A walk in the Browney valley
Jun. 14th, 2021 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomust"What would you like to do today?" asked durham_rambler. "We could go to Beaurepaire, I think there's something happening there..." Visiting the ruined manor house at Beaurepaire was something we'd both wanted to do since we attended a lecture about the recent renovations there. Once upon a time, so long ago that I can't find any trace of it either in this journal or on Flickr, it was one of our regular walks, but clearly there had been changes since then, and ot would be good to check it out. But was I ready for the encounters with other people that might result from visiting on a summer Sunday when there was an event in progress? Further investigation established that there had indeed been a volunteer gardening session yesterday, so we worked out a route which would allow us to walk to the site within the very limited distances I am currently capable of -
- and not to spin out the suspense too far, this was as close as I got. It's a steep scramble up from the track to the ruins, and I got maybe halfway. It wasn't the climbing up that bothered me, but the prospect of getting down again: whendurham_rambler went on ahead and confirmed that the way back was indeed the way we had come, I decided against it.
Even so, it was a good walk, with plenty to see:
The may blossom is pretty much over. I was surprised: it seemed only last week we had walked along the disused railway at Broompark, and all the hedgerows were heavy with white flowers. Nearer two weeks than one week later, there's the odd trace of white, but it's the pink hawthorn which is spectacular.
The railway walk runs through land reclaimed from colliery waste, from slagheaps, so all the trees were chosen, and planted at about the same time: those pink hawthorns, larches, some young oak trees. This is an intruder, though:
That's giant hogweed, an invasive and noxious weed. Stylish, though, isn't it?
We left the railway and took the track down and across the Browney:
From here on the bridge, you climb up to Beaurepaire - or don't, and stay on the track up to the farm. Most of the outbuildings seem to have been converted to holiday lets; indeed, one huge barn-like building looked too new ever to have been anything but accommodation. I was delighted to see that Lynne's birthday elephants had survived this transformation:
All this leisure provision, and not a seat in sight: pity, I was ready for a sit and a drink of water. But not quite ready to sit on the stile, so we carried on to the point where the lane comes out at the road. Here we perched on the wall of yet another holiday cottage, and discussed our options.durham_rambler volunteered to go on ahead, retrieve the car, and meet me somewhere along the road. So I lingered, photographed this charming rural construction:
and had reached another bridge over the Browney by the time my lift arrived.
durham_rambler. "We could go to Beaurepaire, I think there's something happening there..." Visiting the ruined manor house at Beaurepaire was something we'd both wanted to do since we attended a lecture about the recent renovations there. Once upon a time, so long ago that I can't find any trace of it either in this journal or on Flickr, it was one of our regular walks, but clearly there had been changes since then, and ot would be good to check it out. But was I ready for the encounters with other people that might result from visiting on a summer Sunday when there was an event in progress? Further investigation established that there had indeed been a volunteer gardening session yesterday, so we worked out a route which would allow us to walk to the site within the very limited distances I am currently capable of -- and not to spin out the suspense too far, this was as close as I got. It's a steep scramble up from the track to the ruins, and I got maybe halfway. It wasn't the climbing up that bothered me, but the prospect of getting down again: when
durham_rambler went on ahead and confirmed that the way back was indeed the way we had come, I decided against it. Even so, it was a good walk, with plenty to see:
The may blossom is pretty much over. I was surprised: it seemed only last week we had walked along the disused railway at Broompark, and all the hedgerows were heavy with white flowers. Nearer two weeks than one week later, there's the odd trace of white, but it's the pink hawthorn which is spectacular.
The railway walk runs through land reclaimed from colliery waste, from slagheaps, so all the trees were chosen, and planted at about the same time: those pink hawthorns, larches, some young oak trees. This is an intruder, though:
That's giant hogweed, an invasive and noxious weed. Stylish, though, isn't it?
We left the railway and took the track down and across the Browney:
From here on the bridge, you climb up to Beaurepaire - or don't, and stay on the track up to the farm. Most of the outbuildings seem to have been converted to holiday lets; indeed, one huge barn-like building looked too new ever to have been anything but accommodation. I was delighted to see that Lynne's birthday elephants had survived this transformation:
All this leisure provision, and not a seat in sight: pity, I was ready for a sit and a drink of water. But not quite ready to sit on the stile, so we carried on to the point where the lane comes out at the road. Here we perched on the wall of yet another holiday cottage, and discussed our options.
durham_rambler volunteered to go on ahead, retrieve the car, and meet me somewhere along the road. So I lingered, photographed this charming rural construction:and had reached another bridge over the Browney by the time my lift arrived.
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