Gunnerton Church

Today I led the Birtley, Chipchase and Gunnerton walk. It was 8 miles, but I added a bit to make a more interesting route with less road walking.

A group of 19 came and the team was Peter, Anne and me.

I managed to set off slightly off course over the first field, came out of a different gate (although on the same road as the one I should have used), then turned back towards Birtley. This was not the best start, although quickly rectified. I know I should not get too upset, but I am.

The rest of the walk went very well. We stopped for short talks about different things. Peter surprised us all by telling a joke just after describing the old railway line in Gunnerton. The joke was a total non-sequitur to his talk, which probably made it even funnier than it was.

We were back in Birtley at about 3.10pm and headed for the pub in Wark. I was so relieved not to have made any more mistakes, that I forgot to tell the car cover we had finished! (More points deducted.)

I love walk leading but I can't cope with making mistakes. The rest of the team have promised to remind me about today at frequent intervals in the future, as I knew they would!!!

My blip is inside the Arts and Crafts church in Gunnerton. It was opened specially for us today. The architect was John C Hawes, who became an Anglican, then a Catholic priest before becoming a hermit. He also designed buildings in the US, Australia and the Bahamas.

The window in my blip was made to replace the original window which had eventually disintegrated. It was designed by William Tillyler of Teesside. The colours are based on Christian colour symbolism.

I have a day off tomorrow.