Cumbria is red squirrel territory, although I haven't seen any yet. I have however seen a squirrel ranger!
The strangely named village of Unthank - see below for an explanation.
An unusual sign outside the University of Cumbria at Newton Rigg. I think that it was marking the coast to coast to cycle route which passes north of Penrith.Today I was nearly fooled by the BBC weather forecast (not for the first time!) which was for a dry warm day. Armed with this information I was prepared to walk in shorts with my fleece instead of my waterproofs. As can be seen by the photos I luckily changed my plans because it started to rain just before Graham and I set off from Penrith town centre. The weather in fact turned out to be cold with occasional drizzle. One of these showers started just as we reached the village of Newton Reigny which we thought should be renamed Newton Rainy!
We wondered where the village of Unthank got its name from. Not only is it an unusual use of English it is a strange name. Our curiosity was aroused even further when we noticed that there are 3 villages called Unthank on the same OS map. I have researched this and the thought is that the name comes from the Old English "unthances" which means "without leave" so that the villages were founded by squatters. I have not been able to find out where the squatters are thought to be from and why all 3 of the Unthanks in England are so close together. There is apparently another Unthank in Lanarkshire.
We reached the village of Durdar which is 3 miles south of Carlisle. I have dusted down my passport ready to cross the border tomorrow afternoon. We are staying at Gretna Green tomorrow night. I need to research what county that it is in.
The walk today was interrupted for 10 - 15 minutes when I was interviewed over the phone by the Coventry Telegraph who are planning to include an article about the walk. I understand that thanks are due to Gill and Mario who arranged for their PR man to send a pres release to the Telegraph.
Graham displayed his Dr Doolittle talents when he had sheep, horses, cows and a donkey all running towards us as we walked past. We haven't yet worked out a way of making money out of this skill! He also is invaluable in helping me spot birds, with his keen eyesight - he found one tree which contained chaffinch, house sparrow, goldfinch and yellowhammer!
I am delighted that the blog has now had just over 2000 hits in the 3 weeks since the counter was put on to it. This averages almost 100 a day. There must be a lot of you who are interested in my exploits! I will update the stats of the walk in tomorrow's blog.
Today's KBW's are -
Des - Further transport services and keeping Jean from visiting too many craft shops.
Graham - Walking and bird watching services.
"The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk." - Jacqueline Schiff
Cheers
Keith
