Walking my Legs off

Yesterday I walked my legs off. It started very early in the morning when I went out to film some of the damage caused by floods for a farmer near Morpeth. The problem he is having is that even though he was insured, the insurance company even without inspecting the damage are trying to get out of paying out. So I was asked if I would film the effects of the flood damage. However, this meant that I ended up having to walk about eight or nine miles between the locations. I may post more on this at a latter date, as the Farmer and myself will hold the insurance company to account if they try and wriggle out of this.

Even with doing this I still had plenty of time to get out and do more of what I wanted to do. As I may have mentioned here before, I have been filming and exploring along some of the walks and trails around here. One of these is the Derwent Walk that runs from Rowlands Gill to Consett. While the walk its self is interesting in its self, I was also very curious about some of the elements that lay along the route.

So I went straight back out to Consett. Near the begging of my walk is Café and I decided to stop there for a sandwich and a coffee. I was pleased with the quality and the service and the place is a real gem. By far the best Café in Consett.

Then I had a shortish walk to the first location I wanted to visit, and I decided to go via some playing fields (Sports fields). I was just walking down the steep bank to them when I spotted a Kestrel. I had not even extracted my camera from my bag so as I tried to get the out, and load the tape affix the battery I watched in wonder as the kestrel was mobbed by a couple of crows. If only I had been ready I could have got some great footage. I did get a few seconds but the bird moved out of range.

For me that was a great start and it is always a joy to see birds like these. However I wanted to get to the location of the cemetery at Blackhill as there are two almost identical chapels there. They are now disused and derelict but are still beautiful buildings. Also I was curious as to why there were two. I filmed the first from all sorts of angles then moved on to the second. I was filming and the building was obviously once a magnificent building. On one was a rose window, the glass is long since gone and the stonework is crumbling. On the other the design is almost identical however, as I looked at the Rose window of the second I realised that it carried the Star of David. Now I understood why there were two, one was a Christian chapel while the other was a synagogue. It is a shame that they are both now derelict but at one time there was the pride in the local area to have built them in the first place. I think that I will have to visit the local library to find out more.

As I was interested in some of the other locations along the route of the walk I set off along the route. Almost immediately I had to stop and film the bees and other insects that were feeding on a bush that was in full flower. When ever I do that I always get strange looks and comments from people.

The last time I had walked this part of the route it had taken me hours to cover a few miles, as I was stopping to film a flower here, or a lichen there, but this time I covered the ground quite rapidly. While I do get comments when out filming, the majority of people are really friendly. As the Derwent Walk is a great location for people to walk their dogs, seeing people out with their dogs is not that surprising. However as I came round one gentle bend, I was faced by the site of two women with eight dogs, Eight Huskies. As one of the women was in a invalid car, at first it looked as if the dogs were pulling a sledge. But it turned out that they were just being taken for a walk.

I could tell you all the boring bits, but I got to a point where the route passes under a road where there is a great pub. As it was about three in the afternoon I decided I had earn a beer. So I stopped for a pint. Sitting outside at one of the picnic tables I sat and watched the world go by. I spotted what appeared to be a Peregrine Falcon land in a tree. The foliage completely hid the bird so I was not sure of my identification. But I kept half an eye on the tree. Then when a wood pigeon landed on a bare branch I thought I must have been wrong or that the Falcon must have moved on. The pigeon stayed there for more than five minutes then suddenly dropped out of the tree and there was the clap of wings that pigeons make. Less than a second latter the Peregrine was on it plucking the bird out of the air.

Had I even thought that something like that was likely to happen I would have set up the camera to film it, but it was over so quickly that would have missed it. Remarkable behaviour and what an experience. A fellow drinker also saw it and was all but jumping up and down with excitement.

As I walked further, I stopped to film one of the views, and I noticed a dragonfly hunting in the area, while I have not reviewed the footage, I may have got this on film. This delayed me and while I got to some of the other locations I wanted to, I suddenly realised how late it was getting. I was placed in a quandary as by this point I was at an equal distance between walking to the end of the walk and getting the bus home from there or taking another part down to the road and then walking along until I could get a bus home from there. Either way it was still a couple of miles walk . Well I chose the walk back, and in following that route I discovered what looks like a gem of a woodland habitat that looks as though it is not frequently used by people thus the wildlife may well be undisturbed. So I can see that I have more to explore at a latter date.

I was rather tired when I got home but it had been a really great day.