Barmby Barrage to Hemingbrough and back.

It's been a quiet week and after last Sunday it needed to be.    On Tuesday Mum contacted Dad and said she'd be home early so, as it was a lovely day, how about a short walk and a coffee at Barton Waterside?   He thought that sounded good and so did I.  However by the time she arrived someone had turned off the big orange heater in the sky and put the sprinkler on instead.  I expected the walk to be cancelled but not a bit of it - coats on and be brave!

Today is Friday 13th.  Apparently it's an unlucky day - seemed fine to me.   Got in car - went to sleep - woke up -  had a stretch and got out of the car.   We were in a car park at a place called Barmby on the Marsh. We walked over a bridge thingy called a barrage which opens underneath and lets boats go through.  We saw a really long one called a barge.  Now that's funny words;  maybe someone could make a poem using them:  "a barge went under a barrage".  

There were strange platforms with railings by the river.  Mum said people catch fish in the River Derwent there - sounds like food to me!  It's all very interesting.  The River Derwent is fresh water and has lots of fish, but the River Ouse gets salty from tide coming in up the Humber Estuary. The barrage makes sure the salt doesn't get into the Derwent.   However, there are times when it gets left open so that fish called Salmon can go up the Derwent to breed.  You didn't know I was so well read, did you?  Here's a map in case you fancy going to do the walk yourself.

We then had a superb walk all the way to a village called Hemingbrough.  Mum & Dad found a sandwich shop and they sat on a bench for a long rest with their nosh.   I didn't get any though.  Mum remarked that I needed to remember she'd been giving me snacks all the way along the walk so it was her turn.   Yeah ok!

Here are some pics - do you like the lovely stick I found?  We were all ever so tired when we got back to car for our magic sleep so we could get home.     Mum says we walked 4.2 miles - wow!

                                                                                                   

Goathland to Grosmont Rail Trail

Just above Grosmont station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Fabulous afternoon. At 11.15 Pat arrived and we all got in her magic Car; Bo was there too, whoopee!!  

We all went to sleep (well I assume we all did, 'cos that's what you do in Car, you see - it takes you places by magic) and woke up in a funny place called Grosmont. That's the village behind me in the picture above.

Pat parked Car and Dad rushed off to get something called tickets and the rest of us followed and hurried all down the side of a big black steam engine and all its carriages. I've seen one of those steam trains before in Cleethorpes but that was tiny and this one was MAHOOSIVE.   I thought it looked extremely promising as you could see people eating at posh tables in all the windows.  Sadly we passed by those and came to an open doorway that led into a large empty carriage.

Huge carriage all to ourselves!

Bo was a bit scared of the narrow train door, so I got on and then a nice man opened a bigger door and on he got as well.  No sign of the anticipated food tables though.  Mum and Pat both had a sandwich that they'd hidden in their bags and so I did my duty and made sure no crumbs were left on the floor - well someone had to!

The trained chuffed and panted up a long hill and Dad got all smiley. He kept sticking his head out of  the window and then looking at me and grinning.  I put my paws up to look but couldn't see what the fuss was about;  between you and me it got rather boring really.   Soon we got off at a place called Goathland and it was off up a hill to a strangely old fashioned village, apparently called Aidensfield. Lots of humans seemed excited and very keen to look round, but we just set off along a footpath called a "Rail Trail", along the route of George Stephenson's original railway line of 1836.

I thought it was safe most of the time to let the humans off lead and go and explore, but Bo disagreed with me.  He said he was older and knew better and he had decided at least one of them should be on a lead all the time.  He looked after Pat first then she started walking funny - she'd hurt her leg a bit. She says it's ok, just a bit of a pulled muscle.  I do hope it stops hurting soon.  Dad gave her his hiking stick and then Bo looked after him instead.

I kept by Mum, not too far from her, but when other dogs were around she said she liked me to hold her on my lead.  I don't see why, as I would have liked to play with them all really. I just can't seem to persuade her it'd be fine. **SIGH**.

When we were part way we came to a nice place riverside.  It was a great place to get a drink.  Mum said:

     "Paddling is fun Oscar, you should try it".

     "Thanks for that information, but I'll pass on that, Mum!".  

She's a crafty one you know - she threw one of my snacks in the water and it started floating away!! FOOOOOOOD!!!!  I just had to get it, you can't waste food!    By heck that water was COLD  and nearly up to my knees!  I didn't stop in it long.

When we got nearly back to Grosmont we started to climb a hill.  Poor Pat - her leg was hurting so we stopped for a little break and from a viewing area we saw what Dad says was the LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley.  Corrrr .... a train called  called Sir Nigel Gresley.... is that what they call a Knight train?

Bo looking at Sir Nigel Gresley

Well, as you can imagine, after that 3.5 mile walk, all of us were tired so we flopped into car for a magic sleep and when we woke up, we were at Bo's home.  He went indoors to have tea with Hannah. The rest of us went to get a take-away and went to my home.  Mum gave me my tea, Charlie-Cat had his, the humans ate their takeaway (they wouldn't share it though!) and after that, well to be honest I don't know because I retired to my bed to dream of the day's adventures.