Bilberry and Birch

I may have been quiet of late, but I promise I have not been idle. There has been a lot of organising and settling in to do, together with getting to know the local area a little better. I have also been working on some new designs, of which more later.

One of the things I have done is to join a local Ramblers group, and these photographs were taken on a walk we did on Sunday, in the hills around the pretty market town of Rothbury. As you can see, we were rewarded with stunning views, for only a little hard climbing.

It looks like, and indeed was, a glorious day, but my goodness, it was windy, as you can tell from the sound on this video. It gives a good idea of the panoramic view though.

As a bonus, the route also took in some stone cup and ring carvings, and a tower known as Sharpe’s Folly, which dates from the 1720s, and is the oldest folly in Northumberland.

The cup and ring marks are altogether more mysterious, and whilst they are believed to have been made in the Bronze Age, no-one is really quite sure what they are, or why they are there. I was really intrigued by the markings, and I’m thinking about how I could maybe capture them in silver.

For those who are interested in such things, I tracked the walk on an app on my phone, and here is the route.

The two walks I’ve done so far have been around 7 miles, so pretty much what I’d usually undertake. As someone used to fairly solitary walking, it’s been an interesting and pleasurable experience to be part of a much larger group. The next walk is longer, at 11 miles, so we’ll see how I get on with that.