Pinch, punch first of the frost.....

 Isn't it beautiful?

The first frost of the year on the first of the month.  I was amazed how my little point and press camera caught the scene with the sun so well.

This slope was our best sledging slope when we visited back in February and at Easter.

And here is the contrast between the hill that had been in the sun with the frosty grass in the shade.....

Beautiful.

See you soon

Nora

xxx

Our furry friend....

 Delight of delights....one of our furry friends needed a walk and wanting a walk ourselves, we were delighted to oblige!

It's another chance to discover some of the area and get some furry practice in for when our new arrival joins us.

We decided to walk through Nenthead mines as far towards the quarry as we could get in an hour....all climb!

These are some of the scenes along the way.....

 

Didn't it turn out to be a lovely day?

We can feel the Autumn is in full swing and getting cooler, we are looking forward to some snow this winter!

Toodle-ooo

Nora

xxx

Proud Mummy & Daddy moment...

 ...yes, lump in the throat stuff....that moment when you realise that your little one understands the world a little better than you thought.

Today is the day Little Woo has her hair cut in order to donate it to The Little Princess Trust who make real hair wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment or other illness.

Here she is before.....

...and the moment when her beautiful locks were cut.....

...and there it is.....an amazing length of beautiful hair to be donated to a little one who has none.  And from the warm heart of a little girl who understands how lucky she is to have it, but how much better it is to share ....

So here she is with her new (slightly windswept) haircut......

And that is why we are the proudest parents.

With a warm and fuzzy bye-bye

Nora

xxx

Penrith

 ...that's where we went today!

What a lovely place.  It has a market square and lovely church in the centre and quite an impressive array of shops.

But I'm ahead of myself.

Penrith is south west of Alston.  We have to take the road to Hartside and down the mountain, this was the view.....

sorry about the blurry foreground but you can't stop here!

Really lovely despite the moody sky.  The sense of space is quite incredible.  But sadly with the murk, no view of the mountains around the Lake District today.

Penrith has a great shopping centre, this is the heart of Penrith although not the Market Square....

There is a lovely mix of old style, traditional shops and the usual high street offerings.  My photo of the old outfitters doesn't do it justice, but I'm sure you get the idea.....

This one is also very lovely.....

We walked around the outside of the churchyard and gardens, it was so peaceful, just a stones throw from the hustle and bustle of town.....

Then after shopping, the hours journey home.

This is not mist or fog, but cloud!  At over 1900 feet this mountain climb is quite often sitting with its head in the clouds.....

The black and white pole to the left is for guidance in the snow.....

So there's another little snapshot of life in the rugged beauty of Cumbrias North Pennines.

Back soon.

Nora

xxx

Teesdale to Weardale via Langdon Beck

 As you can probably work out the fells are the hilly bits, the rivers run through them and this combination is known as a dale, in this case the rivers are the Tees and the Wear.  Some of you (especially all those Scouts from the late 1980s) might also have heard of Langdon Beck, the Youth Hostel, it is often used by Scouts and similar groups as a stop off when journeying the Pennine Way.

Between the two dales is a small road about 5 miles long, over the top of the fell separating them.  On our journeys here we often take the Teesdale road and pass this turning and for some time I have wanted to take that road and see where it comes out.

Today was that day!  Yay!

It might seem a little sad to some folk that anyone could be so hoppy-skippy-smiley excited about a drive out, but believe me, the sheer scale of these dales and the enormous beauty they hold is jaw-dropping to someone who has never been anywhere soooo BIG and sooooo open that you can watch the clouds pass over the rugged terrain for long, mesmerising minutes at a time.  In fact, the skies are so moody and wild, you could sit all day and watch the skies and the fells change.  It is stunning.

Anyway, the following photos are our little jaunt from Alston along the Teesdale road to a turning just before Langdon Beck marked St. John's Chapel, which is in Weardale. Then along the Weardale road past the Killhope Lead Mining Museum, over Killhope to Alston. 

Incidentally, the road over Killhope holds the equal honour (with Hartside, the other side of Alston) as the highest paved (or tarmaced) pass in England....hence our blog name!

Enjoy!

On the Teesdale road, this is Yad Moss the local Ski Lift!

Looking down the dale

  

Over the top and down into Weardale

  

The Killhope Lead Mining museum

Killhope Cross looking towards the mining museum

Killhope Cross

Killhope Cross looking towards Garrigill

Killhope Cross is where Cumbria meets County Durham (note the gradient sign!)

Shadow of cloud on the hills

Just before Alston we found some woolly friends - you have to 

be careful on the roads around these 'ere parts!

I'm hoping to upload a short video of the drive down that....erm....interesting gradient (if I can load it up!)  It is an amazing drop!

Til then, take care....bye!

Nora

xxx

The view from our kitchen window......

 Short and sweet....but lovely to share.

The River is the South Tyne flowing north.

So sorry about the date mark!  I'll work on that!

See you soon!

Nora

xxx

Settling in to our 'student digs'...

 It's our pet name for the rental.

It's not awful, just not home.... we are very grateful to have secured it and to have the opportunity to start our life here.....but it does remind us of times past where living in rentals is an experience!  The fab thing is that being in town we are convenient for the shops too....and despite being a town...it's so quiet.

Anyway, after Woo's fab first day at school, the rest of the week continued with school runs, catching up with friends, visits to the park to meet and make new friends after school and the unpacking of odd boxes and the inevitable cleaning... the flat was a bit grim despite the promise of a deep clean!

So nothing really to report of our week or weekend, and actually it flew by.

The next major event in our lives was some time together for an explore.  We walked a 4 mile circuit out from the tiny backstreets of Alston called The Butts following the River Nent to Blagill and the up and back across the tops and down alongside the Nent and into The Butts again.

The scenery is stunning, the river bed amazing...like someone laid slabs for the river to trickle over , the structure of the stone, the waterfall or Force....and on the tops, the wind was phenomenal!

So here are a few pictures of our lovely walk....

 

Walking upstream along the River Nent

 

Nent Force

 

Looking towards Blagill with Nenthead in the distance

 

Blagill Bridge

 

Beautiful rock formation

 

Top road between Blagill and Alston looking towards Alston

 

Alston nestling in the moors

 

 

 

The beautiful rock formation on the river bed

 

The low level of the water means you can walk up the river!

So, that's a little more scenery for you.

Until the next time, 

Bye

Nora

xxx