Down the Tyne (Northumberland) August 24th
As recorded by Alex.
Most of the gadgies are on holiday still so I am taking my grandad for a walk on the River Tyne. It is a flat walk as he is having a bit of trouble with his knee and doesn't want to go up hills, or so he says.
The walk starts and finishes in Wylam, a large village west of Newcastle and easy to find. Drive west on the A69 and turn south at the sign that says Wylam. Easy. Drive through the village and just before the river there is a large car park. (Not the station one)
Grandad says this is an excellent car park because it is free and he understands these things as he comes from Yorkshire.
At the back of the car park there is a path, the Hadrian's Wall path which stretches right across the country close to the Roman Wall. We walked along it and pretty soon came to Stephenson's cottage.
Stephenson's cottage near Wylam where he was born. George, and his son Robert, are important because they invented railways and won a competition between Liverpool and Manchester.
The path was easy walking because it is flat and soon we came to Close House Golf Course. The people here are not keen on visitors because they have a very large sign saying "KEEP OFF". It looked nice though.
In the fields between the river and the path the farmer was growing maize, not for cornflakes but as animal feed.
Further on we came to Tyne Riverside Country Park which had exercise machines and things;
Taking exercise at the country park.
Nearby is a memorial to the Battle of Newburn Ford.
The battle took place in the Civil War. The Scots beat the English at this battle and went on to attack Newcastle. They only managed a draw there but they did some damage to the goalposts.
Beyond the battlefield we passed a pub, the Boathouse, but it was closed so we continued on a little further and crossed the river on the Newburn Bridge.
Newburn Bridge
Once on the south side we turned west on another footpath called The Keelmen's Way after the men who used to carry coal down the river.
We stopped at a bench where another man was sitting and we ate our small lunch as we talked to him.
Lunch was chocolate and an apple, washed down with apple juice but it was alright.
Saying goodbye to the man, who was dressed in camouflage trousers and jacket, we went on our way, passing Ryton Willows. The bushes there seemed to have been burned.
There were lots of blackberries on the bushes and we ate some sweet ones, but one had a spider's web on it.
Just before we came to Ryton Golf Course we came to a strange sight. An area, which was fenced off, had lots of plumes of smoke coming out of the ground. There used to be coal mines here and an underground fire has been burning for years, the smoke coming out of the ground like there was a volcano. It was warm too.
Once past the golf course we walked close to the railway line until we came to the station. We crossed the river and were soon back at the car park.
We went to the Coffee Tree and I had a pizza and grandad had a quiche. Then we went home and grandma made scrambled egg and beans on toast, but not straight away.
Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2019.
Our walk was an easy 6 miles, easier than Carey Burn but alright.
As recorded by Alex.
Most of the gadgies are on holiday still so I am taking my grandad for a walk on the River Tyne. It is a flat walk as he is having a bit of trouble with his knee and doesn't want to go up hills, or so he says.
The walk starts and finishes in Wylam, a large village west of Newcastle and easy to find. Drive west on the A69 and turn south at the sign that says Wylam. Easy. Drive through the village and just before the river there is a large car park. (Not the station one)
At the back of the car park there is a path, the Hadrian's Wall path which stretches right across the country close to the Roman Wall. We walked along it and pretty soon came to Stephenson's cottage.
The path was easy walking because it is flat and soon we came to Close House Golf Course. The people here are not keen on visitors because they have a very large sign saying "KEEP OFF". It looked nice though.
In the fields between the river and the path the farmer was growing maize, not for cornflakes but as animal feed.
Further on we came to Tyne Riverside Country Park which had exercise machines and things;
Nearby is a memorial to the Battle of Newburn Ford.
Beyond the battlefield we passed a pub, the Boathouse, but it was closed so we continued on a little further and crossed the river on the Newburn Bridge.
Once on the south side we turned west on another footpath called The Keelmen's Way after the men who used to carry coal down the river.
We stopped at a bench where another man was sitting and we ate our small lunch as we talked to him.
Lunch was chocolate and an apple, washed down with apple juice but it was alright.
Saying goodbye to the man, who was dressed in camouflage trousers and jacket, we went on our way, passing Ryton Willows. The bushes there seemed to have been burned.
There were lots of blackberries on the bushes and we ate some sweet ones, but one had a spider's web on it.
Just before we came to Ryton Golf Course we came to a strange sight. An area, which was fenced off, had lots of plumes of smoke coming out of the ground. There used to be coal mines here and an underground fire has been burning for years, the smoke coming out of the ground like there was a volcano. It was warm too.
Once past the golf course we walked close to the railway line until we came to the station. We crossed the river and were soon back at the car park.
We went to the Coffee Tree and I had a pizza and grandad had a quiche. Then we went home and grandma made scrambled egg and beans on toast, but not straight away.
Our walk was an easy 6 miles, easier than Carey Burn but alright.
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