Home comforts ***with track and video***

Ken picked me up at Monkseaton at the end of my walk from Sunderland and whisked me off to home comforts. I certainly needed them after such a long day – one of the longest I have ever walked. That night I slept the sleep of the dead. The following morning Ken drove me back to Monkseaton. I then had the prospect of a relatively easy day before me. It was going to be essentially flat and mostly off road. Most importantly it was going to be considerably shorter than the day before!

I headed north from Monkseaton along a trail that follows a section of the extensive waggonway system built in this part of Tyneside to move coal from the various pits in the area. It was excellent walking, partly in woods and partly across open farmland. It also passed the Holywell Pond Nature Reserve. This trail gave way to bridle paths and footpaths and minor roads, and these led me around Blyth to Bedlington. There, relatively suddenly, the weather changed. So far it had been fine and sunny; now it started to drizzle. What had looked at the start to be a pleasant prospect began to look considerably less attractive. Fifteen kilometres of walking in the rain is not something I relish.

I pushed on through Ashington towards Cresswell, my target for the day. Sometimes the drizzle was heavier, sometimes it was lighter, sometimes it stopped entirely. In parts I was on tracks, in parts I was on lanes, in parts I was on roads. Finally I reached Cresswell. Ken picked me up again and whisked me off to yet more home comforts. This is how walking should be done!

Holywell Pond, with geese and a peewit

Monkseaton to Cresswell

A video showing the geese and the peewits on Holywell Pond can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x4meatzc4jt8ntc/WP_20180525_11_12_31_Pro%20Holywell%20Pond.mp4?dl=0

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