A rainy Sunday walk

Hubby was in a self-righteous mood with a self-righteous air to match, as he went about the house tidying things away. I'd been doing that all week and decided I needed to get out for a dose of fresh air, so off I went and left him to it, hee-hee. :) The rain was pelting down but it wasn't icy cold, in fact it was refreshing.

Leaving the town behind

This is a view looking back towards the small town of Willington. I was heading towards the village of Hunwick on what used to be the railway line and is now a popular path used by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and runners.

As I walked along the old railway line I thought of what it must have been like when trains ran along the route and of all the people who journeyed here. At dusk it can be quite eerie. My daughter sometimes claims to hear the sound of a distant train - childish imagination perhaps?

The old railway station at Hunwick

This building used to be the railway station serving Hunwick, and is now somebody's lovely home. It doesn't appear to have changed that much though, and it's quite easy to imagine travellers waiting on the platform for the train to arrive. My dad and his brothers would have boarded the train here on their trips to Durham and Bishop Auckland, as his family belonged to Hunwick after moving from Ireshopeburn in Weardale.

The Oak Tree at Rough Lea Farm, Hunwick

Just off the railway line is Rough Lea Farm. My dad's best friend lived here when he was a child and it was a working farm then. They used to climb this tree which is hundreds of years old. Rough Lea Farm no longer belongs to that family as they have all passed on and it's since been transformed into a very posh residence, but it's lovely to see the big oak tree still there. Children are seemingly still enjoying it as there's a rope ladder hanging from one of its branches.

Back down at the old railway path, I saw lots of different kinds of fungi. I don't know what kind these are but they looked so beautiful I just had to take a photo of them.

Despite the pouring rain - or maybe because of it - I really enjoyed my walk. There weren't many people about except for two cyclists and some fishermen as I walked back home by the river. Glancing up at the grey sky two geese flew overhead, and a Jack Russell dog was barking as it playfully jumped in and out of the river. That wouldn't please the people fishing!

Usually when I go out walking I powerwalk, but today I just wanted to relax and take my time. I wanted to see things I usually miss, like some hazelnuts lying on the ground - now on my kitchen window-sill waiting to be planted. Besides, the longer I took the more industrious hubby would be at home and he might even have the dinner ready for me on my return. :)

Happy New Year!

Yew (Taxus baccata)

( Click to enlarge)

This is the beautiful and majestic Yew tree that stands in the grounds of Saint Paul's church at Hunwick, a village about two miles from where I live now. My parents were married in this church, my brother and I were christened in it and many family funerals have taken place here. In fact, that was the reason for my visit today, to lay wreaths on the graves of family members.

It was bitterly cold but the church and the cemetery looked gorgeous amidst the swirling snow . In the older part of the cemetery, round the church, there are lots of very old trees and the blackbirds were poking about in the undergrowth for unsuspecting (probably sleeping) insects.

I'm smiling to myself as you'll probably wonder why I've put the heading, 'Happy New Year' with a photo of gravestones underneath! I wasn't taking a photo of the stones, interesting as they are, but of the Yew tree that stands sentinel to the church. To pagan civilisations, especially the Celts, Yew trees were (and still are) regarded as a sacred tree. To the Celts it's magical and a means of connecting to the otherworld, to ancestors gone before. It's no accident that churches stand next to a Yew tree and in many cases, a circle of Yew trees, a Druid grove. The trees often existed long before the church was built, planted there by members from ancient faiths.

The Yew is a tree symbolic of healing, transformation, death and rebirth ....... and so I find it an appropriate symbol for the beginning of a whole new year. Here is a beautiful passage written by Glennie Kindred:


"The knowledge we gain from the Yew makes it an extremely important tree for healing. It can help us overcome our fear of our own death and, by freeing us from this fear, bring us a greater stillness in our lives. Death heralds the end of something. It may be a physical death, or the death of our old selves, an old way of life or an old way of looking at things. Each end, each death, is a new beginning, hope, future and transformation. Sometimes things need to end or die before the new can begin, and understanding rebirth always requires seeing beyond our limitations."

To read more Glennie's words, click here.

The beautiful gates at the side entrance to Saint Paul's Church, Hunwick, County Durham

(Click to enlarge)

Wishing you Happiness, Health and Prosperity!