Rainton Meadows Circular

24th June 2013 

Rainton Meadows Circular via Lumley and West Rainton 9.5 miles

(Camino -91 days)

The task today was to plot a circular course from Rainton Meadows of at least 9 miles on tracks new to us and in a very short space of time the route master produced the goods.

Today we left the park heading towards Chilton Moor, the path followed a small steam that could have been called the yellow brick road due to the abundance of Yellow Iris.

 The Yellow Iris, also known as the Yellow Flag Iris, is a true aquatic plant that is native to England. It is the only yellow-flowered iris and reaches up to 48" in the wild truly spectacular here at Rainton.

Talking of flowers in only a week there is a subtle difference in the late spring flowers in the meadows, last week they were magnificent and golden, today less so the predominant colour being a rich red from the clover that is becoming dominant.

The dominant birds in this area were swallows and house martins feasting on the insects that previously had been feasting on us!

Following the map closely we had to diagonally cross a field of wheat, and I’m very happy to say this farmer was maintaining the footpaths on his property to a high standard, he had cleared the way wonderfully. I thought this is how it must have been for Moses although his sea was Red ours was green

 However this was not the case a few mile further on. Passed Morton Grange Farm, where Oscar the tame and elegant peacock lived, we attempted to follow the footpath but it was so overgrown it would have been death by nettle stings,

 they were over 3 foot in height with needles about an inch long. 

After a “risk assessment” we back tracked and joined the road for half a mile to get us back on track. The stretch alongside Whitehouse Farm had grass growing over 4 foot which made very heavy going, obviously these paths are rarely walked so walkers beware!

After that the return via Leamside and West Rainton was easy going and pleasant with only one heavy shower to shelter from. A good walk and respectable Camino training distance covered.