The Singing Walk with Bridie Jackson

Today I was leading our ever popular Singing Walk. We had glorious weather and a group of 30 who were keen to sing.

We did a 4.5 mile circular from Gilsland, ending with a visit to Greencroft for tea and the chance to sing all the songs again.

Earlier in the day we sang in Gilsland Parish Church. This is a small church, situated near to Gilsland Spa Hotel. The hotel was used as a maternity home during WWII and pregnant women came and stayed for a several weeks. Hundreds of babies were born here and many were baptised in this church, including our own Maureen. We sang a Northumberland lullaby in the church.

We also walked through the woods below Gilsland Spa and my extra is from there.

At Greencroft, we saw the newly installed Art in the Barn with both a sculpture and a sound installation. Excellent and well worth visiting.

Greencroft also has a composting toilet that attracted great interest.

I was very tired by the end of the walk. Some walkers wanted to get back to the cars and decided to take off on their own. I had to wait for stragglers. I was horrified to see that one confident walker had taken the absconders off the path and onto the busy road. Thankfully, they kept to the side and no one was hurt, but it was an anxious moment.

There are always things to learn!