Summer 2016 in England

Hi, It's a while since I have posted and so in a few spare moments I thought I would write an update. To start with, I have just finished the carving I did when in Spain in March. This has dried slowly in a open paper bag and thankfully the birch didn't crack. The design is similar to the one made by Ray Mears in his Northern Wilderness series on TV and is based on the type made by the voyeurs in Canada in the 19th century. This is my first attempt at carving and found it interesting, ideal for the evenings and a break from reading.

"Kuksa" or "Noggin" carved from a log of Silver Birch wood from Sandford Woods, carved in Spain and finished here with a coat of Walnut oil.

We have been away to northern England, near Seahouses on the Northumbrian coast where we joined a family get-together for a few days before heading east to see Emily near Lancaster. Whilst in Northumbria we managed our first barbecue of the year, although the temperature dropped in the evening. We have been to this area and Holy Island some years ago when we had the old Kombi VW camper and could recall some of the villages on the coast. Generally the weather was fine and we had some great days visiting "Alnwick Gardens" with it's special treeehouse, water features and also a Hornbean covered pergola.

A view through the Hornbeam archway in the dappled shade.

Tree house with cafe and restaurant in Alnwick gardens. The house is built in a group of old Lime trees although it is constructed of various softwoods such as cedar and pine. 

We also went along the coast to Alnmouth and Bamburgh finding pleasant places to eat and drink, enjoying the sea air strolling the beaches and collecting some drift wood.

Moving on to Carnforth in Lancashire, we helped Ems move her boat and we had a day at the Leighton Moss Reserve but no sightings of Marsh Harriors on this visit. However, I did get some ideas for a Ladybird shelter that would give good use for the birch bark I had left over from making the Kuksa. I made a couple of these when I returned home.We also found some interesting walks in the nearby woodlands; lots of Ash trees just coming into leaf and woodland flowers blooming. Other trips included a great walk on small paths through a mixture of lanes, woodland and meadows from Bolton to Carnforth and a walk along the coastal strip near Bolton le Sands northwards besides the estuary.

Moving Em's boat on the canal.

Morecombe Bay taken from near Bolton le Sands looking towards Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria.

Large burr (twisted hard grain often used for carving bowls or cups) seen on a Silver Birch in the woods near Leighton Moss (RSPB reserve of  "Autumn Watch" fame).

Last weekend we had a little adventure on the river Dart. We had two Canadian canoes that we had made and took them down the Dart from Totnes (with the outgoing tide) and camped overnight with our grandson (plus his parents and auntie!) All went well until one canoe capsized (me included of course) on colliding at the wrong angle with a bow wave from a motor boat. Anyway we survived (my life jacket and daughters helped me in that!), the canoe didn't sink to the bottom and we were able to continue after a change of clothes and a bit of shivering on my part. The last section was hard with a short stretch against the tide and wind. The trip was something I had wanted to try after reading the adventures of some of the early Canadian and American river pioneers; I now have a new found respect for them! Next time we have to find some rapids to see how the canoes behave or perhaps I need to practice more, we'll see.

Camp in farmer Tom's field on the river Dart.

The camping field is next to the river in a great location near a footpath that goes upstream to a nearby village and pub. It was great to be able to have our own fire to sit around at night; we were hoping the fire would keep until morning but it was a fry-up using our burners for breakfast and a short row upstream to return to Totnes.