Bernie, The Bolt! (Bolt’s Law)

This was yet another Durham County Council guided walk lead by me (!)
Me and superdawg did the reccy last weekend – just before going to Wales, in fact. Bruno was chuffed when he realised that he was coming across bits of snow on the path, and he got even more chuffter (made up word) when we got to the bit where there was a general, but thin cover of the white stuff.



The reccy discovered nothing of any dangerous note, except the path from Bolts Law to Ramshaw was in it’s usual disgraceful state – the stiles seem to be in the wrong places, are either decrepit or missing completely and, there’s a general unwelcoming air about a mile or so of the route. All off this will be reported to the authorities and, whilst I don’t like to criticise, whoever put a waymark on a barbed wire fence without seeing to it that a stile was installed and then leaving the problem for posterity and the Alf Wainwright Pennine Journey route needs a career review (in my ‘umble). Anyway, we’ll try to get it fixed.

On the day (today), twenty people and a small dog turned up – including stewards Steven and Janet and steward-in-training Malcolm. So I was gruntled by this turnout (if you can be disgruntled when you’re grumpy, then surely, when you’re happy, you must be gruntled. Ungruntled people have never been gruntled and somebody who has a natural ability to cheer people up is a gruntler. If somebody interferes negatively with your gruntle quotient, then they’re a degruntler  Innit?)

Today, the weather was kind and it wasn’t too cold. All the snow has gone for now and it was windy to the point of being fun and not dangerous on the top of Bolts Law and we managed to find a small area of reasonable shelter for lunch a little way off the top. And the autumn colours around Ramshaw and in Deborah Plantation were specially gruntling. (….what?….)

For additional excitement, we ventured discreetly over the border into Northumberland, some walkers practising their Northumberland accents in case we were challenged by the border guards or we set off an alarm or something. But it all went without serious incident.
8 miles and 1350 feet of up.

Map shows faulty footpath - West side of the loop is the line of the right of way, East side of the loop shows the actual route which links to a) the crossing of an old leat which is otherwise uncrossable - with footbridge under water and an animal trap on the footbridge plus a derelict stile, b) an electric fence with masonary placed to allow crossing, but insulation on the fence in a different place(!)[but the fence isn't live!] and c) a barbed wire fence with an official waymark but no stile. Area around "shaft" has been landscaped and the map is no longer accurate. DCC definitive map link not currently working, so I don't know the path number at the moment. For ease of location, the top of Bolt's law is just a bit to the South.  What IS a grid reference anyway?