Shall I pass you a scone?

Today I was leading the special interest walk around the small town of Bellingham, in the North Tyne valley, a few miles north of my home.

I had one expert, our regular walker, Dave L, who has lived in Bellingham for 20 years. The walk included a visit to his house where we had our morning coffee break. Dave could not walk the whole route due to a very sore hip.

The second expert was Dr Ian Roberts, a local historian, who has written books and papers about the area. He explained how the iron mining worked and helped us understand how the Linn might have looked more than a century ago.

The area is now an SSSI due to the rare mosses and liverworts that reside there.

We managed all the tricky bits without anyone falling. The gate was unstuck - thanks Dave. We arrived at the Carriages Tearoom just 10 minutes ahead of schedule. As you can see, tea is served in an old railway carriage. Very good it was to. Those scones did not last long!

Now for an easy evening before the last walk tomorrow.

My extra is Hareshaw Linn itself. There has been no rain for over a week, so the water flow is quite low.