08/03/2020

A walk from Middleham.

Well this is rare, I have a proper weekend off, 2 nights off. im feeling like a normal person, It must be great to have proper weekends. So what do you do when you have a rare Sunday off?...Go for a walk of course. We chose a walk from Middleham, a small township on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Wensleydale to be exact..after a leisurely drive up the A1 we made our way to Middleham, Parking up on the cobbles in the centre of the Village, a couple of quid in the honesty box and we were off...Full waterproof gear on today as showers were on the cards.

Its a cracking little place, several Hotels and pubs, no doubt we will pop into one for a bevvy on our return..The biggest feather in Middlehams cap is its castle..Now in ruins, this is said to be the childhood home of Richard the 3rd...As we passed the entrance to the castle, Alfie [our dog] managed his very own Richard the 3rd on the cobbles..he always makes a habit of it...poop sccoped we set of along Canaan lane leaving the village.In 1985 somewhere along this bridleway a chap with a metal detector found the Middleham jewel, a gold pendant with a massive sapphire stone...I would love to make a find like that...I saw something glistening in the grass, could my luck be in?...no just a plastic whistle...I pocketed it anyway...Up hill we went then down again to reach the River Cover at Hullo bridge.

Saying goodbye to Hullo bridge we continued gently uphill to visit Pinkers pond, a lovely tarn beside the Coverham road...its a nice spot with some lovely views of distant hills..we didn't stop long..Alfie had a dip and we were off...up onto Middleham Low moor, its a training ground for Racehorses. A young Willie Carson is said to have trained here...its a fact he rode his first winner in 1962 at Catterick racetrack on a horse called Pinkers pond.

It was a bit of a struggle up on Low moor today as we were battling with a strong headwind...a racehorse sped past us at great speed and was gone in seconds...They can't half shift...Hoods up ,heads down we eventually made it up to the trig point..not that high but the long range views are good along Wensleydale, a scene dominated by Pen hill...I wished the wind would ease a bit so i could consult my map...Have you ever tried unfolding a map in strong winds...Sod it, just keep heading west  to pick up the lane down into the valley.

At the lane a right turn and it was all down hill to Wensley...a small village that gives its name to the whole dale. We toyed with the idea of going into the village to have a pint in the Three horseshoes...No we could wait until we got back to Middleham..We set off alongside the River Ure, the waters seemed to be very high, a noisy raging torrent...we were to follow the river for one and a half miles..we hoped that there was no flooding downstream...We decided to stop for lunch along here...Cheese and onion rolls, leftovers from last nights pizza, Leftovers from the night before's Sausage pie and a Hot cross bun...bloody lovely all washed down with nice strong coffee...I do love to follow a river..the Ure looked very attractive today.

We passed a bit of flood damage to the river bank..Uprooted trees had taken out a fence and the meadows were full of water...nothing else for it but to walk through it..A few hundred yards of walking on tippy toes through 6 inch deep water followed ...amazingly i made it through with dry feet..Karen wasnt so lucky and faced a wet end to the walk...Its all part of the fun.

It was now uphill again to get back to Middleham..At least we had clean boots.