Thwarted again

River Petterill (4)

 
On the map it looked perfect – a footpath, even marked as bridleway, from the hamlet of Greystoke Gill, would take one to the River Petterill and the chance to walk beside it for quite a way as it flowed north. Great for a break from washing and marking, during a sunny afternoon.
 
It did not work out quite that way!
 
The footpath/bridleway had obviously at some point been diverted from the grounds of the house that is currently a Gallery and is now a very narrow sort-of-path, between a high hedge and a barbed wire fence, overgrown with vegetation especially nettles. Well, we gave it a go, but soon came to a problem – see extra. This is a stone stile hidden by vegetation and in order to reach it one was supposed to climb over the barbed wire, ‘kindly’ covered in an attempt to prevent injury – some hope! Was someone having a laugh when they put a sign on the post saying ‘Please close the gate’ – oh for a gate to close! And then if you look ahead, the path doesn’t even get to the river, as there is a barbed wire fence running the length of the river. Just appalling! If I had been doing ‘Pathwatch’ here I would have gone to town on this.
 
We gave up, made our way back through the nettles and then walked up the road, trying to follow the river, not easy as high hedges form an impenetrable barrier. I think this river must flow with gold, as someone is determined that no one gets near it.
 
Greystoke Gill is a hamlet just outside Motherby and seems to consist of a couple of farms, a Gallery and some rather smart houses and barn conversions. Oh and lots of hens and ‘Eggs for Sale’ signs.
 
   
The Petterill does flow through it though, and the road goes over it, but it is so covered in vegetation that it is very difficult to even see the water. I have blipped this picture, although it is not good. It was very difficult – peering through vegetation on a sunny day, everything over-exposing like mad. But I did like the reflections and it does show how the Petterill is quickly changing from being no more than a stream to  becoming a grown-up river. At this point a tributary is coming in from the left and the river is about to bend northwards towards Greystoke.