckboard encountered so far. Lots of meadows with flowers, including yellow rattle. A naturalist's paradise - someone commented that David Bellamy should have been there to describe what we saw. Good lunch spot at the bird hide at Greenlee Lough.

Saw a stile covered with big bird droppings - speculations it was an owl perch. Sea-King fly-past. White horses galloped to welcome us and allowed us to stroke them. When we reached the farm, there were two elderly German shepherd dogs, and a nice garden with strongly-perfumed roses. Michelle found a bed of orchids and a luminous green spider.

Wildlife: Friendly guard goose at the start. Saw some other beautiful horses, brown with long black manes and tails, across the lough from the lunch-spot. Mute swans, Canada geese, small squashed frog. Ladybird with white spots. Cat with funny eyes. GG saw a reed bunting. House martins, pied wagtail, oyster catchers, heron. Six hounds out for a run. Aberdeen Angus and Highland coos and calves. Green-veined white butterflies, and painted ladies. White spider, ants, black-headed gulls, dead crow and dead swan.

Queen's Head, Great Whittington. Noisy birds outside. Spooky waiter.