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Sunday 10 April 2016

Going Pots in Swinhope Pots

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Following an overdose of sugar-based treats provided by Mrs Pieman, I took some of my grandkids to Swinhope in Weardale to have a look at some holes in the ground based on a faulty theory that some cold weather, the potential to fall into some water and a bit of exercise on some boggy tussocks might calm them down a bit.

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We looked at the lead mine (just inside – no dangerous explorations)

We searched for shiny rocks and found quite a lot

We explored a large number of shakeholes, all in a line. I think there were about a dozen and a half. #1 grandchild counted 57.

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Two of these appeared to have potholes in them and a reference to a really old copy of Northern Caves Volume Five: The Northern Dales reveals that they’re called Swinhope Pots and are 30 feet deep. Its a good job we didn’t get right in there.

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Muddied and semi-calm, we visited Chatterbox cafe in St Johns Chapel where hot chocolates with cream and mini marshmallows plus apple and blackberry crumbles with vanilla ice-creams were consumed. This replenished the blood-sugar levels a treat. This may have been an error of judgement on my part.

Dhuhh….

chatterbox  (click the link for the doggy and grand-sprog friendly chatterbox cafe)

Oh yes, and we saw some frogs as well..

2 comments:

Dawn said...

Hope you have counted heads to make sure all have returned safely! It all sounds very energetic stuff!

Chrissie said...

My dad used to shove me down pot holes when I was little, too....