In the tracks of the LNER…

Today is a bit wild and woolly weather-wise.  By late morning the rain eased and the sun made a welcome appearance so we headed off towards Richmond.

We parked in the spacious Station carpark where we parked on the day we met up with Sue.  Richmond is certainly endearing itself to our hearts – it has a real community feel.  The prices are sensible and the spacious carpark is an example – £1 for 4 hours!  There’s a large indoor swimming pool with gym facilities as well as the Station building itself with its galleries, inexpensive cinema and a wide selection of reasonably priced food.  There’s even a community garden.

Anyway, today we wanted to give Alfie a decent walk off the lead so we followed the course of the dismantled LNER railway line.  See header photo. Lovely at this time of year with the ground covered in autumn leaves and just the occasional couple, sometimes with dogs taking advantage of the filtered sunlight and the light breeze.  We trusted Alfie off the lead and he was really good.  No ponies today and he was in seventh heaven.  People are really friendly and an elderly couple explained how long the walk was – about a mile each way.

With the River Swale beside us all the way, in the distance we could see Easby Hall (now posh apartments) with the ruins of St Agatha’s Abbey in the front.

We reached the Mercury Bridge which crossed the fast flowing river.

What a lovely spot for a house!

Another view of Easby Hall (spot Alfie!)

I feel a painting coming on!

The rain started to get heavier as we turned around to re-trace our steps, although the overhanging trees made an effective shelter, and, not for the first time this holiday, the sun came out again and a rainbow appeared!

Not too many wild flowers so far in this blog so:

We reached the point where we had started and I found I had spoken to so many friendly people along the way.  What a lovely place to live.

I was pleased with the distance I had walked and naturally felt I deserved a treat so what could be better than a tub of Archers ice cream, featuring dark chocolate, chocolate orange and (unseen at the bottom) pistachio!

Oh well, that’s all the good work undone – but seriously worth it!

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