The photographs show walkers coming off Cheviot summit and, towards the finish, walking up the Careyburn.

Great sense of achievement when brother Len and I crossed the finishing line at Wooler Youth Hostel in 5hours 53minutes with fellow walking friends Ian and Keith not far behind. At the outset didn’t think we would make the 8-hour time allowance because our training times had been disappointing. Too much talking and flower gazing, I suspect.

Friend Angela (the foggy day climb up Cheviot last month) excelled; not only did she set a new personal best but knocked 16 minutes off the women’s walk record, set in 1996,  finishing in a new record time of 4hours 56minutes.

Day rounded off with prize-giving on the lawn in the afternoon sunshine to the sound of calypso-style music from our talented local steel pans group “Steel Quake”.

4/5 – Gathered the Ewe Hill sheep ready for clipping. Also gave a talk to Roddam W.I. about my book “Reflections”.

6 – Hectic day.  850 sheep clipped. Afterwards they move to the sheep pens and are sprayed with an insecticide to prevent fly strike, then the dogs and I take them, in batches, back to the hill or a field.

8 – Friends Walk - up Cheviot again but at a leisurely pace following the Harthope Burn.  Saw heath spotted and fragrant orchids. A chilly air hung over Cheviot. Ate bilberries and saw orange cloudberries, they need to turn red to be ripe enough to eat.

12 – To Manchester for daughter Emma’s graduation. Return rail tickets from Alnmouth to save driving. Enjoyable 24-hour break away.

With temperatures soaring this week to 32C – and no rain – the grass is burning off yet thistles, nettles and bracken appear unaffected. After work the collies cool off in the river which is now very low.  Haymaking has been and gone and all the bales are now under cover. Just hope we don’t need to feed them before winter.

18 – Our neighbours, the Shell family at Brandon, combined spring barley today, the earliest harvest ever that Stephen, senior, can recall since moving to the farm in the early 1940s. These straw bales will be used for bedding in the cattle shed.

Howick Estates men cut bracken on hill. It is used as ground cover on the borders at Howick Hall gardens.

21 – Vet on farm to TB test cattle that we want to sell. By law now, in an effort to halt the spread of bovine TB, any cattle over the age of 15 months must be tested before they can be moved off farm.  They all passed. 

Meadowsweet and rosebay willowherb flowering in an old watercourse.

22 – Problems with water this weekend. No hot water in the farmhouse taps and very low cold water pressure. Johnny suspected a problem at the spring. A check revealed water seeping where it shouldn’t be. Sunday morning discovered water dripping into the airing cupboard. Two plumbers came – one to fix the spring, the other to fix the burst in the loft. Quick splash of rain on the drive at 6a.m. Friends came over for annual croquet challenge and brought us some water!

24 – Called in at our local pony club camp near Wooler. We had camps at Ingram for several years. Watched ponies and riders set off, in very hot sun, for a ride on the hills.

25 – Fire risk notices posted in the valley.  Took Yasoo out early morning (cooler then and no flies) to check the sheep and bring in the Haugh ewes and lambs.

29 – RAIN at last. Just after 5p.m.  Enjoyed a 10-minute soaking in the farmyard. 

30 – To College Valley to see the Northumberland Archaeological Group’s excavations on Ewe Hill. Centred on two very big standing stones, finds included a prehistoric flint and relatively modern clay pipes indicating human activity at the site over thousands of years.

31 – Weather breaking. Thunder showers during the day, and at night. Johnny delivered a load of muck to friend Liz for her new garden.

Sightings: A Broad-backed Chaser dragonfly at Branton, usually only seen in the south of England; Also a wonderful close-up of a tawny owl in the hay store, on two separate occasions, perhaps seeking the shade, and a barn owl making an early morning flight from the nest tree in the Big Field.