4th June 2010

Hi folks, I really didn't mean to be gone for so long . I've had so many things to blog about and due to one thing or another it just hasn't happened , so my apologies and I will show you the Sensory Garden from the park another time .

This week has been all go, go, go .... Milo is off school for half term and Hub has also taken time off work so we've been out and about all over the place. We had intended to go away somewhere but as per usual we left it far too late and everywhere we wanted to go was fully booked or sooooo expensive it was ridiculous . Then we thought about another trip to Amsterdam but realised that Milos passport had expired so instead we've done some exploring.
Yesterday the sun was shining , the sky was blue and it was definately a ' go somewhere' day. Hub suggested a drive to Middleton-In-Teesdale and a "short walk" when we got there.



Our " short walk" started well by going through gorgeous fields of buttercups and clover, alongside the River Tees and was a truly awesome sight . We had a slight detour onto a country lane for about 15 minutes which I have to admit scared me silly as there were so many bends and the cars were going quite fast so I was really pleased to get back onto the trail so to speak, especially when this was what we saw as soon as we left the road.



Wild garlic everywhere and the smell aaahhhhhh.



It was so peaceful and quiet except for the birdsong which surrounded us and the sound of the river .



We had several refueling stops as little legs ( mine included) needed resting. At our first stop we found lots of little tadpoles in the pools .



So first pit stop over off we set again.



Saying hello to a few horses as we passed. Now take note of that hill in the background!!



Don't you just love these old bridges ?





At another stop we found these Globe flowers and watched Dippers bobbing across the rocks.



I couldn't believe how many Bluebells we saw , they were literally on just about all of the walk and although they were past their best, in some places still looked and smelled beautiful .



Finally we reached our destination , Low Force , a set of small waterfalls which is further down the river from High Force which we visited January 2009. Don't worry , the boys aren't dangling off the edge even though it looks like they are.





At this point we headed back to the road in the hope of catching a bus to take us back to Middleton - the bus that we found out wasn't due for another few hours - oh dear. So what do you do with a few hours to kill, oh yes, you walk some more . Well that's what we did anyway!!



Spotting this tree , or should I say trees was a big treat for me and this would have definately been " The Tree" if we'd lived a bit closer.



So we walked on to a place called Bowlees Visitor Centre which is a place I remember well from my childhood.



I just realised that most of my photos are taken with what looks like me walking way behind everyone else - I don't honestly :-)



This little waterfall is called Gibsons Cave. I can remember playing underneath here when I was younger but all access is barred now.



Someone is getting tired now as we make the decision to walk back to Middleton instead of waiting forever for the bus.



Another pit stop on the way back and at this point we have ran out of all the drink that we had. It's about 4.30pm now and fast approaching tea time.



Maybe we should have counted all the stiles we climbed across , most of them were in dry stone walls rather than wood ones.



Once again me walking behind everyone . I was just admiring the bluebells and watching the dozens of rabbits that were now running about in the fields on our right. There were quite a few dead rabbits lying against the fence ( on the other side). We couldn't figure out why until we saw some wood tunnels that someone had placed into the fence and we realised that because this path is regularly used the rabbits must be running into the fence when trying to get away from walkers.



Now , going back to the horse picture , do you remember I said to take note of the hill? Well this is the view from that hill looking down to the horses field.





We are all now extremely tired and some of us a bit more worse for wear than others.





After what turned out to be a not so short 9 mile , 6 hour long walk we were all absolutely and utterley shattered.
We are still recovering today.