Mud, mud, glorious mud

While the weather is fine enough for walking to be a pleasure, but still chilly enough that picnics are univiting, we try to construct walks which include the possibility of lunch in a pub, café (but these are mainly in town) and - a comparatively recent option - farm shops. This time last year we walked up to Broom House Farm, and encountered large quantities of mud; yesterday we tried a different route and - the short version - encountered even more mud. Yes, we never make the same mistake again; we always make a new mistake instead.

This time we left the car in Langley Park, and walked along the old railway of the Lanchester Valley walk as far as the Malton picnic area. So far, so level, but now we turned, crossed the main road and headed uphill across fields, through the woods and up to the mast at Burnhope - disappointing several very shaggy horses, who came thundering across the field towards us and leaned expectantly over the fence - they evidently have great hopes of visitors. Up to this point there was mud underfoot, but enough to be messy rather than difficult. Further on we were crossing fields which were not only waterlogged, but were also churned up by cattle and tractors, and the going became very heavy indeed: we were slow, we were hungry, we were increasingly bad tempered. And did I mention muddy? The countryside is pleasant enough, but you'd have to be a big fan of wind turbines to find it worth the effort, and eventually we gave up, climbed the fence and completed our approach to the farm along the road.

A bowl of chestnut soup made things look better; or perhaps it's just that the sun came out while we were eating it. Either way, we set off on the return journey feeling much more cheerful. The route back is downhill (which is widely regarded as an advantage, although I find it as hard on the knees as uphill) and down a farm track - more mud, of course, but on a solid base. And it is high enough to have spectacular views back to Durham City. There are viewpoints all round Durham from which you can make out the top of the crossing tower, but Broom House is high enough to give a view of the whole cathedral (if you can't see it in the tiny picture, click through - and if necessary, through again to the full size photo). The sun was low between the trees as we crossed the band of woodland, and it had dropped below the hill by the time we were back in Langley Park, feeling as if we'd done double our intended mileage.

So it's back to the drawing board...