Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree.

                                                     Emily Bronte

It's autumn and we are off for a familiar walk round Allen Banks to see the colours of the fall, as the area has acres of deciduous woodland. Not up to New England standards but real England. The weather forecast is not too promising, cloudy with rain at 2pm says the Met Office.

I chose this quote by Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights, because I wanted to escape the cliched "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness " by Keats and anyway I suffered his poetry for O level at a time when you had to remember it and not take an annotated copy into the exam room.

Also I spent a lot of time as a child in and around the Haworth area.

Today a team of seven is out; Brian and Margaret, Dave, Harry, Ben, John H. and me, starting a walk from the National Trust car park near Ridley Hall. Head west on the A69 and turn left near Bardon Mill. There is a charge to park unless you are a member.

The map for the walk is OS OL 43 Hadrian's Wall, a double sided map and the walk is on the edges. 

On the way we had breakfast at Brockbushes farm shop. They were having a Halloween Fair for children (and adults). Rides and pumpkins'

Shame about the rain

The walk, but first; MUD WARNING

National Trust car park. £4 for the day, free to members. There is a shelter, useful for changing and sheltering too. And it has a map

The walk at last.

Leaving the back of the car park, past the shelter with a map we followed the footpath above the river to a gate on the right. Through the gate and across fields to a road where we turned left then right towards the village of Beltingham. A pretty village with a church and everything, including a connection withe the late Queen Mother but we've done that, got the T shirt and moved on, taking the track to Shaws across fields.

Field of maize near Shaws. Possibly animal fodder but some British maize is for humans too.

beyond Shaws we headed for another farm Wool House and then on to a road where we turned left.  Not far down the road we turned down the farm track to Briarwood, passing a field containing some ewes and amorous looking rams or tups as they are known in the north.

                 My mother could never bring herself to say what the ram's harness was for. She always said "You know, to show.... never mind"

   At Briarwood farm we entered the wooded valley of the River Allen.

The footpath down through the wood was covered in leaves, was muddy and slippery, care needed for those with older limbs. At the bottom of the path we crossed a stream and then the River Allen to Plankey Mill.

                         Footbridge over the River Allen at Plankey Mill

                  Herbie time at Plankey Mill. Apple pies, almond slices, cookies, ginger biscuits, a savoury from Mrs A and a very sweet and sticky cake from her too.

Lunch and chat over we headed across the fields by the river, through the gate and off into the woods of Hag Bank. The clouds had thinned, the trees were doing their autumn stuff as we climbed the steep but thankfully short stretch to Staward Peel.

                      The leaves are turning

The remains of Staward Peel.

At four minutes to two the rain started and the wind began to blow, just as the Met Office had said. Hoods up and heads down we walked the narrow ridge from the peel to a field and headed south, passing Gingle Pot, once a tavern for drovers, and then to the A686 road close to the old and demolished railway line.

 Turning right we followed the road. Four found the stile that led to the path back down to the river. Three marched on in the rain to the sharp bend in the road. A pick up pulled up, told us where the footpath was and warned us that a number of people were out shooting partridges, beware, don't fly.

The three soon caught the four and we followed the muddy path gently down hill to the river bank. Well behind the others harry and I wandered off the path to admire the trees. The pickup driver and his seven gun dogs put us back on the right trail and warned of the shooting party ahead. We soon heard them but escaped unharmed.

                      On the banks of the River Allen

Eventually we rejoined the path we had taken from Plankey Mill and soon we were back there and the rain had stopped.

Instead of crossing the river we walked a short distance up the road from Plankey Mill and then took the footpath on the left which followed the river bank  back to a bridge near the car park. Over the bridge, back to the park, changed in the shelter and off to the Duke of Wellington in Riding Mill. Several beers on offer but I was a driver. Soda and lime is a refreshing drink sometimes.

                        Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and data base right 2021

The walk is about 10 miles with some steep ups and downs as you can see