Stanhope Dene

Freed from the curse of the school run for a week, I was out walking with the dogs by 8am and in Stanhope Dene where the beech trees were just turning. A few years ago someone told me that near this spot a treasure trove dating back to the Bronze Age was discovered in a cave near the burn. It was taken out just before they extensively quarried the cliff face & ever since it's been in the vaults of the British Museum where no-one ever sees it. My friend started a small campaign to have Heatheryhope Haul returned to the North East but the British Museum sent back a polite, but firm, refusal.

In the upper canopy of the woods the leaves have all but gone, making it seem like autumn below and winter above.