A walk in the park

 A walk in the park. February 14th.

Continuing the theme of walks with good tracks today we make a return to Hulne Park, large garden of the Duke of Northumberland, not to be confused with the Alnwick Garden.

Just north of the town of Alnwick, there are in the park, several marked walks, a tower and a priory to admire. 

A map is not necessary, you can download a leaflet complete with walks. Or use OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble.

It is worth checking opening times for the park. Open to the public most days but occasionally closed for  various reasons. Opens at 11, closing seems dependent on the time of year

Go through the town, past the castle gate and on the left a short road leads to the park entrance. Parking is limited, on one side of the road only, or spend years in a dungeon.

On the way we stopped at the village of Swarland, just off the A1 and went to Nelson's for breakfast. The first reference to Swarland (O.E swar land = hard to plough land) is in 1242. Years later a manor house was built, now gone but Alexander  Davison, a friend of Admiral Nelson's lived there, hence the cafe name. In  the 1930's 77 new cottages were built, it's a new village.

                   Very busy cafe.

The walk:

                  

                                               Car parking just outside.

                     The entrance to the park; no vehicles, no cycles, no dogs

There are several well marked walks in the park, we started on Walk 3, strolling on the tarmacked road passing fields and hemmel for just over a mile before we turned left to walk uphill to Brizlee Tower.

                 Super hemmel. Used for storage and shelter for the animals, as you can see.

                     Brizlee Tower. Designed by Robert Adam and built in 1751 for the Duke of the day. Occasionally open to visitors. It does not lean

We followed the loop round the hill the tower stands on, passing the hermit before returning to the main park road.

                             The hermit.

There are fine views over the county from the hill:

                            A hint of snow on the distant Cheviot and Hedgehope.

                   And a distant view of Hulne Priory.

We followed the road past the farm at East Brizlee, crossed the River Aln and headed on to Hulne Priory where we stopped, sitting on a couple of felled trees for a Herbie. Chocolate Cookies from Ringtons, apple and blackcurrant pies, almond slices and scones and savoury from Mrs C.

                 Hulne Priory or Abbey. 13th century Carmelite priory. Maid Marion's House in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. 

Lunch among the snowdrops over we rejoined the road that follows close to the river on the north bank, passing Lady's Well.

                                    Lady's well.

Crossing the river  and sticking carefully to marked routes we climbed back to the main road near the entrance and were back at the cars.

On the way home we stopped at The Ridley Arms in Stannington, Wylam Gold.

              Almost impossible to read but this stone commemorates the capture of a Scottish king in 13th century. He was laying siege to Alnwick Castle, but failed. 

            Ignore the red wiggle at the start. My fault, not the GPS

Contains OS data copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2025.

The walk is about 8.5 miles, easy going with a couple of short climbs.

                               Often seen on Percy lands

                      The Percy graveyard near Brizlee Tower

                      The hermit's cave

                          February fair maids

                                  River Aln