Walking around Reeth

Saturday afternoon, and a five mile walk from Reeth along the banks of the Swale and back via the village of Grinton. My dad drove us all into Reeth in the farm landrover - a slightly hair raising journey with six people and two dogs in a 30 year old landrover down lanes that are barely wide enough for one car at a time.

We kicked off with an ice cream from the shop - I could have happily eaten the whole menu, but I eventually went for the pineapple flavour - yum! The walk was comparitively easy compared to the hike yesterday - mostly flat and through shady woods. The river was a mere trickle compared to it's potential - the swing bridge was built in 2002 to replace the original that had been destroyed in a flood. The plaque said that the river is capable of rising 3 meters in 20 minutes and looking at the high water marks and flood plain it is easy to believe it.

Coming back to Reeth we met the strangest dog that I have seen in ages - a collie crossed with a corgi - corgi shaped, but with the face, colours and markings of a black and white collie.

Finally, a well deserved pint of beer outside the pub in Reeth before returning to Hunt House. I ended up listening to a retrospective feature about acid house on Radio 2 of all stations - it made me all nostalgic although I did feel old when I realised that the second summer of love was 16 years ago ... gulp.