Watery Weardale Walk with One’s Wow wow

Y’see , when we were in Wales, I noticed that toddlers and their mums referred to the dog as a “wow wow….)

pause for tumbleweed to roll past………

Waterfall at the entrance to Slit Wood, Westgate

Anyway, it seems to me from reading various blogs and other sources that many people are just a bit fed up with the winter so far. It has been damp, after all, but, you know (sounding like Margaret Thatcher now….) faint heart never frecked a pig and it really is best for all concerned if one or two of you out there could just stir yourselves from your cosy armchairs and have a refreshing wander o’er moors and dales. Its only water, y’know. Thats why we have waterproofs. Its just early winter.. Its like April, but a bit darker….

Flood damage Slit Wood

The unlived who never climbed up a hill ever experienced that brief moment of joy at finding there that small and untidy heap of stones. But those that have lived (the dislived?) and are still abed (or at least a’armchair) may think themselves cursed that they were not here, as Ken Shakespeare once said

I bring you an eight mile walk in Weardale which didn’t have an untidy pile of stones, but did have several rainbows, some sunshine and some Pennine stuff chucked violently against the hood of my Paramo. But fun. all the same, and the dog liked it too.

And so, me and superdawg went up to Westgate in Weardale and tramped the now familiar Slit Wood – the beck being almost in spate and having, it seems, done some recent damage to the path, it nevertheless saved us from the attentions of an over-attentive cow on the opposite bank, whom, by the time she’d built up courage to cross the torrent to attack us, saw us disappear up the hill and far away.

I can see a rainbow

We sheltered briefly against an icy squall inside the ruin of a stone shed. A banana was fatally damaged.

We progressed to the top of Scarsike Head and then, down the road towards Rookhope, we turned off over a stile (see video!) and through a nature reserve, boggily and battered by brief but spiky storms with rainbows – to Rookhope village where, due to forgetting to bring any money, we ignored the pub. (foolish!)

An old railway trackbed took us back towards Westgate, where we were joined briefly and energetically by a horse with her foal (I expect they wanted food…) but we took a long shortcut over the hill and then steeply back to the start. It was a long shortcut because , whilst shorter than the main and more level Weardale Way path, took longer because it was uphill through lots of soft rush – which is hard to walk through.

Another squall in Weardale

There was sun and rain and a cold wind and more sun and a bit of hail and a cheese ploughmans sandwich. If you ever see a cheese ploughman, I ate his lunch. Squally showers were still processing along Weardale. There must be a queue of them somewhere.

8 or so miles and 1300 feet of uphill. It were fab. You should try it sometime.

So rise up from your cushions my soft furnished friends; gird up thy gaiters and walk!

Watch the vid – its got sound! – But, its only superdawg making a dog’s breakfast of surmounting a stile.