The Green Trod

Friday, 1 July 2011

7.25 miles with 855 feet of ascent (4 hours 15 mins)
Walked with Sheena with Cleo
16 ºC, light winds, dry with sunny spells
Start - Bowlees Picnic Area (NY907282)
Maps - OL Nº31 (1:25,000) or Landranger Nº92 (1:50,000)

Sheena had a day off work today, so we decided to pay another visit to the meadows in Upper Teesdale. We started off from the picnic area at Bowlees and headed over to Low Force. After checking out the falls, we then crossed the meadows to the village of Holwick. This is where we joined an old drove road called 'The Green Trod' which goes right across the moors to Dufton in the Eden valley. We would only be following it for afew miles today, as far of Bracken Rigg, where we would cut across and join the Pennine Way, which we would follow back to Low Force. It's a great route and one we don't do enough, recently we've manage it once a year, the last time been in August last year.

An early start meant we had the car park to ourselves!

Not a lot of water coming down Bowlee Beck today

Heading through the hamlet of Bowlees to Low Force

The meadows were still looking good

Low Force, my third visit in the last seven days

Across the Wynch Bridge

Low Force from the other side of the river

and again from slightly further upstream

The sheep sculptures at Low Force

a close up shot of one of the sheep faces

From Low Force we headed across the fields towards Holwick village

Through more of those lovely meadows

An old field barn

Not sure how much longer these meadows will survive the grass cutters

We had noticed them cutting some of the fields just down the valley on our way here

Heading across the meadows towards Holwick

Sorry just love the wild flower meadows

Sheena and Cleo got fed up of me taking so many photos and left me to it!

A view down the valley towards Middleton-in-Teesdale

A glimpse of Holwick Lodge

Foxgloves with Holwick Scars behind

Heading out of Holwick village on the 'Green Trod'

A better view of Holwick Lodge

Following the track through Holwick Scars

This fancy stile, was erected at the same time as the sheep sculptures beside Low Force, think they are by the same artist?

A close up shot of one of the sheep

Holwick Lodge again

Looking across the bleak Pennine moorland towards Bink Moss

A pair of grouse sitting on the wall, think they were trying to distract us from their chicks hiding in the long grass next to the path?

This Curlew wasn't that happy to she us either, she circled low around us several times

as did several pairs of Lapwings, crash helmets probably would have been a good idea?

There are lots of grouse butts on the moors around here, a reminder of the main purpose of the moorland

The hamlet of Forest-in-Teesdale

We passed lots of machinery along the track, looked like they were doing 'improvements' on some of the tracks across the moors?

You will see small white poles dotted around the moorland, these mark the locations of the 'grit' trays, the game keepers fill these with grit, which the grouse use to help digest their food