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| Where the River Tees meets Langdon Beck |
Late yesterday afternoon, on the A1 Motorway in North Yorkshire, I noticed a sign - "Leeming Bar Rest Area 1 mile". And I thought to myself, "Hell, I need a rest".
So I drove off the motorway, parked in the promised rest area, reclined my seat and promptly fell asleep. I woke up half an hour later and wandered into the "Costa" coffee shop for a medium latte. Then I went in the Gentlemen's toilets (American: rest room/ bathroom) to urinate and to splash my face with cold water.
Back on the motorway, I felt alert with no chance of falling asleep at the wheel. It had been a long day.
I had woken at 6am in a tiny single room in The Teesdale Hotel in Middleton-in-Teesdale. After reading for an hour, I showered, packed my stuff up and headed downstairs for breakfast. Muesli, toast, tea and a full English breakfast - fried egg, black pudding, two rashers of bacon, grilled tomato and a sausage - all fine quality.
Then I stepped out into the gorgeous September sunlight, strolled around the village for a while, remembered I still had my room keys, took them back and then set off farther up the valley of The River Tees.
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| Scar End Farm |
"Where the hell are we going?" grumbled Clint.
"Into a land that is unknown to me," I whispered.
"Let's go," he said.
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| "New House", Forest-in-Teesdale |
We parked near an old chapel in the dispersed upland farming settlement that is known as Forest-in-Teesdale. Then I set off. I had my map. It was a diamond day as the weather people had predicted and I had ten miles to walk. Ten beautiful miles of sights not seen before and I loved every one of those miles. No need for a jacket but I did carry my rucksack containing a flask of cold water, a banana, an apple and a packet of cheese and onion crisps (American: chips).
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| On Wool Pits Hill |
How good it was to be there and there was something unusual that I had not realised beforehand. Almost all of the farms in that remote upland area are painted white. It was a peculiarity that I very much enjoyed. And I enjoyed seeing the place where the infant River Tees meets Langdon Beck before continuing its journey to the sea. It is a journey that two miles downstream takes the river over a hard layer of volcanic rock - hence the dramatic High Force waterfall thundering down as it has done for millennia.
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| A view of High Force Waterfall - Upper Teesdale |
A grand way and a great day to celebrate 10 years of retirement. Lovely photos, as always. Your wonderful solitary walks certainly speak to the introvert in me.
ReplyDeleteOn your own you can move at your own pace and rest when you want to and you do not feel any pressure to maintain communication.
DeleteYou seem to have enjoyed your grand day out. I have to admit to drooling over the description of your breakfast, and those views!
ReplyDeleteA breakfast like that sets you up for a good few hours of rambling/
DeleteA sort of perfection in every shot. What a wonderful way to celebrate ten years of living your life on your own terms.
ReplyDeleteIt's encouraging to learn that you appreciated those images Ms. Moon. If I had still been in my stuffy classroom, I might well have looked through the window and wished that I could have been out there enjoying that sunny day.
DeleteA great walk, and I'm glad the weather was playing along nicely to the rhythm of your steps.
ReplyDeleteAll white painted farms, that's interesting. Personally, I like the look of the stone houses better, but a white one every now and then makes for an interesting change.
I really didn't know that about Upper Teesdale. Such a nice surprise. I have no idea why they paint their farms like that.
DeleteMr Google led me to this website that informs us the tenanted farms on a particular estate were painted white... http://www.durhamlandscape.info/article/10104/Upper-Dale
DeleteThank you for that useful piece of research Professor JayCee.
DeleteI like black pudding very much.
ReplyDeleteGood quality black pudding is a real delight.
DeleteAnother beautiful area. Is your weather always that good? Ex-pats I have known from the UK were always citing the climate as their reason for leaving. The fact that they thought Seattle was an improvement suggested it really was wet a lot of the time. I retired at 55, it was a little earlier than I would have liked, but I just couldn't take it anymore.
ReplyDeleteMay I say that I love English weather and scorn those who run away and knock it. One of the things I love about our weather is its unpredictability. Any rain we get fills our reservoirs and our rivers and it helps the trees to grow. What was your work back then Allison?
DeleteI worked in computing. First as a programmer and then as a project manager for large data center move and change initiatives. Later, I moved into performance management of an off the shelf software package. It had terrible performance, but since it was off the shelf, there was not much to be done for it. Management seemed to think there was. I hit 55 and departed.
DeleteIn a way, I kind of envy people who are in jobs they love enough to take them beyond sixty - such as my wife who is a nurse.
DeleteBeautiful pictures, especially that waterfall! How nice that you could visit an area you've not seen before. I'm surprised there are any places left you have not seen with all the lovely walks you take. This must be a welcome addition to your photos on Geograph!
ReplyDeleteYou are right Bonnie - a welcome addition - but I can still think of several "pockets" of this relatively small country that I have never visited.
DeleteBeautiful countryside!
ReplyDeleteYes... and a little wild too. Best seen in good weather I think.
DeleteThat blue sky couldn't be more blue if you'd dyed the print x
ReplyDeleteIs it sapphire blue or robin's egg blue?
DeleteAs an artist, you should know robin's egg blue, Mr. Pudding.
DeleteGlad to see a new post. The last one seemed rather valedictory. We like the Leeming Bar Rest Area. It feels like stepping back into the nineteen seventies. You could imagine it full of bikers. It once had the status of a full service station but was demoted when the road was upgraded to motorway. In fact we've been up there today with an overloaded car taking offspring back to university.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a student of motorway services Sir Tasker. I suppose you have notebooks in which to write your service station observations. Are you also a fan of Eddie Stobart trucks?
DeleteOh yes. We saw the truck called Carlyn Margaret today.
DeleteShould read H111 Carlynn Margaret - PO68 YLG - see https://www.flickr.com/photos/167629556@N06/46722027094
DeleteI bet you also have a beige anorak, buck teeth and glasses with lenses like whisky glasses.
DeleteI like the first photo. Many of the Arctic rivers are shallow and rocky. Did I say cold? Try fording one!
ReplyDeleteI would rather walk across on stilts!
DeleteA new adventure and walk is always (hopefully) refreshing for the soul. I'd have spent a long time sitting by that waterfall.
ReplyDeleteThe sound of it was thunderous. Lord knows what it is like after days of heavy rain.
DeleteThe weather looks absolutely gorgeous. I didn't realise Hannah Hauxwell had died last year but I remember a documentary about her on TV years ago - a lovely, gentle lady, as I remember.
ReplyDelete'Tis interesting to learn about your toilet habits, Yorkie. I hope you didn't get confused over which water to use. You would've received a shock if the water splashed upon your face was warm.
ReplyDelete