Still no cycling

Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He is in London at the moment and enjoyed a walk up a hill yesterday. to get a view and a breath of fresh air.

We had been promised warmer weather today by the forecast, but it was -5°C again at breakfast time and it didn’t get much if any above freezing all day. I got a kind offer of a guided hill walk from my friend Mark in the morning but I wasn’t organized enough to take advantage of this. I did get organised enough to look out of the window though to see if there were any birds about today.

Once again there were not many about. There were a few more than I had seen yesterday, but there were more starlings on the walnut tree then there were chaffinches around the feeder.

There were a couple of male blackbirds to be seen as well as a single female who made sure that I got her best side . . .

. . . and then stepped forward into the spotlight to take a bow.

I pulled myself together and went for a walk on my own after lunch while Mrs Tootlepedal continued working at her sewing machine.

Although they like the newly trimmed walnut tree, the starlings have not forsaken the holly tree and I saw these two as I left the garden.

Although much of the snow and ice has disappeared, there is still quite a bit about and I fitted my Yaktrax on my boots for a walk up to the Monument. The going underfoot was variable as I walked along the riverside and then up through Longwood..

At the end of the wood, I took the new track up the hill as far as the pylons and then walked up the mountain bike track to the ridge. Luckily no one was coming down the track on a bike so I had a very peaceful stroll, with plenty of opportunities to look round and enjoy the views before I got to the monument.

The bike track

Looking across the Solway to the Lake District

Snowy hills to the north

Care was needed at times on the track

At the summit (1150 feet above sea level)

I was not the only one at the monument as an adult and two children arrived from the opposite direction at the same time as I did.

I walked down the path by the fence on my way to the White Yett, enjoying more views as I went. Looking at the north facing slopes of the hills to my left showed how much the gentle heat of the sun rather than any high general temperatures had been responsible for clearing the snow off the south facing slopes.

I looked around as I went down the hill.

The cairn on the Castle Craigs track

A lichen covered boulder near the MacDiarmid memorial

Big sky looking back up the track to the monument.

I followed the road down from the White Yett as far as the pines above Hillhead. The sky had clouded over during my walk but it broke through as I got to the pines.

I didn’t go right down the road but turned off above the beech hedges and walked along the hillside to the top of the golf course.

Here I met a neighbour, a keen walker, who had been out for a stroll of her own, and we walked back down the golf course, into the Market Place, across the suspension and bridge and back home at such a brisk pace that I didn’t have any chance to add to the photos from the walk. I enjoyed the company and the conversation as we went along.

I found that I had walked six miles and climbed 1000 feet so I was quite ready for a cup of tea and a slice of toast when I got in.

With three hill walks and a busy visit to London during this week, I was ready for some relaxation now, so abandoning all thoughts of energy economy, I ran a hot tub, added potions guaranteed to cure me of any muscle aches, and had a good soak before our evening meal.

Our daughter Annie is bringing our granddaughter Evie to visit us tomorrow for five days so I hope that the forecast is right this time when it says that it is going to be quite a bit warmer next week.

The flying bird of the day is a male chaffinch.