Our first stop was at Bellingham Caravan Park (pronounced Bellin'jum) and this is an area I spent quite a bit of time in about 35 years ago when I was involved in the installation of the generating equipment at Kielder Power Station.
It is a lovely area around the caravan park, country roads, hay meadows and rolling hills:
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| View from Bellingham Caravan Park |
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| Hay Meadows and Rolling Hills |
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| Country Roads and Fields |
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| Roadside Roses |
There were lots of nice birds to see in and around the caravan park including Pied Wagtail, Song Thrush, Blackbird and this Greenfinch which insisted in greeting us from its favourite perch everytime we walked past:
The town of Bellingham was only a twenty minute walk down from the campsite and it was one of the first places we visited. We took the option of a short riverside walk for the last part of the journey; the river in question is the North Tyne, fed by the waters of Kielder Reservoir (Britain's largest man-made lake):
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| Bridge to Bellingham over North Tyne River |
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| Moira on Riverside Walk to Bellingham |
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| River North Tyne going round the bend |
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| Approaching Bellingham from Riverside Walk |
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| Liverpool Close? |
Bellingham is a lovely little village........ not much has changed from what I remember from 35 years ago........... except that the pub I use to drink in is now someone's house (there are still plenty of other pubs).
The little museum at the heritage centre is well worth a visit, as is the adjacent cafe which is formed of two old railway carriages sitting at the disused railway platform and is unsurprisingly called Carriages Tea Room. The grub is good and if you can get a view of the bird feeder from your window then there are plenty of sparrows to entertain you:
There is also a riverside path on the upstream side of the bridge over the River North Tyne (heading out of Bellingham) and we had an enjoyable walk along this route as well:
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| River North Tyne, upstream of Bellingham Bridge |
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| Bellingham Bridge over North Tyne |
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| Riverside Walk Through Trees |
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| Riverside Walk Through Grassland |
It was a very pleasant walk with lots to see, including some great wildflowers growing alongside the path:
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| Foxglove by the river |
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| Stand of Melancholy Thistle, Nettles and Umbellifer |
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| Meadow Cranesbill |
There were also some good birds to see and hear such as Sand Martins, Great Tits, Blue Tits and even a pair of Common Sandpipers on the opposite bank of the river (well spotted Moira!):
On this riverside walk we passed the Riverdale Hall Hotel, which is the place I stayed in for a few months when I worked at Kielder Power Station. It is quite a plush country hotel and restaurant now but it wasn't like that when I stayed there 35 years ago. It was just starting to be developed from a country house to a hotel and some parts where pretty run-down, but now it looks like this:
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| Riverdale Hall Hotel (complete with vintage tractor) |
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| Riverbank near Riverdale Hall Hotel |
Too posh for me now!
Bellingham Caravan Park sits on the edge of Northumberland National Park and The Pennine Way also runs right past the site. We took a short walk along part of the Pennine Way......... which runs from Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders all the way south to Edale in Derbyshire........... in fact it was a very short walk, probably less than a mile:
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| Entrance to Pennine Way (campsite just behind trees) |
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| Part of the Pennine Way |
It was a bit warm that day and we weren't really dressed for walking long distances on rough paths ( or fit enough) but we did enjoy our short walk and even saw some wildlife, such as this Buzzard:
Later on I went for a walk down a nearby little road known as the 68 (no A or B road, just the 68) which took me in to Northumberland National Park:
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| Avenue of Trees on The 68 |
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| Entering Northumberland National Park |
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| View from The 68 back to Campsite |
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| View across Hay Meadows and Hills from The 68 |
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| The Road to the Moors |
I was immediately rewarded with good views (and calls) of an upland specialist, the Meadow Pipit:
Okay there was also the call of a horse in my video, so don't confuse it with the Meadow Pipit.
Several Swallows were zooming around over the fields and over my head, I tried to video them but they were far too fast, luckily however one perched on the rails of a hay feeder for a few precious seconds:
I ventured a little further up the hill and was rewarded with some cracking views:
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| View back down the road |
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| View over the Dry Stane Dyke |
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| Foxgloves and Valley View |
As I was taking photographs and video I heard an almighty crashing sound coming from the woods behind me; I turned around half expecting a Grizzly Bear or a Rhino to come charging out of the woods towards me. Instead there was this creature:
Reminded me of the old Scottish joke:
Three coos in a field, which one is on holiday?
The one with the wee calf!
Probably best forgotten.
Anyway I made my way back down the hill and headed towards the caravan park, passing some lovely hay meadows full of wildflowers:
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| Wildflowers and Grasses by the Road Verge |
Just before I reached the caravan park I noticed a bird of prey taking to the air whilst being mobbed by some Swifts:
It looked like a Kestrel to me.
A fine end to our visit to Bellin'jum.
The next destination on our Northern England trip was to Barnard Castle, which we have been to a couple of times previously, but always enjoy visiting.
I have covered what's to see in Barnard Castle itself in previous blogs (such as August 2017) so I won't bore you with that again. Instead I will concentrate on the area around the caravan park, which is mostly upland farmland and has a wide variety of birds to enjoy.
After arriving, getting the motorhome set up and having a bite to eat we headed out the campsite for an evening stroll. You only have to venture a few yards from the campsite to be right in the middle of the countryside:
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| Country Lane near Barnard Castle Caravan Park |
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| Dramatic Evening Skies |
On this first evening walk we were greeted by an alarming Curlew, which we had previously been foraging in a recently cut hay meadow when we walked past:
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| Curlew Overhead |
Anytime we walked down this direction over the next few days the Curlew would take to the air and sound the alarm call. It may have been in different fields each time but was so predictable that I even managed to capture it on video:
The Curlew didn't even appear to be defending a nest or any young as it was in a different place each time, it just seemed to be easily spooked and very noisy.
On our evening walk we met some other noisy neighbours; a flock of Jackdaws returning to their roost for the night:
Not quite enough of them to call it a murmuration, but a spectacle none the less.
The next day we took a trip in to the town of Barnard Castle, did some shopping, had a bit of lunch, visited the Bowes Museum and generally had a good time. We have been to the Bowes Museum before and would recommend it to anybody visiting the area. On this occasion it was hosting a Lego exhibition where many of its own exhibits were replicated in Lego bricks, as well as a Lego version of the museum itself. See what you think:
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| Lego Bowes |
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| Real Bowes |
Pretty impressive eh?
The following day we decided to explore the area near the caravan park by taking a walk through the country lanes and a disused railway track to the village of Lartington. We had no sooner left the caravan park when we spotted a pair of Mistle Thrush in the field where we first saw the alarming Curlew:
We carried on along the track to one of my favourite birding spots, a little lane which runs between an avenue of trees:
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| Birding Alley |
This lane is always good for birds, in fact back in 2017 we spotted a family of Spotted Flycatchers and a juvenile Redstart here. It was no different this time with plenty of small birds flitting around the hedges, trees and stone walls............ including this juvenile (or female) Redstart:
Better was yet to come, as we left 'Birding Alley' Moira spotted a brightly coloured bird in a nearby field boundary hedge. I managed to get on to it with my camcorder but it was quite far away and a bit shaky. It then flew up in to the top of a tree which was slightly nearer and I managed to get a better view of it:
It was a male Redstart in full summer breeding plumage........... fantastic!
We continued on our walk, along the lane with the impressive Oak trees, passed the old caravan and through the fields of sheep and cattle until we reached the disused railway line.
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| Impressive Oak Tree |
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| Nice Caravan |
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| Disused Rail Track to Lartington. |
At the old rail track we turned right and headed towards Lartington Village. It was a pleasant walk passing through nice countryside with lots of pretty wildflowers on show:
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| Wild Country Rose |
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| Ragged Robin Wildflower |
There were plenty of insects and butterflies flitting around, a bit too active in the sun for me to photograph, but I did capture this pretty Brimstone Moth:
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| Brimstone Moth |
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| Old Railway Cutting on Lartington Line |
The trees either side of the cutting had plenty of birds in them, but they seemed to be flitting about all the time. The closer we got to them the more they moved further down the track......... I finally managed to get close enough to one bird to video it:
I think it is a Willow Warbler, quite difficult to distinguish from a Chiffchaff until you hear them singing, this one however was silent.
Well that about concludes our trip down to the North of England, an enjoyable trip, hope I didn't bore you too much with my ramblings.
Take Care
Teddyedward
