Wheel Crag is a short but steep climb from the road without a proper path. On photo #10 you can see my car parked in a small layby just above the turnoff towards Middle End Farm (photo # 11 shows the Farm in the distance). Photo #4 is one of the grouse feeding stations. The white sticks are markings so they can be found easily. On my previous visit to Teesdale a Gamekeeper explained to me that there are two boxes. The first box contains a kind of vaccination for the grouse for the early months. Once the hunting season approaches the black lid is flipped over and opens the box containing the feeding mixture to fatten up the birds.

I googled later on to find this interesting article about it. The most interesting fact from the article is the reason why they close the box with the vaccine: ^{"To comply with the law (which states that this drug must be withdrawn from use no later than 28 days before the start of the grouse-shooting season on 12th August to ensure the drug doesn’t find its way in to the food chain),"}

If you want to find out more here is the link to the whole article:

The red grouse and medicated grit scandal: it’s hard to swallow – Raptor Persecution UK

For no apparent reason photo #14 is my favourite photo of the whole holiday. In my opinion it summons up the whole atmosphere of the landscape and the two sheep look like the perfect couple. It was really worth the effort to climb up to the Crag from the roadside.

The last five photos were taken on the way back to the cottage at Blackton House Farm.