Monday 25th March 2019
Westerhope
Moor 676 m. NY 923 325
Black Hill. 559m. NY 913 356
Fendrith Hill. 696m. NY 877 333
My imagination is fired picturing Ordnance Survey guys carting huge loads of heavy materials to 6,500 of the most remote locations in our landscape. Trigs would usually be on high, often weather was foul and clothing inferior. Mechanical assistance was minimal.
Thanks to those guys I now have an abundance of target venues which are guaranteed by their purpose to give me the optimum view from anywhere in the UK whilst providing a satisfying bonus objective.
Today's walk had added nostalgia. Wherever I go these days I seem to coincide with previous escapades. In August 2017 I resumed my Berwick-upon-Tweed to Castle Cary walk from Westgate where I had finished with a broken arm the previous April. From my parking today at Swinhope Head I drove for home down the steep five kilometre one track road to Westgate and found it difficult to remember the toil I must have had on that hot August day twenty months ago. Today it was similarly sunny, but only four degrees with a biting wind.
Rough terrain with only intermittent sheep trod paths made for hard going, and at nine miles plus, with lots of ascent and descent, this was a demanding day for me, but rewards of all-round expanses of wild country, much previously trodden, and the more localised memories made for a good day out.
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| Just off the road from Swinhope Head. The first summit is a long way beyond the horizon here, and the visible track soon petered out |
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| I would return to this point from my first summit to set off on the diversion to Black Hill |
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| Looking back on my route from the previous photo. My eventual summit number three can be seen on the horizon just beyond the end of the fence line |
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| First sight of Westerhope Moor (number one). There was ice on the pond |
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Westerhope Moor trig (number one)
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| A stop at the car for a snack and coffee before ascending Fendrith Hill (number three). Again the summit is a long way back from that seen in the photo. |
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| Fendrith Hill trig. Cow Green reservoir in the distance |
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| The green line is my Berwick/Castle Cary route. The red line is my approximate Land's End John 'o Groats route. My Memory Map on the computer is scattered with many previous walks and some day-dreams. Thr purple is a national park boundary I think. |
"Mechanical assistance was minimal." A four-word sentence, no doubt lacking "soul", but exact, incisive and rhythmic. Like bringing the para to an end with a roll on the snare drum. You're learning.
ReplyDeleteRR - Elsewhere you questioned my use of "guy." I have always found difficulty with the various noun options when referring to the male. "Guy" often seems to sit more satisfactorily. "Man" has a sort of formal starkness. I recently used "fella" referring to a horse - I liked that. When I met the angler on a recent walk I used "chap" - the best of a bad job. Another twist is to invent a name as I did further on - Mr. Angler. You emphasised the American aspect of "guy" but I don't think of it that way - it is so well adopted here.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, much as I do not favour Trump I do sneakily like his use of the one word sentence at the end of a statement. Here is an invented example: The Democrats think I can't build that wall. Stupid. But that sort of thing is only ok used sparingly.