Started early for a lunch with friends at Jill´s Cafe above Catton. On the fell tops it had snowed over night! A straightforward drive would have taken me 40 minutes but I allowed 4 hours since I wanted to stop for photo opportunities. My first stop was at Baybridge picnic site where I spotted that nice tree next to the bridge on one of my earlier stops there for the Beldon Cleugh walks. The road via Rookhope and Allenheads is one of my favourite routes. I had plenty of time and pulled in at Hunstanworth which is on the steep incline from Baybridge. I managed to get some good shots of the beautiful church with its nicely ornamented roof. Next photo is the view towards Rookhope. After that is a shot of Groverake Mine above Rookhope alongside the road to Allenheads. I managed to get a a good view towards Allenheads with the roof of the cafe just visible among the trees before I dropped down into Allenheads.  On the photos you can stil see remnants of the snow from the night before on the hilltops. The drone picture of Allenheads in the snow was featured in the Daily Mail a few weeks earlier. At the bottom of the drone photo you can see the three mining carts that I took a photo of on that day in glorious sunshine with the Museum at the bottom right.

I only stopped at the cafe at Allenheads because at an earlier visit I noticed a lot of birds alongside the stream behind the cafe and was hoping to get some good shots. I was surprised to find the Museum open for the first time after many visits. So I jumped at the chance and got a closer look of the engines and enjoyed reading all about the engines and Mr. Armstrong. A good webpage to get information about it is:

Object #40 - Armstrong Hydraulic Engine (archaeologicalpractice.co.uk)

The squirrel was a great compensation for the lack of opportunity to get good shots of singing birds. It was at the back of the cafe. Amazing that I even managed to arrive for lunch at Jill´s cafe at the agreed time!

The cafe is great and has spectacular views across towards Allenheads with the chimneys visible on the fell tops:

Jill celebrates catering business growth | Hexham Courant (hexham-courant.co.uk)