Rest Day in Middleton in Teesdale. Highside farm, best campsite so far.

Highside Farm is a small holding less than a mile off the PW and a mile from Middleton. The campsite is in a field at the back of the 17^th century farm house with beautiful views of the surrounding valleys and rare breed sheep in the adjacent field. One shower but very well appointed and equipped; a separate toilet and washing up area all very clean and tidy. The only downside to this location is the water. It comes from the farms own borehole and is very high in iron and manganese. When I say high, I mean in smells like a bucket of rusty nails and stains the porcelain orange. Apparently, it is very good for you but I have to say that it’s not to my taste. 

Highside Farm, the highest building in the centre of the picture. The farm in the foreground is Lowside Farm.

Gloria at Highside Farm

Gloria with Highside Farmhouse in the background

The owners, Richard and Stephanie are very welcoming and we had a long conversation with them about food, charcuterie, cheese making and wool spinning. They do all that from their own animals. Richard was trying to convince me to keep a pig; they need very little room and can be bought as weaners and butchered in four months. Not sure we have the room, but food for thought.

 

After doing the usual chores of washing clothes, cleaning boots and writing a shopping list we walked into Middleton via the same footpaths I had come in by yesterday evening. For the first time Catherine and I walked the PW together.

According to Richard it is 1950 in Middleton and he wasn’t wrong. We had a great lunch in a small café next to the Co-op. Quiche and salad was off and so I had the closely related alternative of pie, peas, spuds and gravy. Proper peas, big fat marrowfat peas and a truly proper pie, school dinner style mince and onion cut from a large, rectangular, industrial sized pie. In the absence of the quiche Catherine had a ham sandwich which came with a side salad and bowl of Doritos. I ate all my pie, getting down to the pattern then helped Catherine out with her lot too. The only downside to this repast was that the sandwich came on a slate; a roof tile. Don’t get me started! Even greasy spoons have started to eschew crockery, God preserve us!

We are now contemplating dinner whilst sorting out clothing etc for tomorrow. Tomorrow’s route is a PW classic, along the River Tees passing Low Force, High Force, Cauldron Snout and High Cup, at 21 miles it will be a long day but hopefully I will be spurred on by the scenery.

Catherine is cycling to Hamsterley Forest for tea and a bun with The Forestry Commission.

AW