The Centre of Britain

Haltwhistle lays claim to be the centre of Britain. Here you see Alistair, Gwen and George standing in the centre of Haltwhistle! It's about 0800 and they are three members of the team who were leading today's walk. The fourth member, Peter, was there, but has not bought a teeshirt yet, so could not be included in the photo!

So we took the bus out to the south and started our walk across the moors in fairly thick cloud. It was drizzly, but not too cold. Over the moor top took us to the source of the river Tyne. There is a sculpture there and when you look through the hole in it, you can see the source bubbling gently away.

Further on we visited Ashgill Force which was full of water.

By then Geoff had slipped - it was very muddy everywhere - and broken a finger. I administered the first aid and we applied an ice pack. He had to leave the walk at Garigill and our car back-up arrived to take him back to Haltwhistle. He's had an x ray and has two fractures, not one, so he is out of walking for the rest of the week.

In addition, we heard today that Cliff, another leader, has sciatica and can't walk. To say that we had a challenge on our hands was an understatement. At the pub afterwards there was a lot of head scratching and working out who would lead what to fill the gaps.

Today's walk was great, although the stiles were atrocious and there were many of them. Aggie is upset so she is going to have an ice pack applied after I wash all the mud off in the bath. I think she will be fine.

The festival has started. Hooray!

My extra shows Conrad and Hilary Dickinson (on the right) with Kevin at Ashgill Force. Conrad and Hilary are both successful polar explorers and were with us to open the 30th festival.  You may have seen Conrad on TV when he was leading the walk to the South Pole with Prince Harry and a group of injured servicemen.