Took advantage of the surprisingly warm weather in NE England this week and did some short day trips out to Northumberland. Went on two walks, outlined below, in nice, quiet places with loads of scope for further exploration by foot or mountain bike.
People living in Wooler have access to Wooler common on their back door, would be a great place to be able to do your daily run. View from Kings Fort is great. Found many mushrooms. After taking samples home for identification (two were possibly Russula anthracina and Cortinarius multiformis) concluded none were edible. Identification was not easy. (OS map OL16, about 4 km):
Saw lots of wildlife during a walk near Biddlestone, starting out from Elilaw farm: red kite, red squirrel, weasel, many partridge, grouse & pheasant. Also watched the army blow something up across the valley from us while having a break, and saw a farmer run over his dog with a tractor (ouch!). Dog was ok, after much yelping. Quite boggy at the top (must be very wet in winter). Saw a few mushrooms growing in old cowpats (mostly Shaggy Inkcap I think). OS map OL16, about 10.3 km.
