Walking near Peels and Bastles (Northumberland)
September 1st.
An extra walk for me with John Lockey and friends. Walking from Greenhaugh, following in the footsteps of the gadgies who pioneered this outing earlier in 2019.
To reach the start we drove through Ponteland on the A696 and turned left just beyond West Woodburn on a minor road and followed signs for the village of Greenhaugh. a busy little place, we parked off the road just beyond the Hollybush Inn.
Booted up, six of us, three men and three women, set off heading south out of the village, across a bridge and turned right down a lane close to Greenhaugh Hall which is a retreat of sorts.
Sun dappled lane on a day when showers are promised. So far, so good.
We crossed a ford, very shallow although there is a footbridge near by, continued on the path, round a farm, along a grassy (and muddy) track before heading diagonally across a field heading for Thorneyburn Lodge.
On a previous occasion John and I had problems at this point and finished up limbo dancing under barbed wire. As we looked at the map a lady cam*e out of the lodge and pointed out the best route to follow. She was very interesting and explained that the church down the road, St Aidan's, was one of several built after Trafalgar (1805, we beat the French) as livings for the chaplains who had served on the larger battleships and were no longer required. Collingwood, Nelson's successor, had helped with the breaking up of a large Northumberland parish into five smaller ones for these men. He had also had a hand in building of schools, the lady now lived in what had been one! And a nice looking house it was too.
We took her advice and walked down the road, passing not only the church but also these:
A yurt
A wooden map
An open air wigwam( or tipi?)
The church.
At the end of the road we turned left and walked to Redheugh, passing a dovecote on the way.
A dovecote on the way.
Now we were in Kielder Forest, supposedly the largest man made one in Europe. We followed the forest track until we reached the signpost for The Black Middens car park. (Black Middens is a bastle house). From here we took the riverside footpath through woodland, around a field and finally we reached Comb where we stopped for lunch, sitting with backs against a wall.
Weddings and company bonding catered for
Lunch over the heavens opened, not just rain but hail too. Those with waterproof trousers donned them, him without got wet but the sun came out and dried up all the rain, eventually.
We followed the forestry track through Birkley Wood although the right hand section has been cleared. After about a mile we turned right and walked downhill to a stream and footbridge. The area is called Lightning Bog for some reason.
Stream and footbridge.
The track climbed to a rightangled bend and after a short distance it turned to the left and we were on a very straight path, a lime kiln on the left.
Lime kiln and straight road, almost as good as a Roman one.
After a mile or so we turned off the road and took the track to Heathery Hall, walked round it, down hill across fields to a minor road.
Turning left we past Gatehouse Farm which boasts two bastles, turned into a field and followed the footpath to Sneep Farm.
Gatehouse Farm; two bastles (fortified houses against the Scots)
From Sneep Farm we followed a footpath to Burnmouth where we joined a minor road and soon we were back in Greenhaugh.
Having removed muddy boots we went to the Holly Bush, a busy little pub offering three ales, Nels Best, Border Brewery and Flat Tyre. I had the Border Brewery, very refreshing too and we sat in the garden to drink>
This walk is about 10.5 miles, easy going, gentle slopes.
Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2019.
September 1st.
An extra walk for me with John Lockey and friends. Walking from Greenhaugh, following in the footsteps of the gadgies who pioneered this outing earlier in 2019.
To reach the start we drove through Ponteland on the A696 and turned left just beyond West Woodburn on a minor road and followed signs for the village of Greenhaugh. a busy little place, we parked off the road just beyond the Hollybush Inn.
Booted up, six of us, three men and three women, set off heading south out of the village, across a bridge and turned right down a lane close to Greenhaugh Hall which is a retreat of sorts.
We crossed a ford, very shallow although there is a footbridge near by, continued on the path, round a farm, along a grassy (and muddy) track before heading diagonally across a field heading for Thorneyburn Lodge.
On a previous occasion John and I had problems at this point and finished up limbo dancing under barbed wire. As we looked at the map a lady cam*e out of the lodge and pointed out the best route to follow. She was very interesting and explained that the church down the road, St Aidan's, was one of several built after Trafalgar (1805, we beat the French) as livings for the chaplains who had served on the larger battleships and were no longer required. Collingwood, Nelson's successor, had helped with the breaking up of a large Northumberland parish into five smaller ones for these men. He had also had a hand in building of schools, the lady now lived in what had been one! And a nice looking house it was too.
We took her advice and walked down the road, passing not only the church but also these:
At the end of the road we turned left and walked to Redheugh, passing a dovecote on the way.
Now we were in Kielder Forest, supposedly the largest man made one in Europe. We followed the forest track until we reached the signpost for The Black Middens car park. (Black Middens is a bastle house). From here we took the riverside footpath through woodland, around a field and finally we reached Comb where we stopped for lunch, sitting with backs against a wall.
Lunch over the heavens opened, not just rain but hail too. Those with waterproof trousers donned them, him without got wet but the sun came out and dried up all the rain, eventually.
We followed the forestry track through Birkley Wood although the right hand section has been cleared. After about a mile we turned right and walked downhill to a stream and footbridge. The area is called Lightning Bog for some reason.
The track climbed to a rightangled bend and after a short distance it turned to the left and we were on a very straight path, a lime kiln on the left.
Lime kiln and straight road, almost as good as a Roman one.
After a mile or so we turned off the road and took the track to Heathery Hall, walked round it, down hill across fields to a minor road.
Turning left we past Gatehouse Farm which boasts two bastles, turned into a field and followed the footpath to Sneep Farm.
From Sneep Farm we followed a footpath to Burnmouth where we joined a minor road and soon we were back in Greenhaugh.
Having removed muddy boots we went to the Holly Bush, a busy little pub offering three ales, Nels Best, Border Brewery and Flat Tyre. I had the Border Brewery, very refreshing too and we sat in the garden to drink>
This walk is about 10.5 miles, easy going, gentle slopes.
No comments:
Post a Comment