Out on the limestone common near Nateby today. Always nice to see the dusty pink variety of Yarrow (Achillea) rather than the usual white. Also lots of Betony, Marsh Woundwort and Ground Elder.

There are still signs for horse drawn vehicles in these hills 🙂

A natural bonsai shaped by the weather on this limestone outcrop at Birkett Common, Nateby.

The massive culvert under the Settle and Carlisle railway embankment at the back of the cottage. You can walk into that without bending.

Footpath find - 1870 penny

Out on one of our favourite walks over Smardale Fell to Smardale Bridge & back round to Waitby on the disused railway over the viaduct. Amazef at the variety of limestone loving plants in the old quarry. First time I have seen Fragrant Orchid 😍 Lots of Rock Rose, Scabious, Bloody Cranes Bill & more

River Eden below the cottage, Outhgill. Lovely spot on a hot day

262 Mallerstang

Shap

A bumper day for the farmers discarded energy feed buckets in open countryside series of photos. These are the round Crystalx variety.

The limestone walls on Smardale Fell are awash with fossil corals

Always a fan of a lime washed church tower which really makes the stand out in the landscape as they would originally have done. This is the 16th c. tower at Orton, Cumbria

A search for what remains of the once impressive Shap stone avenue. Largely obliterated by 19th c. clearance for agricultural enclosure & improvement only 4 large stones remain in fields W of the village. Such a shame this great asset has gone. It would have been a major attraction for Shap now.

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A return to the top of Wild Boar Fell after 30 years. We were swamped by atrocious weather in 1996 and had to retreat but always intended to go back. Nice to fulfil that and see the cairns on High White Scar.

The remains of the Late Neolithic Kemp Howe stone circle at the south end of Shap. It was originally the southern terminus of a large stone avenue that extended NW for 2km, but is now almost wholly destroyed except for 8 stones in fields west of the village. The circle stones are local Shap granite

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Lovely 17km walk from Outhgill to Glaisdale & back. Every ruinous farm looks like Top Withens 🙂 Great fun exploring the numerous small limestone gorges which often have caves. Mobbed by Lapwings and Curlews all the way, which was nice as there aren’t many places left where that happens.

Lime kilns are such a ubiquitous feature of the landscape round here due to soil improvement and other lime uses in the 18th-19th c. Mallerstang and Abbotside Common .

The Gamelands Stone Circle near Orton. Probably middle to late Neolithic it retains 40 stones but has lost some after land improvements and enclosure in the 1860’s. The stones are all pink Shap granite erratic boulders with the exception of one limestone pavement fragment & all gathered locally.

High Dyke

Another one for the dumped farmers Maxx Energy bucket photo collection

Limestone pavement country

Bizarre discussion with a lady on her way to a wedding yesterday on a footpath. A Herefordshire smallholder with 10 sheep, she proceeded to tell me how badgers kill sheep and lambs just for their liver 🤔 🙄 & how she was going to drain the Rush filled field on her land because it was ‘untidy’ 🙄

Play time 🙂

Don’t know how many times we have driven past Shap on the M6 and never looked at the Premonstratensian abbey tucked away in the valley west of the village. It was in use between 1200 and 1540 and although small and ruinous it’s well worth a visit.

Hart’s-tongue ferns growing in limestone pavement grikes on Great Asby Scar

Always nice to see our native wild Geraniums (Meadow Cranesbill) in the right place rather than the garden varieties.

Loving the old shelved pantry with stone benches where I’m staying.

The Thunder Stone, Great Asby Scar, Cumbria. It didn’t bring on any inclement conditions today, just a lovely cool breeze after the heatwave. These rounded pink Shap granite erratic boulders stand out on the limestone pavement scenery here. It lies on a parish boundary & pre-dates the enclosure wall

Knott, Great Asby, Cumbria

It must be 20 years since we visited the Neolithic Mayburgh henge & the nearby King Arthur’s Round Table henge at Penrith. I had forgotten how impressive Mayburgh is. The effort to haul all those river cobbles from the nearby River Eamont and Lowther is colossal. I popped the lidar views in here too

The ubiquitous feature in the middle of nowhere on upland grazing areas - the red Maxx Energy sheep feed buckets.

Always love this view of Milecastle 42 on Hadrian’s Wall from the high point at Cawfield Crags just before the outcrop plummets into the later quarry.

The Roman milestone NE of Vindolanda in it original position on the Stanegate Roman road. It’s easy to miss this if you just park in the museum or site car parks as you have to walk down the small lane. It probably marks the 15th Roman mile west of Corbridge and the stump of the 16th lies to west.

Arrived at the Mallerstang cottage in a thunderstorm. Nice to be back although a bit odd without Gill and Pepper the collie 3 years on.

Always amazed by the early railway archaeology around Tindale and Brampton. This was the last railway route that Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive ran on in 1840 (now in National Railway Museum, York). You can find the Stephenson gauge fish-bellied rails lying in tips and even used as bridge supports!

Out early at Geltsdale RSPB Nature Reserve. Better known as a sanctuary for breeding Curlew & Lapwing which you can hear all around, but I like it for its botanical riches too due to the limestone geology in the old quarries. Found some Bee orchids this time 😍 Lots of nice industrial archaeology

Rounded off a hot day with a cool walk in shaded woodland over the Lambley viaduct and a paddle in the River South Tyne.

Lordenshaw hillfort is surrounded by earlier rock art on boulders & outcrops. The rock art is quite varied with cups, cup & ring and my favourites by far the cup & channel stones. The main Channel Stone has an enhanced natural groove with a series of cups at the top. Must look great in wet weather.

A visit to Lordenshaw hillfort nr Rothbury. Nice slab lined passage entrance on this one & some round houses inside. There’s an outwork on the west side & the SE quarter was remodelled as a Romano-British settlement. Numerous earlier cairns & rock art surround the hillfort #HillfortsWednesday

Out very early on Hadrians Wall. It’s going to be way too hot to walk the exposed sections later today so I usually start 7am and get back for 11am. This is the Greenhead to Cawfields section that we never managed to do before. Fabulous botanical reserve at Walltown quarry.

Love a bit of Viper’s Bugloss in the wild

Dramatic sky out the back of the holiday cottage

180 mile round trip to see the Ad Gefrin Saxon royal township site near Wooler, Northumberland. One of those bits of landscape that is numinous with the weight of history. Made it to the top of Yeavering Bell hillfort which looms over Ad Gefrin. and offers superb views.

Always have to pay my respects to the pagan gods at Carrawburgh Temple of Mithras and Coventina’s Well lying adjacent to the Brocolitia Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall 🙂

Not that I collect bookmarks, but if I see a new one I usually bring it home. In this case a donation at St. Oswald’s, Heavenfield secured a good one for the holiday reading. Quite like it when you can match a bookmark to the book being read 🙂

Remembering Gill, who always loved our walks along Hadrian’s Wall

Got to Heavenfield today on Hadrian’s Wall & St. Oswald’s Church. Traditionally this is where the Northumbrian King Oswald set up a cross before battle in 634 with Cadwallon ap Cadfan, King of Gwynedd who was seeking revenge for incursions into Wales. Cadwallon was defeated & killed nr Rowley Burn.

Happy Birthday to me 😁🎂🥳 Nice early start to avoid the afternoon heat. Dropped into The 14th c. Thirlwall Castle near Greenhead on Hadrians Wall. Almost entirely constructed of stone robbed from Hadrian’s Wall.