Another Loop Line Walk

 Polar and Grizzly are making sure they get out for walks on dry days now spring is here, which means we are getting out and about again too.  Last Wednesday, we all jumped into our Bear Bag ready for another adventure.

Polar and Grizzly took us back to the Birchenwood Country Park, so we could make our way down the old railway line route into Kidsgrove.  

There were bright orange steams running out of the woods!  Hanley Bear explained that this was because there was iron in the ground, just as there is at the Harecastle Tunnel.

'Remember, this was all collieries and iron works not that long ago,' he said.  'We wouldn't have liked it here back then!'

We bears were very careful not to fall in when Polar let us out to do some climbing, in case the rusty water turned our fur orange.  We were surprised to see that some plants managed to grow around the edges of a big pond that the streams fed into.  We couldn't see any fish or frogs, however.

We noticed that the path was sloping downwards fairly steeply (for a railway line, that is), that there were big brick retaining walls on either side of the cutting and a short tunnel ahead.

Polar carried us through the tunnel in the Bear Bag, as she was worried we might get too close to the sides and get sooty.  Grizzly explained that the railway was three tracks wide at this point, with the two tracks of the 'Potteries Loop Line' and a siding to the works all going through the tunnel together.

We were almost into Kidsgrove and at the furthest extent of our walk soon afterwards.  Hanley showed us where Kidsgrove Town station used to be, before we started back towards the car.

Hanley and Waverley couldn't resist looking in these little holes in the big retaining wall to see if there were any mice or voles to talk to, but they didn't see any.  Because the cutting is dark and shady, lots of moss grows on the walls.

I noticed that someone had planted some primulas near the south end of the tunnel, so went to have a closer look at them.  The huge retaining wall here looks like part of a lost city, like Machu Picchu!

We saw some steps made from railway sleepers leading up out of the cutting so went to see where they led.  At the top was a recreation ground and a slope leading up to the building where Polar and Grizzly had received their Covid-19 vaccinations.

We did some more climbing on a pile of mossy logs before it was time to get back in the Bear Bag for the walk back up the slope to where we had left the car, passing the orange stream again.

If it stays dry, Polar says we'll have a walk around the big fishing pond at the top next time.

'Or we might see about going for a walk somewhere else, not too far from home,' she said.

But first, it's time for our spring wash and a change of clothes!