Tunstall Reservoir

[shewhomust]

At last, a fine Sunday with no other commitments, and we thought about where we would like to walk. Nowhere that involves fording streams - the summer has been so wet that that would be tricky - but the rain has filled the reservoirs for the first time in years, so maybe somewhere we could enjoy the scenery without the usual muddy margin?

There's a pleasant walk around Tunstall reservoir, which we've done in the past by parking in Wolsingham, and walking up to the reservoir. Today durham_rambler suggested parking by the A68 (there's a picnic area at High Houselop which would have been ideal, had it not been closed) and walking down to the reservoir. My spacial awareness is not good - by which I mean that my sense of where places are functions by relating them to other known places - so this was disconcerting, but seemed worth a try.

It turned out to be a splendid walk. If we were to do it again - no, make that: when we do it again - I'd try some fine tuning, because as we did it this morning most of the best parts were on the outward journey, and the return had a lot of hard work. But these are details.

The route: we followed the disused railway round the valley side, overshooting the path down through the woods that we had meant to take, choosing instead a path through fields from which we had lovely views of the reservoir as we approached it. Lunch by the reservoir, watching the anglers and the geese all enjoying the water's edge, the across the dam and up - and up and up - at one point keeping pace with a pheasant who was strutting uphill beside the dry stone wall (eventually his mate flew up, startling me, and he followed, over the wall). There was a fair stretch of heather hillside to cross to regain the railway, and that was hard work: the right of way was not a discernible track, so we followed the line of grouse butts as far as we could, a longer way round but not quite such vigorous heather-bashing, but it might be possible to improve this bit of the route.

It wasn't a long walk, but was energetic enough to make me feel I'd done something with my day. And the threatened showers never materialised, and the sun shone for much of the time, which seems to promise well for our autumn holiday (just as well, since we've stared booking ferries).