The Heritage Way. Northumberland /Gateshead November 5th.

  The Heritage way is a series of walks stretching north of the Tyne to south of the Wear. Today's walk, starting from Wylam in Northumberland but mostly in Gateshead is a section of it.

Six of us out today; me, Harry, Ben, John H, John C and Ian.

The walk is covered by OS Explorer 316 Newcastle upon Tyne and is more than useful. The Heritage Way is well signposted but the map is still advisable.

To get to the start, A69 west, turn off at signpost for Wylam, drive through the village, turning left at the Fox and Hounds and just before the bridge over the River Tyne there is a car park on the left. It is free!

Wylam car park near the river.

Leave the car park and head for the bridge crossing the Tyne, watch out for a heron near the water, there is one usually. Pass the Boathouse pub (crime) and walk on to the last house. On the right is the first stile of the day and a sign post. The path is interesting, wide enough for two but fenced securely on both sides. This is because Daniel Farm rears deer for venison, you can see them in fields on both sides of the path. And a rather handsome Belted Galloway bull.

                        Deer, bull, deer.

Beyond the farm continue through fields and woodland to Bradley Hall farm and follow the footpath across Bradley Park to the A695. A busy road, cross with care and follow the track directly opposite  to Bradley Fell.

Turn right here on to the delightfully named Kyo Bog Lane and then almost immediately take the footpath across fields  to Bradley Fell Road. So far the walk has climbed, sometimes gently sometimes steeply.

Turn left on Bradley Fell Road  then right then left onto Buck's Nook Lane, another great name. Follow the lane, uphill still  before spotting the sign post that takes you across fields to Penny Hill.

Out of focus but I'm only a snapper, not a photographer!

At Penny Hill turn left by the electricity sub station then right then left again towards Coalburn Farm. Watch out for the footpath, the jolly farmer's wife explained we were slightly off piste but as long as we shut gates she didn't mind. The track heads east and then across fields to Strothers Farm.

here the trail turns north west, crossing fields where there alpacas and donkeys.

                           Had Dave been with us he would have wittily said "You can call me Al"

                                              Donkeys, not for riding.

The path here needs care, it crosses fields, turns sharply and heads for Spenside Farm. Beyond this farm 

it follows the Barrow Burn through a short stretch of woodland before heading north towards Reeley Mires Farm and a small park in the town of Greenside where we finally stopped for a Herbie after 7 miles.

           Apart from Remembrance Day poppies Greenside had this poster. Never seen one before.

Rather limited gifts today, Whip biscuits, Ben's gingers and cookies. Mrs A is away.

Walk up the main street of Greenside. At the end turn right into Jacky's Plantation, turn left  and follow the Coalway Lane downhill. This lane is narrow, has a surface of cobbles and needs care, especially when the ground is covered in leaves.

At the bottom cross the A695 again with care and take the road to Crawcrook. At Tenter Hills take the footpath on the left which goes through woodland next to Bradley Gardens, passes Daniel Farm again and hits the road back to the car park.

                          Daniel Farm

                          Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2021

The walk is about 10 miles, some steep climbs in the first half.

There are a lot of stiles, some quite dodgy, some quite dangerous for those with bad knees.

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree.

                                                     Emily Bronte

It's autumn and we are off for a familiar walk round Allen Banks to see the colours of the fall, as the area has acres of deciduous woodland. Not up to New England standards but real England. The weather forecast is not too promising, cloudy with rain at 2pm says the Met Office.

I chose this quote by Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights, because I wanted to escape the cliched "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness " by Keats and anyway I suffered his poetry for O level at a time when you had to remember it and not take an annotated copy into the exam room.

Also I spent a lot of time as a child in and around the Haworth area.

Today a team of seven is out; Brian and Margaret, Dave, Harry, Ben, John H. and me, starting a walk from the National Trust car park near Ridley Hall. Head west on the A69 and turn left near Bardon Mill. There is a charge to park unless you are a member.

The map for the walk is OS OL 43 Hadrian's Wall, a double sided map and the walk is on the edges. 

On the way we had breakfast at Brockbushes farm shop. They were having a Halloween Fair for children (and adults). Rides and pumpkins'

Shame about the rain

The walk, but first; MUD WARNING

National Trust car park. £4 for the day, free to members. There is a shelter, useful for changing and sheltering too. And it has a map

The walk at last.

Leaving the back of the car park, past the shelter with a map we followed the footpath above the river to a gate on the right. Through the gate and across fields to a road where we turned left then right towards the village of Beltingham. A pretty village with a church and everything, including a connection withe the late Queen Mother but we've done that, got the T shirt and moved on, taking the track to Shaws across fields.

Field of maize near Shaws. Possibly animal fodder but some British maize is for humans too.

beyond Shaws we headed for another farm Wool House and then on to a road where we turned left.  Not far down the road we turned down the farm track to Briarwood, passing a field containing some ewes and amorous looking rams or tups as they are known in the north.

                 My mother could never bring herself to say what the ram's harness was for. She always said "You know, to show.... never mind"

   At Briarwood farm we entered the wooded valley of the River Allen.

The footpath down through the wood was covered in leaves, was muddy and slippery, care needed for those with older limbs. At the bottom of the path we crossed a stream and then the River Allen to Plankey Mill.

                         Footbridge over the River Allen at Plankey Mill

                  Herbie time at Plankey Mill. Apple pies, almond slices, cookies, ginger biscuits, a savoury from Mrs A and a very sweet and sticky cake from her too.

Lunch and chat over we headed across the fields by the river, through the gate and off into the woods of Hag Bank. The clouds had thinned, the trees were doing their autumn stuff as we climbed the steep but thankfully short stretch to Staward Peel.

                      The leaves are turning

The remains of Staward Peel.

At four minutes to two the rain started and the wind began to blow, just as the Met Office had said. Hoods up and heads down we walked the narrow ridge from the peel to a field and headed south, passing Gingle Pot, once a tavern for drovers, and then to the A686 road close to the old and demolished railway line.

 Turning right we followed the road. Four found the stile that led to the path back down to the river. Three marched on in the rain to the sharp bend in the road. A pick up pulled up, told us where the footpath was and warned us that a number of people were out shooting partridges, beware, don't fly.

The three soon caught the four and we followed the muddy path gently down hill to the river bank. Well behind the others harry and I wandered off the path to admire the trees. The pickup driver and his seven gun dogs put us back on the right trail and warned of the shooting party ahead. We soon heard them but escaped unharmed.

                      On the banks of the River Allen

Eventually we rejoined the path we had taken from Plankey Mill and soon we were back there and the rain had stopped.

Instead of crossing the river we walked a short distance up the road from Plankey Mill and then took the footpath on the left which followed the river bank  back to a bridge near the car park. Over the bridge, back to the park, changed in the shelter and off to the Duke of Wellington in Riding Mill. Several beers on offer but I was a driver. Soda and lime is a refreshing drink sometimes.

                        Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and data base right 2021

The walk is about 10 miles with some steep ups and downs as you can see

 

 Eglingham, Cateran, Blawearie

(Northumberland October 19th)

 Today's walk has been devised by John C. Based on Eglingham, a linear village with a population of about 100, a few miles north of Alnwick, it combines sections of other favourite gadgie strolls.

To get to Eglingham take the A1 north, turn off and go through the town, take the Wooler Road and five miles later park in the village, There is some parking on a lane to the church, (St Maurice, 13th C) and some parking on the roadside opposite the pub, the Tankerville.

The map to use is OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble.

There is a team of eight out today, me, Harry, Dave, John H., John C, Ben, Margaret and Brian.

Start with the usual car park picture;

        Not a prize winner for car park of the year but here we are in Eglingham.

Kitted out, on a dry day after one early shower, we walked up the village street, roughly west until we turned off at a lane near Cockhall. This lane led us to the first and only ford of the day. Sometimes we are advised to take plastic bags for the fords we cross but for this one we made do with the stones, some of which were slippy.

 Harry takes to the water. (Watch this week's video at the end!)

Having crossed the dangerous stream we headed north uphill, then north east until we met a farm track . (mile 1).  Here we turned left and continued towards Harehope, passing a row of bee hives on the way.

                         Beehives and shadow

However along the track we were passed by a convoy of pickups and 4x4s, loaded with guns and dogs. They were off on a partridge shoot on Harehope Hill. Our original plan was to take a path on the south side of the hill but they politely suggested we should head for the "Posh Cow Shed" and take the track to the north of Harehope Hill. They had guns and dogs so we did.

               The wagons circle at The Posh Cow Shed.

There was a short but steep climb up Tick Law, which seemed tick free. On the top we came across a large piece of rock decorated with cup and ring markings.

             Nobody is sure what these ancient markings mean or what they were for. They occur at several Northumberland sites and other places in Europe too.

Not too far further on (mile 4) we came to the remains of the prehistoric hill fort at Old Bewick. Little remains but the inner and outer walls, covered in bracken and reduced in height but still impressive.

                   Old Bewick's ancient ramparts.

                And its modern equivalent. Built in WW2 when it was thought the country could be invaded from Norway there are many similar pill boxes in Northumberland.

Moving on and a little unsure of the track to take we wandered a little, split into two groups and eventually Dave, John H and I found a good track that led north east towards lunch. The other five found a similar track and we met at Blawearie, a ruined farm.

          Blawearie (cf Wuthering heights) was built in the 19th century by the Rogerson family. Abandoned in the 1940s it fell into ruin, but...

This shelter, presumably built for shooting parties, is relatively new and made the best Herbie Spot for a long time. IKEA biscuits, (already assembled) flapjacks, Ben's ginger biscuits, almond slices, sweet and sour savouries from Mrs A..

Lunch over we moved on, taking the track behind the old farm. We headed north east, crossing several streams without the need for plastic bags until we came to a marker post that suggested we turn right and head up Cateran Hill.

A steady climb with several cairns along the way. Near the top of the hill, off to the left is the Cateran Hole.

This is a cave some 30 yards long, entered by carved stone steps. Nobody is sure what it was used for. One suggestion is that it was a tunnel from Chillingham Castle, another mis that it was used as a store for smuggled goods. We have visited it several times and gave it a miss today.

We followed a grassy and rathe boggy path down past Hare Crag (mile 8) until we joined a well made farm tyrack heading south over Eglingham Moor. At Tarry (mile9) the track became a metalled road and soon we were back in Eglingham.

Changed we decided to head for the Shoulder of Mutton in Longhorsely. The hotel had three ales on draught, Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Directors and a blonde. We tried Taylor's but it was the bottom of the barrel so we switched to the blonde.

Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2021

The walk is about 10 miles with a couple of short climbs