"All walk leaders are liers!"

Tony, our leader today, made this declaration after he had temporarily mislaid the route and added over a mile to the original!

Nine of us were on the Haltwhistle Walkers' second long walk of the day. The others were at Blanchland. I thought that Tony's walk might be the slower one. I managed quite well, but found the rough moorland was difficult to negotiate. Arth is not happy, but I hope that he will recover after a night's sleep.

We were at Linnshields Waterfall, which has very little water in it. It is a favourite place for our group and was the very favourite spot for our friend Ian, who died a few years ago.

There were more curlews circling overhead than I have ever seen. They were trying to scare us away from their nests. In one spot we saw two fledglings (see extra). We also heard a cuckoo.

One of the local farmers has helped the walkers on his land with a great big sign to point us in the right direction. (See extra)

We encountered herds of curious and lively cows. They needed careful negotiation!

After a visit to the pub with the group, I came home and soaked in the bath. It probably should have been full of ice, but I had hot water instead!