Castle, Colliery and Newcastle

Wednesday 23^rd November Light NW

Mild and sunny

Thanking Zoe at The Sun Hotel with a present bought for her on ebay, a Batman rubber duck. Zoe has given me a fabulous welcome back to the hotel, a hotel I stayed in at the beginning of July this year and as she has a collection of over 500 different rubber ducks what better way to say thank you than to buy her one she doesn't have? A great hotel and after a day of rest, wonderful breakfasts and friendly staff, I need to be back on the road today.

Outside the hotel the view of Warkworth Castle is superb.

The cycling this morning is beautifully easy. The road is mostly flat and there is almost no wind. The first twelve miles goes quickly enough and I spot a cycle path off to the right. Along it I meet a lady out with her son and two dogs for a walk. She has just been out to Peru and describes her experience of going to Machu Picchu as I walk along with them.

The path comes out next to a car park and a fenced off colliery sort of place. I head out towards the main road and am stopped by Mandy. Mandy is one of these wonderful sunshine people whom I love to meet and she explains that this was a working colliery and is now a museum. As red squirrels and titmice come to a peanut feeder nearby, I decide that I can spare an hour to explore.

Glad that I do for after storing the bike away in a site office, I go into an art gallery The Pitman Painters. A Primary school class of children are on the floor doing an art lesson on perspective using one of the paintings. The walls are covered in a wide variety of paintings from this incredible group of artists.

The Woodthorn website :

http://www.experiencewoodhorn.com/the-pitman-painters/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashington_Group

I look around the old colliery buildings and then, with the hour up, I leave to continue my way towards Newcastle. The way from Ashington becomes complex and many times I get lost and things aren't helped by the position locator on the maps app on my mobile being half a mile out!

The first twelve miles took me around an hour. The next twenty takes three.

Through Newcastle centre, a man crossing the road in front of me stops me and asks what I am doing. Daniel works at Newcastle hospital and he deposits a donation into one of my collection boxes. Thank you Daniel.

Pushing the bike down the main shopping High Street, a young boy shouts “wow” at the lads and lasses on my bike. His laughing face is a delight.

Over the Tyne and uphill into Gateshead, I find my daughter, Rebecca's and her partner, Les' apartment. A couple of days to catch up ahead.

33.18 miles                         1155 feet elevation up            1111 down

Chaskawasi-Manu, Peru . . Home To The Stars

Five weeks and four days before the end of the year, I have to cycle towards my parent's home in Worcestershire and will finish the two year Biking Birder adventure at Upton Warren (Worcestershire Wildlife Trust) nature reserve on December 31^st.

That said I want to spend the final days emphasising why I support the charities that so many of you have kindly donated to. It really is a massive boost tome when someone donates or sponsors me. Thank you so much everyone.

Chaskawasi-Manu, literally means 'The Home of The Stars.'

Deep in the Manu National Park in Peru there is a village called Salvacion. You won't find it on google maps. Well I can. I know where it is!

Located north east of the High Andean city of Cusco, along the perilous Manu Road one comes to a number of towns before crossing two large rivers and reaching Salvacion.

The orange roofed buildings in the centre is Chaskawasi-Manu

On the western edge of the village is the Chaskawasi-Manu home; a place where children from much deeper in The Manu rainforest can come and stay.

http://www.chaskawasi-manu.org/en/  

The website details the Chaskawasi-Manu Project:-

Chaskawasi Manu already has a history of years in the service of the people of Manu in general, and the most remote and disadvantaged children in particular, promoting children’s basic rights such as access to education and health and respect for the environment and biodiversity by using resources from sustainability.

Currently at Chaskawasi Manu live 20 children and adolescents from different Amazonian native and peasant communities, some of which are more than 5 day’s travel by boat on the Madre de Dios River. Their native languages are Quechua and Machiguenga although all speak Spanish.

They are between 9 and 17 years of age and they all come from situations of social exclusion and extreme poverty. Chaskawasi Manu provides these children with shelter, food and access to education and health.

But most of all lots of love and acceptance for all children and families with whom we share our daily lives.

Meet some of the children.

The Manu. An area of over 17,000 square kilometres is protected but under threat from the outside interests of loggers, oil companies and various mineral concerns.

As Wikipedia states :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%C3%BA_National_Park

Manú National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional del Manu) is a biosphere reserve located in the Madre de Dios and Paucartambo, Cusco. Before becoming an area protected by the Peruvian government, the Manú National Park was conserved thanks to its inaccessibility. The park remains fairly inaccessible by road to this day. (I will definitely vouch for that!)

In 1977, UNESCO recognised it as a Biosphere Reserve and in 1987, it was pronounced a World Heritage Site. It is the largest National Park in Peru, covering an area of 15,328km². The Biosphere Reserve includes an additional 2,570km², and a further 914km² are included in a "Cultural Zone" (which also is afforded a level of protection), bringing the total area up to 18,811km².

The park protects several ecological zones ranging from as low as 150 meters above sea level in parts of the South west Amazon moist forests to Peruvian Yungas at middle elevations to Central Andean wet puna at altitudes of 4200 meters. Because of this topographical range, it has one of highest levels of biodiversity of any park in the world. Overall, more than 15,000 species of plants are found in Manú, and up to 250 varieties of trees have been found in a single hectare. The reserve is a destination for birdwatchers from all over the world, as it is home to over 1000 species of birds, more than the number of bird species found in the United States and Canada combined and almost 10% of the world's total bird species. It is also acclaimed as having one of the highest abundances of land vertebrates ever found in Latin American tropical forests.

A vital area that desperately needs the continuance of the protection measures already in place but are being eroded daily.

I believe that the children are vital part of the forest's future. Their education will give indigenous peoples a voice in the years to come. Meeting the children it is inspiring to see their love for the forest, their communities and their way of life.

Hence I am asking you to please give a donation to the project. I will be back there in April next year, a moment I can't wait for. If you do make a donation then please say so on here as a comment or go to my facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/gary.prescott.92

or

https://www.facebook.com/bikingbirder2015/

and either comment or message me. I don't get to see donations to Chaskawasi-Manu and I would be thrilled to hear from anyone supporting this fabulous project. Thanks.

Donations link . . . 

http://www.chaskawasi-manu.org/en/donation-for-chaskawasi-manu-project/  

or click on the Chaskawasi-Manu link at the top ofthe page on the right hand side.

Let's finish with a few photographs from the last time I was there:-

And some of the birds. . . . 

and some of the other special wildlife. . .

Thank you. xx

A Hard Day from Frost To Storm

Monday 21st November              Light to very strong NE – E (50mph)

Cold, very icy morning, cloudy and showers before very heavy rain

The owner of the Island View bed and breakfast, Chiswick is an ex-squaddie who left the Marines after being injured by a land mine whilst on tour. I listen to his tales over breakfast, taking the meal slow as there is thick frost outside and I don't want to set off before some of it has melted. I have no intention of cycling down the A1 with ice on the roads.

I take the country lanes and find the Sustrans cycle route 1. Now I know what to expect as I cycled this way north back in July. I know that really there isn't a cycle path, just a muddy field with cows and a narrow strip of frozen mud along low sand dunes. 

Avoiding large cow pats I push the bike for a few miles, stopping to photograph a stonechat and a pale goose amongst a large flock of pink-footed geese and greylags.

A gravel path that is cycle-able has a dyke alongside it. A little egret flies out of and a kingfisher darts down the middle; both are birds I haven't seen for months and are great to see.

Two young people are sampling the water from a larger water course further along the path. Working for the Environment Agency they are checking for nitrate levels in the water. Too high they say and with the number of cows, sheep and other crop levels around the area it is easy to see why.

Carrying on along I am stopped by a lady out walking a small, friendly dog. “Are you The Biking Birder?” She asks. Hence I meet Julie, out celebrating her birthday no less. Julie tells me that Ian, her husband will be disappointed to not having met we as he is a birder. She also says that we have met before, back in January at Dart's Farm on The Exe Estuary. It is such a cheer me up moment. Happy birthday Julie and thanks.

The route takes me past Budle Bay where there are a number of duck and gulls to see. Then over a hill before a downward plunge into Bamburgh.

Maybe my favourite castle view from the top, Bamburgh Castle looms large in front of me and the quickly passing shower with hail no way diminishes the magnificent scene.

Through Seahouses with The Inner Farnes beyond a white-capped seascape; the wind has been strengthening throughout the day and is now very strong. Coming from my left side, from the east, the going gets very tough.

Fifteen miles to go to my abode for the night I cycle hard and after drinking a whole litre of pure orange juice I find that it all becomes a bit easier!

Rain starts to fall heavily but finding a cycle path for the last three mile stretch from the Alnmouth turn to Warkworth means I can cycle safely in the dark and the rain. Reaching The Sun Hotel I may be soaked but I am so happy. Over forty miles . . . Go Gary!

41.14 miles           1355 feet elevation up                1415 down