A bit further afield

I've been meaning to visit the SSSI at Gowk Bank (NY678739)

It's a lovely wildflower meadow with masses of orchids at the right time of year unfortunately yesterday was just a bit too late and the orchids were finished. The Trollius too had flowered and had ripe seed, maybe the good weather has brought everything forward.
There was still a lot to see and on a bright sunny day the butterflies and bees were whizzing about the field.
It is a managed wildflower meadow so it's really only worth visiting late May to August.
I drove back along the road running alongside the Spadeadam moorland, it's an Electronic Defence testing site and we often get a variety of aircraft from a variety of countries coming to drop smoke bombs on the moorland. A good number of plane spotters also come along and it's strange to suddenly come across a dozen or so cars parked up in the middle of nowhere.

I stopped off at the Crammel Linn Waterfall,(NY640695) I noticed there's now a proper finger post pointing out the footpath to the waterfall a useful addition to the scenery. I headed down the steep bank, it's not an easy track and there's no mobile phone coverage so please do be extra careful if you head that way. I was lucky yesterday, the dry weather meant that it wasn't slippery and I managed to get down without the usual sliding along on my behind.
I've been there in all weathers, winter when it's frozen or in times of heavy rain when the water rushes over looking almost horizontal as the power and quantity forces it over the cliff, but yesterday, after a prolonged dry spell it was very 'weedy'.
There is a circular walk up through the Irthing Gorge to the waterfall and it's well worth the effort, plenty of spots for a picnic and you can even swim in the pool at the base of the waterfall.

Catch you later.