Day 6 Haltwhistle WINTER Walking Festival!

It has been very cold all week, but we have enjoyed sunshine and long, clear views. Today the weather took a turn for the worse.  It was sunny before 0700, but then the clouds built up and by lunchtime the sleet began to fall.

I was leading a walk called "Looking and Seeing" with our expert, Richard Holmes, on hand to help us look more carefully, see more and become able to interpret the landscape. We did well at the beginning, but once the sleet set in, there was no way we could stop for chats without becoming even wetter and colder than we were.

One or two people had not brought waterproof trousers, so they were wet and cold from early on.

We made the best of it. We had seen quite a few lapwings flying and we knew they had mated, because there was no displaying going on. Richard spotted this nest. It was hardly a scrape in the grass. If you look closely you will see that the shallow nest is lined with feathers.

We saw a few lambs in little high visibility jackets, but most were just braving the elements, like us.

Hoping for a drier day tomorrow when I go for about 14 miles over the moors. Hmm.