Spring is here......another Sinatra classic Feb 28

  We were promised a fine clear cool day and that was exactly what we got, well done that man at the BBC.
  Today's walk, in the company of six gadgies, Brian, Harry, Dave, John, Ben and me is another old favourite starting at Hethpool in the beautiful College Valley. To get there: A1 North, A697 at Morpeth and turn left a few miles beyond Wooler on the road for Kirk Yetholm. Turn left beyond the board informing you that Gefryn, Saxon Palace once stood on this site, at the signpost for Hethpool and after a few miles pass the cottages on the right and pull in at the car park just over the cattle grid. The college Valley is private and unless you have a permit (obtainable at John Sales in Wooler £10) you can not drive beyond the car park.
A map is useful, OS Explorer 16 The Cheviot Hills covers the whole walk. The car park is at NT893280
Hethpool is so called after the Hethas or hill forts that top several of the hills around it. Hethpool House dates back to 1687 although most of the present building was erected in the early twentieth century. For a time it was home to Admiral Lord Collingwood, second in command at Trafalgar, but rapidly promoted on the death of Nelson. Collingwood's wife planted oak trees in the area, perhaps for the next generation of warships, if only she had known what was to happen.
 The car park is much later but has an interesting and recent information board telling about the forts and wildlife in the area.

                     Information board about the College Valley. It is quite large and on either side has a bench which, had we noticed it, would have been handy for changing into boots. We only saw them as we were leaving after the walk. Typical gadgies.

                                               Car park at Hethpool.
The first part of the walk follows the valley road in a southerly direction (College means the boggy area where there is a stream, nothing to do with study). A pleasant and fairly level walk in. After approximately two miles the valley hall, Cuddystone, is on the right, painted white and preparing for the farmers' spring dances no doubt. Here the road divides, the right fork going to Mounhooley YHA, the left, the one to follow leading eventually to the last farm on this side of the valley, Goldscleugh. Close to the hall is a memorial  to allied airmen who lost their lives in WWII as a result of crashes in the hills.

                                                           Cuddystone Hall

                                                  Looking towards the Cheviot with the memorial stone

                                                         The other side of the memorial. On the top 
                                                        a map lists the type of plane and where it crashed.
Not far from the hall, having crossed a bridge we reached Southernknowe and turned off the road to take the steep climb up the hill on a grassy path, heading roughly east. Leaving the path after about a mile we headed north across boggy moorland until we joined the fence line that took us upwards to Hare Law. Appropriately named, we past a deceased hare. Hare today, gone tomorrow. Hare Law has an excellent cairn and shelter which prove useful in bad weather but not today.

                                                           Looking down on College Valley

                                             The cairn on Hare Law.
Leaving the Law, having admired the views, we headed north east before finding the path that brought us to a well deserved Herbie Spot, Wester Tor.

                                                    Still life with sandwich, apple pie
                                                    hobnob, Bakewell slice, Mrs A's 
                                                    chocolate cake, ginger biscuit, tomatoes
                                                           and an apple. By  Vincent Von HundertundNinetyPund

                   Looking down on Hethpool from Wester Tor.
Lunch over we left the tor and headed  east before turning north east on a track that led to Easter Tor. From here we followed the low level sign post towards Yeavering Bell (Hill of the goats) before turning north west and going down hill on a section of St. Cuthbert's Trail which in places doubles as the Hill Fort Trail, there being an absolute plethora of Iron Age settlements in the area. At the bottom of the hill we joined the track past Torleehouse.
There are at least three herds of feral goats in the Cheviots, today we saw three goats who were not separated from the sheep but were grazing with them.

                                                 Feral Billy, smelly too but the sheep don't mind.
Following the marked path rather than the farm track we walked through the woods at Hethpool Linn, across fields and soon we were back at the car park.

                                                       College Burn

                                                           Hethpool Linn.
Back at the cars we changed and headed for The Anglers Arms where we given the usual warm welcome and invited to partake of Directors, Youngs Gold or that nectar from Keighley, Timothy Taylor's Landlord. Heaven, we should have checked in for the night!

The Matrix  MMXIVG
                                                                      steps                           miles

LIDL3D                                                         24977                         11.24
Higear                                                           23141                         10.95  (all is forgiven)

Dave's LIDL3D                                             24418                          11.24
LIDLUSB                                                      23437                          11.09



OUTDOOR GPS                                                                               10.56
Brian's GPS                                                                                       10.5
Ben's bragometer                                                                               10.6

Gadgie distance 95.6 miles

Good set of results
This really is a classic Cheviot walk. 10.5 miles, mostly fairly flat with only one steep ascent. On a day like today the views in all directions are well worth the effort too. North into Scotland, East to the sea, Bamburgh Castle visible in the distance, South to Simonside, Hedgehope and the Cheviot and west to the lesser hills on that side of the valley. A few lambs around and the first primroses of the year too.

                         Contains OS data, Copyright  Crown Copyright  database right 2014

Three cairns on a mountain....... February 21st.

The young lady who shares the weather forecasting with the jolly jock on local TV assured us the day would be showery, but light ones, with a fairly strong wind and a lower temperature than Thursday. She was just about right but the showers were a bit heavy at times.
So we set out to walk from Rothbury in Northumberland. A small town, the capital of Coquetdale, Rothbury gets its name from Hrotha's burg, Old English for Hrotha's Fort. The town has a good number of iron age forts in the hills around it and some of the mysterious cup and ring markings. It had a church, All Saints, with a pre conquest tower but a vandalising, vicious, Victorian vicar had it pulled down and rebuilt. (Alliteration!)
To get to Rothbury take the A1 north, turn off at the A697, heading north and follow the diversion signs to the town, the road is still not repaired. Would it take so long in Buckingham I ask?
We called in at Tomlinsons Cafe and Bunkhouse for a slow breakfast as it was raining. Some had a five flitch bacon roll.  (look them up on www.tomlinsonsrothbury.co.uk)

                                               Park on the street for a change

                                                         Tomlinsons Rothbury, super cafe

and bunkhouse.

The walk; a map is advisable and the one to use is OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble and Tomlinsons is on the corner of Bridge Street at NU058016

From the cafe we walked back to the high street and admired the sausages in the butcher's window on the north side of the road. Turning west we found the alley (ginnel, passage or lane that led us between houses to a road, turning right and almost immediately left we continued the steep climb until we were out bin open country. Turning left at the first junction we followed a muddy path until it joined a more substantial track. We followed the track for the best part of a mile before spotting the footpath on the left (marked) which led us down to a wood. There were several patches of snowdrops in the wood.

                                                          February Fair Maids.

 Emerging from the wood onto a track we turned left and at South Cartington we turned right and after crossing  a couple of fields came to Cartington Castle.

                                         Ruins of Cartington Castle. First recorded in 1154 the king gave a licence to crennelate in 1442. In 1515 Queen Margaret of Scotland stayed for a while. In the English Civil War it was a Royalist stronghold and held off a besieging Parliamentary army for two hours. Abandoned in 1860 Lord Armstrong had some repairs done in 1867 but it's a ruin now.
We walked in front of Cartington Farm, admiring the topiary and headed north on the metalled road spotting a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the way.

                                                               Topiary at Cartington.
After a mile on the road, passing Bankhead Farm and Kennels we turned right up a track alongside a stream and decided to make a Herbie Spot. Oh what a feast, sandwiches, Ringtons Ginger Biscuits, Hobnobs, caramel slices, individual Bramley Apple pies and Mrs A's excellent tomato cake! This must stop!

                                                  John struggles after the Herbie Feast.
Continuing along the track until we came to a field we followed the edge of a plantation which had been recently felled for the best part of a mile (6 on the map) until we came to a sign post that led us south in the direction of Cartington Hill.

                                                            A real stile

                                            Heather covered Cartington Hill.

The hill is not particularly steep for gadgies but after a couple of muddy fields the path disappeared in the heather. Heather is difficult to walk on, there are hidden pot holes and straggly bits to trip you up, but it does clean the mud off your boots. It has two summits with cairns containing, once, the remains of local chiefs and there is a third burial cairn below one summit.

                                                Cairn on Cartington Hill. These are
                                                          not the three chiefs.
At the bottom of the hill we turned left on a good track, disturbing four roe deer which bounced away over the heather. Eventually we came to a plantation, A sign post pointed to the right saying Rothbury 3.5 miles. ( If you follow this wakk ignore it and continue down hill to a cross roads with a sign to the right saying Rothbury 1.25 miles, take this one.) A short way along the track we found the marker directing us across muddy fields to Rothbury. At the next plantation we turned left and walked along a track which became a steep and muddy path but it eventually led us back to the town.

                                                     The capital of Coquetdale, Rothbury

On the way home we stuck to tradition and called in at The Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge, which was serving Timothy Taylor's Golden Best, Wells Bombardier and Everards Tiger. We wished we were staying for a second AGM.  John appears to have an obsession with the pub's decoration, admiring the large white and blue ceramic cats on the mantle piece, although I suggested they were kitsch.
Brian pointed out that a real example of something popular and vulgar was that well known chocolate biscuit the Kitsch Kat. Give us a break Brian;
John has suggested a new category, clarts, as an indication of mud.
On a scale of 0 to 5 this one gets a 3 today.
Good day for the birders, woodpeckers, buzzards, long tailed tits, coal tits, blue tits, kestrel and a heron. However the beast of the blog goes to the deer for demonstrating how to cross hesther moors.

                                                         Deer on the run  Reminds me of a joke about
                                                          naming Native Americans


The Matrix MMXIVF

                                                         steps                         miles
Higear behaved disgracefully
LIDL3D                                           24638                      11.1
Dave's LIDL3D                               23992                       11.05
LIDLUSB                                        22945                       10.86
OUTDOORS GPS                                                            10.25
Brian's GPS                                                                      10.25
Pretty good.

Gadgie distance 85 miles

St. Valentine's tea rooms ...............14th February

   One gadgie has a twisted ankle, two have family commitments so the team is reduced to four for today's walk; Ray, John, Brian and me, by coincidence the ones who survived the AGM. As the weather is doubtful, again, we have opted for a coastal walk following St. Oswald's Way and the Northumberland Coastal Path from Alnmouth to Craster. To get to Alnmouth take the A1 north to Alnwick and follow signs for Alnmouth. Take care, although the A1 is the main route from London to Edinburgh  on the east side of Britain, it is not yet converted to a dual carriageway in all its length. This is because it is in the north.
At Alnmouth you can park on the foreshore, sometimes there is somebody to take your money, or you can find a space at the end of the main street as we did.
A map is not essential as the route follows the coast and is well marked but if you want one, if only to read the names of places, take OS Explorer 332, Alnwick and Amble. The car was left at NU247103, approximately.

                                                NU247103, approximately

                                                        And a useful information board.
But before we started we visited the Village Tearooms on the main street, A nice little cafe with a hard working young lady trying to serve breakfasts for a goodly number of people, burning toast, having problems with the power but most important not having any bacon. A broken Brian settled for a scone with a short o.
Breakfast over we turned down to the road facing the sea and headed north by the side of the golf course following the blue markers and above the beach. Like most of the footpaths at the moment it was muddy.  At Broadroom End we passed a number of static caravans and wooden chalets which were locked up for the winter. There was also a strange looking bunker with a dedication to Algernon, Duke of Northumberland.

                                                 The Duke's Bunker

                                            Caravan, with extension
Shortly after this we descended to the sandy beach and continued on our way to Boulmer, a fishing village that seemed to specialise in lobster pots. Behind it is RAF Boulmer, helicopter station and part of our national defences.

                                                   Boulmer cottages.

North of Boulmer the path is off the beach and crosses fields. Somebody has made the path into an outdoor art gallery:

                                                  Amazing what you can do with scrap horse shoes

                                               and other odds and ends. Who needs the Brit Art Pack?

There were lots of sheep too, waiting to give birth to their lambs.

                                                I say hello, and ewe say goodbye.

At Iron Scars, where the Howick Burn enters the sea we stopped for a Herbie Spot. Apart from the usual sandwich we had Ringtons 'Ginger Biscuits,  Individual Bramley  Apple Pies and Mrs A's homemade muesli and nut biscuits, iced with chocolate. No wonder my weight is up to 13 stones 8 pounds  (190 pounds to you Americans 86.18kg to the rest of the world)  This area  is of special geological significance Dave once told us, but I can't remember why. The pictures may help.

                                                      Sedimentary Rocks at Howick Burn.

                                               Howick Burn flows through the grounds of Howick Hall

                                                 home of Earl Grey the tea man.

 Lunch over we continued on our way north, past an iron age settlement, to Seahouses Farm and on beyond this old Coast Guard's cottage to the fishing village of Craster.

                                               Coast Guard cottage, now a holiday let.

                                                     Look carefully, one or two kittiwakes

                                                  have already arrived and staked their claim

Craster is famous for kippers, a peculiar English dish, smoked herring often eaten for breakfast. It is also a good starting point for the short walk to the ruins of  Dunstanburgh Castle, but today we had about an hour to spare before catching a bus back to Alnmouth so we retired to the Shoreline Cafe and had tea and scones with a short o.

It being St. Valentine's Day the cafe was decorated with hearts, including two heart shaped wooden bread boards.

"Who would buy one of those ?" asked John.

"Elvis Presley fans," explained Brian.

Ray paid the bill for the four of us and when asked how much it was each he said £3.60

"You could have got a whole round for three sixty once," said Brian, very much on form today.

It started to rain heavily and we were grateful for the  bus which  took us back to Alnmouth, making it a proper gadgie walk although we didn't see a heron.

On the way home we called in at The Ridley Arms in Stannington for liquid gold. They had a choice of four beers, Jennings, Anarchy and two other whose names I have forgotten. Nice place, more restaurant than pub though.

The matrix  MMXIVF

                                                  steps                           miles

Higear                                      15608                           7.382

LIDL3D                                    16158                           7.3

OUTDOORGPS                                                             7.33

Brian's GPS                                                                    7.5

Consistent again, even without Dave.

Bird of the blog.

Not a lot to see, probably because of the weather but we did see a male eider with two females.

                                     Eider ducks,

It's a walk of two halves Brian.

Contains OS data copyright Crown copyright database right 2014

Gadgie distance 7.4 miles

ht13  yraunaJ.............................
I could not join the team on January 31st but punmeister Brian has kindly written up the gadgie walk and I add it to the blog with pleasure.

Drofleb to Evac S’trebhtuc Ts

This is a repeat of a Gadgie favourite, Belford to St Cuthbert’s Cave (see Sept 13, 2013), but walked in the opposite direction.  Today’s forecast was for snow by 2:00pm followed by heavy rain, so we changed from our pre-planned walk in the Cheviots. Your gadgies for today are Harry, Dave, John, Ray and Brian.

Starting Point: park at and start from the War Memorial in Belford - GR106338

Predicted Distance: 10 miles

Map: OS Outdoor Leisure Map 340, Alnwick

We started the day, in inevitable manner when Brian is driving, with a visit to the Well House Coffee Shop (www.wellhousehayloft.co.uk/shop.html) on Belford High Street. The café appears to be up for sale but not, it appears, due to lack of custom or the quality of its products or staff.

There was a chill wind blowing when we set off.  A short way up the road towards Westhall we turned left, following the Northumberland Coastal Path signs to Swinhoe Farm.  Here was a left turn along a substantial bridleway up past Dick’s Oldwalls. It was in a hedgerow just passed the farm that  we saw the only substantial number of birds during the day – a flock of chaffinches.  This path continues on all the way to St Cuthbert’s Cave (c3.75miles).  Whether the saint’s body was ever there is open to speculation but many other people were, as evidenced by the cases of, in some instances stonemason quality, vandalism of the sandstone that makes up the cave area.

                                            St. Cuthbert's Cave.

From the cave the path leads up onto Greensheen Hill and past the trig pillar which is the highest point of the walk (205ft). We continued in a north westerly direction and did a loop round Holburn Moss.  The lake here is usually alive with ducks, waders, gulls etc but today there was a solitary heron (almost a gadgies emblem) and a small flock of what were probably teal.

Back into the woods, with evermore threatening clouds, we declared a herbiespot and in a felled glade we each pulled up a stump on which to take lunch.  In the absence of Mike and Ben we had reduced calorific delights but Dave provided some McV***** confectionery and Brian some of Mrs A’s chocolate covered, low sugar, non fattening muesli bars. 

It was then that the snow began to fall.  It was wet and only lasted about 30 minutes before turning to rain.

The last 4 miles back to Belford via Swinhoe Lakes (2 Mute Swans) and Craggyhall is probably the wettest and muddiest that the gadgies have encountered for a very long while.  We knew it was coming as the BBC Weather Forecast has become remarkably accurate in their timings.

                                              This could be near Swinhoe Lake. I took the photos from a walk in 2013

                                                but of course I never label them.

We arrived back at 3:05 and changed in increasingly wet weather.  Dave, as ever, sartorially presented carried out a full clothing change to the delight of Belford residents peeping from behind their curtains.

The Angler’s Arms (www.anglersarms.com ) was duly visited on the return journey and as well as the usual warm welcome they had Abbot Ale, Spitfire and Old Speckled Hen on offer, all in good condition.  We are back there next week for the Annual Gadgie Meeting.

                                                       Anglers Arms, preparing themselves for the AGM

There was a shortage of measuring devices this week!

Brian’s GPS                         10.1 miles

Dave’s Pedometers        sadly weren’t recorded at the end of the walk and with all the shuggling in the car showed about 17 miles at the pub.  However, had they been recorded I’m sure one would have shown 9.9 miles and the other 10.3.

Obviously Dave can't operate his pedometers without my assistance.
Gadgie distance 66.7

The Gadgie AGM..... February 7th
Following the success of last year's AGM we have decided to hold a second, again at the Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge.
There will, of course, be a walk  before the meeting and because of the damp weather that has persisted in the North East of England this week we have chosen to walk to Old Rooklands from Alwinton, a walk we have not done since January 7th, 2012.
There is a full gadgie turn out, Ben, Brian, Dave, Harry, John, Ray and me. To get to the start of the walk from base camp take the A1 north, turn onto the A697 at Morpeth and follow the road signs for Rothbury. There is still a diversion in operation as the road which suffered a land slip last year has still not been repaired. Go through Rothbury and Thropton before turning right at the sign for Alwinton. There is a Northumberland National Park car park,  but being pensioners we left cars on the green as we entered the village, it's free. The walk is covered on OL16 The Cheviot Hills and the village of Alwinton is at NT920063. If you do use the National Park car park keep your eye open in the toilet, Dave once found a £5 note there and looks every time we visit, just in case.                                   Naturally we stopped for breakfast at Tomlinsons Cafe and Bunkhouse on Bridge Street in the pretty little town of Rothbury. Some of us , those worried about their weight, had tea, others enjoyed a five flitch bacon butty.
The walk:

                                                  Alwinton's Pensioners Car park

                                               Alwinton main street. The building on the left is
                                              the Rose and Thistle pub. Nice too. Harry is 
                                               taking photographs.
Near the car park is a footbridge across the Hoseden Burn  .( Stream, brook, beck, what a rich language English is.) Cross the burn, taking care at this time of the year not to tread on the February Fair Maids (snowdrops) and turn left. The footpath almost immediately joins Clennell Street, an ancient drove road dating back to the times when Scots and English traded animals across the border. The street climbs uphill, on the left, Castle Hills is an Iron Age settlement with earthen ramparts, worth a visit but not today. About a mile from the start a footpath on the right of the track took us across muddy fields and downhill to a point where the river Alwin emerges from the plantation.

                                            Wait for me lads, please

                                                  There is probably a hill fort on this bump too.
We turned sharp right on the forest track running alongside the River Alwin, crossed a bridge and found the footpath south of Rookland Hill that follows a narrow burn going roughly east. (If you follow this walk make sure you enter the second valley or you finish up at Puncherton, not Old Rooklands). The track here is little more than a sheep trail but eventually the few trees around Old Rooklands are visible on the horizon and then the ruined farmhouse itself. Sitting in the shelter offered by an end wall we declared a Herbie Spot.

                                            Looking down on the River Alwin in beautiful Northumberland

                                                      Old Rooklands, ruined farmhouse

                                                        Gadgie lunch time at Old Rooklands
AS usual our lunch turned into a feast. Adding to the sandwiches we had flapjacks, Ben's ginger biscuits and individual Bramley Apple Pies

                                               The trees of Old Rooklands.
Leaving the ruins we continued east before turning right onto a track that took us downhill through fields heavily populated with heavily pregnant sheep until we met a minor road and turned right and then left at a junction. After a few hundred yards a signpost on the right pointed us across a field until we met another minor road. Shortly after passing the farm at Newton a signpost on the left directed us south across several fields to the farm at Well House. We followed the road to the farm at the Peels. There we took the muddy track marked Border County Ride on the map which goes past Park House and eventually on the road into Alwinton.

                                                    The Border County Ride track. Very muddy
Just before reaching the road there is the ruin of a limekiln, used in the 19th century for the production of lime to be used as a fertiliser. There are many in northern England, this one, last used in 1867 is a fine example. Layers of coal and limestone went in at the top, lime came out at the bottom.

                                  Impressive stonework in the interior of the kiln

                                          And instructions too.
Back at Alwinton we decided that, even for us it was too early to go to the pub so we headed for Rothbury and enjoyed a very civilised afternoon tea of tea scones, pronounced with a short letter o.
After tea we headed for one of our favourite pubs, which was also to be home of the Gadgies Annual General Meeting.
But first the Matrix
Matrix MMXIVD
                                                                 steps                         miles
Higear                                                   19019                          8.995
LIDL3D                                                20072                          9.03
Daves LIDL3D                                     19417                          8.93
LIDLUSB                                              19127                          9.06

Brian's GPS                                                                               8.8
Ben's bragometer                                                                      8.7
OUTDOORGPS                                                                        8.73

Is that consistency?
Gadgie distance 52.4

Crown copyright and data base rights, 2014. OS
                                                      THE AGM
The meeting was held for the second year in the Anglers Arms at Weldon Bridge.

                                                Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge.
                                               
                                                      AGENDA

                                              1. Drink
                                              2. Eat
                                              3. Drink again
                                              4. More Drink
There were seven members present for the first part of the meeting but the non executives left quite early, leaving four of us to carry on with the meeting. After a couple of pints of Timothy Taylor's Landlord we retired to our rooms to shower and change for dinner. The menu was up to the usual high standard and the excellent food was helped down with some more beer. At one point the attentive young waitress suggested we had wine. Ray was appointed oenophile and he chose a rather fine red which went down very well. It was suggested we end the meeting with a wee dram which actually became several and the meeting ended successfully at 11.45pm when we retired to our rooms for a well deserved sleep. I suspect that during the evening we consumed our weekly ration of units of alcohol, gadgies binge drinking! The nanny state would be shocked, we would be offered counselling and told we were headed on the downward slope. But we all enjoyed it.

Next morning we met at 9 am for breakfast. I confess I could not face the traditional full English, neither could Ray but John and Brian, like real men, tucked into plateful of bacon, egg, sausage and beans. Alpen and toast for me. Wimp.
The Anglers Arms, being a fishermens pub is decorated with many a stuffed specimen.
John said he didn't like them, he thought their glassy eyes were watching him.
"What's your name?"
"Don't tell him Pike!" quipped Brian on form as ever. (A joke for most older English people. An explanation is on offer. SAE and £5 to me)

A SURE CURE FOR A HANGOVER.
We packed and left the hotel about 10am and headed for Simonside, the long hill overlooking Rothbury. There are several car parks near the plantations that cover the lower slopes of this poular walking area. The one we chose is at NZ 035977 on OS OL 42 Kielder Water and Forest.
There are several walks round Simonside, all clearly marked. The one we chose is marked with white arrows on a red background.

                                                            Yes it is.

                                                    Easy to follow signs.

                                                 A good bit of the walk is on trails like this,
Heading west from the start we followed the trail through the woods for a mile before turning roughly south west and slowly climbing on muddy paths. Near Bob Pyle's Studdie the path turns left and climbs steeply on a well made stone path to the cairns at the top  of  Simonside. An information board at the start of this rocky staircase reminds walkers to beware of the Duergars, the mythical wicked dwarfs that inhabit  this once sacred hill. They have a habit of kidnapping walkers and holding them for ransom. (See Five go battling the duergers July 5th 2013)

                                               These rocks could well be a home for duergers.
On the ridge the path has been laid with flagstones from long dead Lancashire cotton mills which makes the walking easier as it passes several cairns. The views north to the Cheviot hills are well worth the effort it takes to climb up.

                                                            A cairn on Simonside

                                               Well flagged path on Simonside.
The path heads roughly east. At Dove Crag you may continue to the Beacon and down to a car park near Lordenshaws which has an ancient fort, settlements and several of the mysterious cup and ring markings whose purpose has never been explained.
But we chose to turn north on a muddy footpath which joined another forest trail heading west to Joe's wood. This wood was planted in memory of Joe Rosenburg. He ran a small jewellers in Newcastle and, as the plaque says, was Chairman of the Northern Ramblers,the organisation that helped open areas of England to walkers.

Turning north east we walked down a muddy track through the trees and back to the car park.
It was only 12.30pm so we headed, again for Tomlinsons Cafe and Bunkhouse in Rothbury for, in my case, a late breakfast, English of course. Third visit of the weekend, Brian suggested we should get loyalty cards and save for a free coffee.
 Matrix MMXIVE
                                                 
                                                               steps                      miles

Higear                                           9987                              4.2
LIDL3D                                      10060                              4,53
OUTDOORGPS                                                                   4.2
Gadgie distance 56.6

                                     Sorry about the colour, low on ink.