Join me for a charity muddy walk!

 

Hello muddy dog readers!  I will be turning 3 at the start of March and this year I'd like to do something special to mark the occasion.  This year I've decided to have a charity walk with as many mud lovers as I can find. 

 

The idea for the charity walk came from my good friends Rocco and Archie, who are both Jack Russells.  They've been having to look after their mum a lot lately because she has a condition called Cystic Fibrosis, which is one of the UK's most common life-threatening inherited diseases.  It affects the internal organs, in particular the lungs and digestive system by clogging them with thick sticky mucus.  This means Rocco and Archie's mum often struggles for breath and walking Rocco and Archie can be almost impossible at times.  She is awaiting a new set of lungs through organ donation.  (If you're not already registered to be an organ donor you can sign up by going to the Organ Donation website - www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ )

 

What I'd like to do is get as many of my friends together for a muddy charity walk on Sunday 24th February at 2.30pm.  My mum will be passing a bucket around for all walkers to donate what they can afford.  Proceeds to go to Cystic Fibrosis Trust who strive to support families affected by CF.  

 

We will be meeting at the far end of the large gravel car park opposite Helston boating lake.  The walk will be about 2 miles and will take us toward Porthleven through Penrose Woods, and loop back through Lower Nanslow to the carpark.   It should take about 40minutes. 

 

So please come down and get muddy with me for my birthday and help me raise some money for Cystic Fibrosis.  

Escaping the mud at Wheal Basset

Walk Length: 20mins
Muddy Rating: Not very

As I'm sure you'll be aware from my previous posts, it's been very wet lately and trying to find walks that aren't belly deep in mud is pretty difficult.  I love muddy walks of course, but mum is determined to find some new routes that don't involve lots of slipping whilst carrying a little person on her back. 

Wheal Basset, near Redruth, is part of the mineral tramway routes the run throughout this area of Cornwall.  It was a major producer of copper in the mid 19th Century, followed by tin which was discovered below the copper and was mined until 1918 when tin prices fell. 

You can read all about the mine in the vanning house.  This long building housed the vanners, which were shaking conveyor belt machines, separating the heavier tin from the waste. 

 

There are numerous routes to explore around the mine buildings, and if you want to walk further you could follow the Great Flat Lode trail for miles.  It's also a popular route for horses so if you're lucky you might get the chance to eat some poo, or have a roll when no one's looking.  I managed to do both before mum caught me!!

Because this is a fairly high up walk, there are great views, but on a wet and windy day I imagine this isn't the most pleasant place to be.  However, on a clear day you can't beat it for a bit of proper Cornish industrial history. 

 

 



 

 

Snowballs at dawn!

Well it finally happened! For days we've been watching the TV with people talking about playing in the snow but every time I went outside it looked just as it always does.  This morning however, when I went outside for my dawn sniff there was snow everywhere!!!

I LOVE snow!  When I leap through snow, snow flicks from my paws, so I spend ages chasing it.  The faster I leap the faster I have to chase.  It can get rather tiring!! Dad throws snowballs and I bounce down after them, but there's never a ball to pick up.....I don't understand that!!  Sometimes he throws them high and I jump and catch them.

Snow days are so much fun!!

Getting lost in Kennall Vale

Walk Length: 30minutes
Muddy Rating: Moderate

Kennall Vale is one of my most favourite walks.  It's got everything going for it, from waterfalls, rivers, mud and exciting terrain. 

Kennall Vale is on the edge of the village of Ponsanooth.  Managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the walk takes you past a series of old gunpowder mills where the old leats still channel the water, creating at least half a dozen waterfalls.

The mills were used for a hundred years to create the gunpowder for the Cornish mining industry, but as a more modern blast technology was introduced to mining, the gunpowder mills were no longer required.  They've been redundant for over a hundred years now, but the old waterwheels, mill stones, and buildings are still here.  It's surprising that the buildings are still standing considering in 1838 there was a massive explosion in which five mills blew up and part of a roof was found a mile away!

 

Because there's so much water at Kennall Vale I get very excited and usually run a long way ahead to get down to the water.  There are a few routes around the vale and I like to think I know where to go. However, on this occasion I totally lost mum and dad.  I rushed down to the water, and they followed me.  But I thought they had gone a different way, so I ran and ran but couldn't find them.  I passed lots of other people with dogs and children but none of them were my mum and dad.  After about five minutes of panic, Dad eventually found me.  He didn't seem as relieved to see me as I did him, and it was a long walk back to find mum!

Kennall Vale is well worth a visit all year round, but in winter, the water levels serge and its a dramatic place.  The abandoned weir is a great place to wade through calmer waters and fetch sticks.  Just remember, despite the excitement of all that water, don't loose your mum or dad!





Diving for cormorants

The water level on the River Cober in Helston has finally started to recede after weeks of flooding.  Walking one of our regular routes along the river, it's clear to see that the water was at least a metre above its normal winter levels. However, the river bank path is still deep with mud, and in places it's still covered with a few inches of water. 

It appears that I am the only one brave enough to venture along the sludgy river bank as there were no other tracks, only those of a large bird.  As I bounded merrily along the path the large bird, which mum informs me is called a cormorant, popped up from behind a bush and took flight.  The chase was on! As I ran along the flooded section of the river bank I failed to see a big hole under the water.  Head first down the hole I went!  When I emerged mum was bent double laughing and the cormorant was gone! I had apparently managed to cover my face with mud from the hole.  This must have looked particularly good because people kept stopping and looking at me, and telling mum how amazing I looked.  I must dive into muddy holes more often!!

Fun in the Foam

In times of extreme weather, the sea produces large amounts of foam which gathers on the beach in huge jelly-like piles.  Some of these piles can be deeper than me, and diving in to them is a rare treat!

 

 

It looks like snow, but when the wind catches it it flies off into the sky and begs to be chased and pounced upon. 

 

I could spend hours playing in the foam it's so much fun.  After only a matter of minutes I looked like I'd been in an explosion of a fairy liquid factory, so imagine just how good I'd look after hours of foamy playtime!! However, as always, mum and dad spoil my plans and I'm taken home!!



A watery Christmas

My home town of Helston was in the news a matter of days before Christmas for severe flooding.  The relentless rain caused the River Cober, which runs though my beloved Lowertown, to swell to the point where it burst its banks and flooded the houses in its path. 

My walks over Christmas involved investigating the floods. 

My first walk was supposed to be walking beside the River Cober, but as soon as we got out of the carpark, we found that the path was no where to be seen!!

 



 

We then tried to walk through the woodland and found that that had turned in to a lake!!

Determined not to be out done by the floods, Dad tried to wade on through the flood water to get to a passable path.  I however found that I had to swim to cross the path, and in the end Dad had to give up and return to dry land. 

Trying to find another walk close by we met more signs of flood with in-passable roads, and even a goat which had taken the wise decision to move up on to the roof to avoid rising water. 

 

And still the rain keeps coming.......even I am hoping it's a dry new year!!