Brian

Still a bit under the weather I decided to have a trip out to the Montane factory shop and a trip up to Amble with the camera and my new lens. I only walked a very short distance but this was about the photos not the walk. The sea was very choppy and I’ve some nice images but I was really trying to get some photos of people getting soaked whilst trying to cross the pier at Amble. A bit foolish of them but to be honest the waves weren’t that big.

Just an easy walk today with Allison as we’re still feeling very much under the weather. There’s a really cold northerly wind today but bright and sunny for a change.

Today I've been out with my wife, Allison, we're both suffering from a head cold so we thought we'd grab some fresh air. My walk didn't record properly on my Garmin so I've manually uploaded it from a route I drew on OS maps. We were out about 1 hour and three quarters and covered around 4 miles but for some reason my watch decided that we'd only done 2.53 miles and were out for just an hour. Anyway I also took the opportunity to try out one of my new lenses which I bought second hand and I'm extremely pleased with. We finished off the walk with a coffee and a sandwich, very nice too !

A walk to Cramlington and back in the gloom. My primary reason was to visit the bank to cancel an account and after spending an hour walking there and 25 minutes in the queue the nice lady at the counter informed me that I had to do it on line via the banking app !! ah well at least I had a walk.

I haven’t been out for a few weeks due to family matters, my Mam passed away last week and my Dad and I had been visiting her everyday. It was expected so not as sad as it could have been. Her dementia finally got her. Anyway I had a cold and damp walk into Newcastle to go to the barbers. I’d not been to this barbers for a number of years but going back I was treat like an old friend. Anyway looking as smart as a carrot now I decided to bus it back, it’s far too cold to walk anymore.

Today I visited Blyth again, this is an amazing place when the light is right and today it was quite good. My intentions were to walk up to 6 mile and I managed 5 as I'd been on the indoor bike this morning doing a hill climb route for an hour and a bit. I parked on the Links Road and walked along Eve Black way ( the name of the path in the dunes) along to the pier where I walked along to the end and chatted with a couple of fisherman, one had caught almost 30 whiting but he said he didnt eat them and was giving them away, I turned down his offer, politely. I did an about turn and made my way back along the beach walking into the winter sun. I stopped off at Greggs for. restorative coffee and a sandwich before continuing on the beach. I returned to the car at exactly 5 miles and made many new (doggy) friends on the beach. I'm hoping to get a long walk in tomorrow but thats weather dependent.

After yesterdays bike ride I needed a gentle day so it was a shortish walk to the local nature reserve to feed the ducks. I got involved in helping a fella get his dog back as it wouldn’t return to him but he was happy to come to me, well done Cooper ! On the way back I got chatting to a an older fella who was walking Rosie a four month old Cocker Spaniel, who incidentally has the sharpest teeth, my fingers are testament to this, she was very excited to be off her lead for the first time and to see me ! He was a local and had lived in the village all of his 70 years he gave me a potted history of the place which is always good. Just a couple of photos today one of some Coots on the frozen lake and one of the RAF practicing landings at Newcastle Airport.

Today I travelled up to Warkworth Dunes to walk on the beach. It was very cold but sunny. My walk took me down the slope from the car park, this was treacherous to say the least but I managed to get down it without going my length ! I walked south toward Amble where the tide was out and I managed to walk amongst the jetties. I then walked north along the length of the bay to the Alnmouth end of the beach crossing Birling Carrs, a rocky outcrop about 2/3 of the way along. I had my lunch at the St Oswald cross that’s on a hill overlooking Alnmouth. My return journey saw me walking in the dunes along the England Coastal path and back to the car park. Lots of photos and a few videos on my action camera and drone, it’s a shame I can’t post them here as there were some quite good angles.

Just a shortish walk today I wanted to explore the north side of the pond seeing as the ground was frozen. It’s not normally possible due to the boggy ground. I mostly did this route as I’ve started using the Osmo action camera again and wanted to practice my editing. Just a couple of images from today. I did a ramp test this morning so my legs were toast !!

I never intended to walk so far today but I was having such a nice time I just kept walking. Firstly I was trying out my new walking boots, a pair of Keen Taghee IVs which are a nice wide fit and relatively lightweight. I can recommend these if you have a wide foot. The route today took me over ground that I have walked recently but not all at once. I walked upto Dinnington on the Reivers route the follwed the footpath past Gardeners Houses farm to Brenkley then across the now filled in open cast site into the Blagdon Estate exiting at The Old Kennels. I crossed the A1 and up the hill to Shotton then aling the footpath to Northumberlandia, it was very busy here, loads of people about. I had a pit stop at the garage where I go a coffee and an average burger, inface very average. The route wen down Beacon Lane and I crossed the Arcot Golf course on a footpath that Id not been on previously and as the course was closed I was able to cross a few of the fairways without having to dodge golf balls. The last bit of the walk was on my regular path at the rear of Seaton Burn but I had a bit of a set to with the owner of two Alsation dogs which were off their leash. One actually tried to bite me but the pair of them were agitated and barking whilst chasing after me. I had to have words with the owner, a female who appeared to have no control over the dogs. Whilst I don't have a dog myself I am confident around them but they clearly had no recall. I made my point with her in a firm but not abusive way, another dog owner who was with her looked at me as if to aologise, I'm not even sure if she did as I couldn't here what she was saying for the noise from the dogs. Anyway they eventually gave up and wandered back to her. Despite this I did enjoy the walk and I'm currently sitting planning a walk for my 700th activity on Komoot. All of the images were taken using my iphone.