A castle, the coast and a chapel

 A castle, the coast and a chapel. January 23rd

Unusually for Britain it has been a wet week so a shorter walk nearer home has been the suggestion. Walking from the village of Warkworth up the coast to a spot opposite Alnmouth and back through the dunes. Head north on the Northumberland Coadtal Route to Warkworth. (A189). There is parking by the river, close to the church, free.                                                                                       

    The map, if needed is OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble

              St Lawrence church, a fine Norman building and the car park by the river.

Dressed in waterproof jackets and over trousers (unusual for me I don't like them) we walked to Bertrams cafe for breakfast and a discussion on the walk and the weather, it was raining but not too heavily.

Having fuelled up on bacon sandwiches or teacakes we set off, going through the bridge tower and crossing the fourteenth century bridge which is now reserved for pedestrians, a modern version spanning the River Coquet is beside it.

  .  The River Coquet and the ancient Bridge Tower and wet gadgies and one gadgette.

Once across the river we also crossed the road and headed up towards the car parks.  Approaching the dunes and the beach we discussed the walk and decided, in spite of the rain, to follow the  long version and headed south towards the river mouth.

Amble and the river mouth, the sea is somewhere out there.

Turning north and thankfully now having the strong wind at our backs we walked on the beach. The sand was firm, we saw two noble dog walkers on a beach that is usually busy. We walked on the beach for three miles, the only tricky bit being Berling Carrs. a stretch of seaweed covered low rocks which are difficult to cross, especially if your knee won't bend. It is possible to go round them by climbing up to the caravan site and once through it rejoining the beach.

At the mouth of the Aln, opposite the village of Alnmouth we scrambled up to the cross which marks the area where the 12century church once stood.

 The site of St. Waleric's church. A storm in 1806 changed the course of the river, and cut off the church which eventually disappeared.

Heading south a few yards we came to the ruined 19th century "lying in chapel" and as the rain had stopped we decided it made a good site for our Herbie.

                   !9th century chapel and Herbie spot. Apple pies, cookies and, of course, sweet and savoury from Mrs A.

Lunch over we followed the King Charles III/England Coast path going south behind the dunes. The dunes offered some shelter from the wind. 

17th century guano shed. Built well away from the village to store imported guano used as fertiliser. The building fell out of use after the storm of 1806.

The path wanders alongside fields and continues by the golf course. Normally we follow a firm path which crosses the course, goes under a footbridge and passes a bell which is rung to warn players that walkers are going through. Today we took a short cut, disappointingly as I like to ring the bell but I was at the back, too late to protest.

Soon we were back at the cars, it started to rain again. Once we were free from waterproofs we decided to return to Bertrams for coffee and cake rather than go to the pub. It was only 3pm.

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The walk is about 8.5 miles, easy going. Sea views and green fields.

                     The last three by kind permission of Harry!

New Year, new walk.

New Year and a new walk. January 16th

It's not often we have a new walk but this one is and fairly local too. Based on the village of Lonhorsely in Northumberland, easily reached by heading north on the A1, turning off on the A697 at Morpeth and driving on a few miles.

The map to use is OS Explorer 325 Morpeth and Blyth.

Britain does not have a climate, it has weather. Today is sunny, warm for the time of year but some of the paths have icy patches, some are muddy and some of the fields have a frosty coating, some don't. Ah well.

Longhorsely comes from Old English horsa-lea, a horse pasture, and presumably a long one.

We parked opposite the church, St Helen's, was built as the village school in the 19th century. The porch was brought from the old village church, 18th century on medieval foundations. Next to the church is Horsley Tower, dating back to the  16th century

                           Not really

Leaving the village we walked a few hundred yards west before turning in to admire Archie's Pond and continued on a slightly slippy path through woodland.

Archie's pond with camera strap.

Leaving the wood we crossed fields to Viewlaws farm and carried on  over fields to the road south of Todburn East.

Once across the road we walked along the Devil's Causeway, heading south on this Roman road which stretches from Corbridge to Berwick. At Todburn Moor we turned south east across fields until we reached High Southward Edge where we back with the Devil.

                                       Northumberland

When we reached Linkham Lane, a farm track we halted and sat on a grassy bank for a Herbie. No sharing today, except for Janice's chocolates!

After a bout threequarters of a mile on the track we spotted the gate on the left that took us past a small lake and along the edge of Hare Dean Wood.

                      Unnamed pond by Hare Dean.

Spotting yet another gate we walked down a flight of earthen/wood steps into the dean and headed north across fields to the road near Muckley.(mile 6)

                      Follow the sign

Once we had found the way through the collection of cottages at Muckley we crossed several fields and a stream before finishing the day on a short stretch of road back to Longhorsely.

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The walk is about 7.4 miles, easy going with a lot of stiles, some being tricky with a glazing of ice.

Some muddy sections too, and lots of Lauder Grass.

Horsely Tower in the background

A saint, and a Roman fort

 A saint and a Roman fort January 2nd 2026

Traditionally the first walk of the year is from Blyth, down the coast to North Shields but that trip has been postponed and we are off on a new walk starting at Blackhall Mill in County Durham.

No directions, use a sat available but the map is OS Explorer 307 Consett and Derwent Reservoir.

Breakfast in the Riverview restaurant: five star bacon sandwich.

Car park of the day with chilly walker 

Wew headed west on the road. At a thinly disguised fork in the footpath we turned south west and walked through woodland on the bank of the River Derwent, crossing a footbridge and reaching the edge of Ebchester. The path does not go through the village . Ebchester is named for Aebba, daughter of a king of Bernicia. She founded a religous house here in the 7th century which was destroyed by marauding Danes. Thge present church, was built in the 11th century using stones from the nearby Roman fort of Vindomora. The church was restored in 1876, the fort has disappeared . Aebba also founded a religious house at St Abbs head near Coldingham in Scotland. St Abbs is well worth a visit if you like a coastal walk.

Woodland walking. Because of the low temperature the ground was firm, it could be muddy in spring and summer.

For a mile we continued on the path through woods alongside the Mill Burn, crossing a road, and leaving the trees at Wood House . 

Leaving the woods we met:

                    In Dave's absence it was up to me to say "You can call me Al" but they were probably llamas anyway.
                                                                                                                               A few fields later we were at the village of Whittonstall where we found a large circular table which made an excellent, but chilly Herbie Spot. (Mince pies, flapjacks and savoury buns)

                        Wittonstall

Lunch over, and it was too cold to hang around, we walked down the road to Lawson's Farm, crossed a couple of fields and went into Westriding Wood which we left near Hollings. For a short time we followed the dismantled railway before turning into Milkwelburn wood which we soon left to walk across fields back to Blackhall Mill.

We thought they were mini turnips being harvested for Burns Night but they are fodder beets, grown for animal feed.

Rather than find a local hostelry we drove back to the Cannon in Earsdon for refreshment. They had a clever little machine for opening and pouring the zero alcohol Guinness.

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The red line is the planned route, the black lines are changes we made.

The walk is just over 8 easy miles with a few gentle slopes. Lovely walk shall be repeated in summer.