Kielder Forest 27th/28th May 2019



The pod was a concession to Johnny as he hates camping. As was the huge blow up air bed. The problem was getting the airbed up inside the pod and there still being enough room for Wilf. Cosy. Definitely better for two than three. We've all been casting envious glances at the two mobile homes across the field. I could have booked one of them, only an extra twenty quid per night. I thought the pods looked cute, and I like camping so it seemed like a compromise. Of course, it is raining, so an actual tent would be miserable - hey ho!

The guy who runs the campsite, Steve, is very chatty. Like, when we arrived and I went in to get the key I was so long that Johnny came to find out what had happened to me.

The campsite is in the edge of the forest, trees crowding round.


















A walk along the river to the pub where they do cheap pub grub. Then across the road to Kielder Castle, cafe/exhibition space/forest headquarters.



Day Two



A walk along the lake. Kielder Water is nearly six miles long. There is a route around it for walkers or cyclists which is 26 miles long.



I would have liked to walk it all, but we've not walked that far for a long time, and I have back ache this week. We could do it in two days, but then we'd have to spend a night at the other end of the lake. Everyone else is cycling - we walked for ten miles along the shore and through the edges of the forest, and didn't see any other walkers. I can see why. I don't ride a bike, but here it's tempting. There's no grocery shop here, no way of buying any essentials, but there is a bike hire shop. Maybe another time I'll come and hire a bike and cycle around the track. Maybe that can go on my bucket list.






We walked across the viaduct, a relict of the railway that was sunk when they flooded the valley at the beginning of the 1980s.

We found the Forest Head. A bit creepy, particularly the ears. We didn't know about him until we happened upon him. He was just there, amongst the trees, staring.












This is a manmade forest like Rendlesham, but it's on a different scale. Not just the forest itself which is 250 square miles, the largest manmade forest in Europe - but the trees themselves, the rides, the spaces beneath the trees. It's wet too, dripping with moss, running with tiny streams, this is a forest created on uplands, on bogs and peatlands, on moorland farms rather than sandlings.














At the moment there's self heal growing everywhere.



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