North of the wall

[saxonaxe]

In the winter of 2015 I was offered the use of a cottage that an old friend had recently purchased. I declined use of the cottage but obtained his permission to camp on his land which formed part of the owned plot. I posted on the forum at the time (under planning) and recently I travelled North to spend 6 nights camped at the cottage. Days were spent making basically circular exploratory walks from base camp into the quite remote countryside of the area. Nothing spectacular, about 10-12 miles a day, but the terrain can be testing of personal fitness.

The cottage in February..

http://i.imgur.com/9oypBn6l.jpg

And as I first saw it after driving from home on the South Coast a week or so ago.

http://i.imgur.com/ssHPJ81l.jpg

I really don't care for long journeys on four wheels, I much prefer my Motorcycle but a weeks supplies plus camping gear offered the prospect of this old codger trying to coax a heavy Moto Guzzi over some pretty rough tracks, so four wheels it was...

http://i.imgur.com/mg0lHUql.jpg

OK, look away now Bushcraft gourmets and wilderness Chefs...

http://i.imgur.com/dRcZgfll.jpg

The cottage is isolated meaning a re-supply would be a logistics headache, so I took all I needed.


This promised to be a sheltered position out of a surprisingly (July) chill wind coming down off the surrounding hills.

http://i.imgur.com/iAM1nDPl.jpg

I had a nice view from camp and the neighbours were friendly and seemingly unafraid of the strange character who lived in the green tent.

http://i.imgur.com/zQxRh6wl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IN5gCxQl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/F2MjD8Cl.jpg

For meals/brews I used a little wood gas stove which is handy and allowed me to burn either foraged wood or the fuel I use most with this stove...Pussy Cat litter..

http://i.imgur.com/OLAvVXsl.jpg

That small plastic jar holds enough fuel for 5 or 6 burnings, bearing in mind I don't make Bushcraft Souffles or knock up the occasional 5 course meal. I open the rat-pac packet, chuck it in the mess tin, wait for it to bubble a bit and that's done for me....
Ally mess tins too...I'm gonna die!!!

http://i.imgur.com/Ig1LA0Ql.jpg

Back to the cat litter...this stuff..must be wood based obviously.

http://i.imgur.com/FCQGKrkl.jpg

I fill a plastic 1 litre milk bottle with cat litter and pour.. approximately..100 Mil of paraffin in on top. Give it a shake and leave it to absorb the Paraffin. This allows me to light the cat litter without tinder, simply put a match to it and you're in business. A bit of blackening shows on the cooker but is easily cleaned if you wish to, and the litter makes a convenient, transportable fuel in poor wood foraging conditions.

http://i.imgur.com/14ev9EIl.jpg

An idea of the surrounding countryside..

http://i.imgur.com/qrJepdvl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XcREZfHl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vtXHJnll.jpg

The sky in the last photo bears a mention. This is not an area where you can afford to get caught unprepared. Even in July the wind was chill at times and the rain quite sudden in coming down off the hills. This is not an area where hordes of walkers "Do" the tourist trail and Park Rangers have to repair eroded footpaths. There are way marks...Ha! but the "Way" isn't that obvious...

http://i.imgur.com/fUPfniel.jpg

This was one of the more obvious footpaths...

http://i.imgur.com/9dOwbVZl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/azvG30Pl.jpg

The Magnetic variation is currently just less than 2 degrees West for the area so I allowed 2 degrees knowing that if I failed to apply it I could be 35 metres off my objective after one Kilometre. Not a problem, but after 10 K in poor visibility of say 150 metres??
There are places where it would be unwise to be lost in poor visibility..

http://i.imgur.com/CZKVw8Cl.jpg

The drop here is sheer from an almost flat area of marshy ground.

My days were spent just wandering really, a Bergan with all I needed if caught out overnight, work a course out on the map and off for the day.

http://i.imgur.com/LEA2QtYl.jpg

The very feint track left of centre? Follow that just over the hill and you're in Scotland..

http://i.imgur.com/LLxb6dil.jpg


Some sights along the way..

http://i.imgur.com/fyHPoZ0l.jpg

Valley full of Foxgloves.

http://i.imgur.com/ECArzSZl.jpg

I don't recall ever seeing pure white Foxgloves in the wild before.

http://i.imgur.com/L3HSeYtl.jpg

Brew stop with Basha windbreak.

http://i.imgur.com/Lp0iSFLl.jpg

The old Sheep Folds are works of art..

http://i.imgur.com/kIFp1Ial.jpg

A Curlew getting upset because her nest was close by to where I was walking.

http://i.imgur.com/6g9xBKIl.jpg


Blimey!! That's a big Rabbit!!

http://i.imgur.com/SUOjEHrl.jpg

Ah! stand down on the Bunny sighting..

http://i.imgur.com/rBqaUcTl.jpg

The forum tells me I've reached the limit for images, so I've omitted some and cut it short, but that's most of the write-up I said I'd do when last on the forum. So promise kept, and that's it from me for a good while. Whatever path you follow, travel safely all. :)

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[ian c]

Very nice thank you for sharing.

[Woody]

Cool post!
Sounds like you had a great trip!
Shame about leaving the Guzzi behind ...

Cool tip on the paraffin soaked cat litter... thanks.
(Wonder how you found out that it works...😁lol)


Cheers

Kind regards

[BJ]

Peace and tranquility, lovely to see these places still exist where you can roam to your hearts content. T^

[FishyFolk]

Nice one T^

[Peaks]

Great report - enjoyed reading it

[Pootle]

Great report and lovely pictures as usual. Thank you.

[OakAshandThorn]

T^ That area has some spectiacular scenery...you lucky man :D.