The back of Alan's head

Here we all are on our second walk, this time from Rothbury along the Rothbury Terraces. This is our lunch stop where a thoughtful person had left a pallet nearby which provided a dry seat for eating sandwiches.

A square pallet is not a good site for a group photograph but most of us made it, except for Alan, who on both attempts at this shot couldn't get his head around far enough. (He's the one in the blue hat)

The Rothbury Terraces form part of a carriage drive on the Cragside Estate of the Armstrong family. Armstrong was a leading industrialist in the North East involved in weapons manufacture and amassed a fortune enabling the family to create Cragside as the first place in the world to be powered by hydro-electricity.

This was an easy 6 mile walk, mostly on the level after an initial steep climb. The highlight was hearing and then seeing a cuckoo. The weather was cloudy again with drizzle which marred the view.

Back to the Hall afterwards for tea and cake followed by Cottage Pie and Gobble Pie (an invented name for a "cottage pie" made with turkey mince.