A Roman Road and a Railway Line. (Northumberland) February 7th
Seven little gadgies, disguised as hobbits are off on a walk in the valley of the South Tyne, starting from Slaggyford. (O.E Choggeford in 1218 meaning a muddy ford and probably will be.
John H., John Ha., Ben, Brian, Ray, Dave and I met in the Kasteale café (run by a very nice lady with a good line in put downs for old men) in Haltwhistle ( O. E Hautwisel, the place where the streams meet by the hill) for breakfast. Take the A69 west and turn off for Lambley (A686) on the Haltwhistle bypass and join the A689 and follow signs for Slaggyford. There is parking by the old railway station and it's free.
You do not need a map of Middle Earth to follow these hobbits on their adventure but OS Explorer 43, Hadrian's Wall, makes an excellent guide.
This week's car park; close to Slaggyford Station which is currently the end of the narrow gauge railway which runs down the valley from Alston.
From the car park we crossed the line down the hill and turned right on the A689, heading south for several hundred yards to Thompson's Well Bridge. This is about the only bit of the Roman Road, Maidens Way, we touched. It ran from Kirby Thorne near Penrith to the fort Carvoran on Hadrian's Wall. Having crossed the South Tyne we came to Williamston, a small settlement with a 17th century farm house.
17th century farm house with modern drain pipes.
The path from here crossed fields and went through woodland, to Parson Shields and on to The Bog which was not as bad as we had feared it might be. Passing small waterfalls we came to Eals Bridge.
Eals Bridge over the South Tyne.
From the bridge we walked a metalled road through Eals. At a corner, near the river we settled down for a Herbie, making use of a low wall for seating.
Lunch on a cold but fairly bright day. An assortment of chocolate covered biscuits, cookies, ginger biscuits and scones from Mrs A of course.
After lunch we continued on the road, passing a footbridge that crossed the Tyne, over a few fields and up a steep but narrow footpath that climbed close to Mill House. At Oakleyside Wood the path was on the edge of the fields and we turned up a track towards Ashholme before turning almost back on ourselves, crossing fields to Hag Wood on Castle Hill and walking down to the old railway line just north of Lambley Viaduct.
Lambley Viaduct on the old South Tyne Railway that was. Thank you Dr. Beeching?
The viaduct is a public right of way but is blocked at the south end. To continue on the South Tyne Trail it is necessary to take the footpath at the end of the bridge down, almost to the river, and then climb up again.
The South Tyne from the Lambley Viaduct
Another view of the magnificent visduct
Once back on the old railway line we followed the South Tyne Trail for about four fairly flat miles back to Slaggyford. Easy walking but rewarded with fine views over the valley.
Waiting for the railway to open in summer for visitors.
Changed we headed for a favourite watering hole, the Boathouse at Wylam which had its usual selection of about a dozen hand pulled beers, and coffee.
This is a fairly easy walk, beautiful for its views in both winter and summer.
Contains OS data copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2020.
MATRIX FOR THE WALK
steps miles
NAK 24427 10.7
Dave's NAK 1 22426 10.02
""""""""""""""2 23305 10.03
SM 22484 10.65
OUTDOOR GPS 10.3
And a few more pictures of the day
Seven little gadgies, disguised as hobbits are off on a walk in the valley of the South Tyne, starting from Slaggyford. (O.E Choggeford in 1218 meaning a muddy ford and probably will be.
John H., John Ha., Ben, Brian, Ray, Dave and I met in the Kasteale café (run by a very nice lady with a good line in put downs for old men) in Haltwhistle ( O. E Hautwisel, the place where the streams meet by the hill) for breakfast. Take the A69 west and turn off for Lambley (A686) on the Haltwhistle bypass and join the A689 and follow signs for Slaggyford. There is parking by the old railway station and it's free.
You do not need a map of Middle Earth to follow these hobbits on their adventure but OS Explorer 43, Hadrian's Wall, makes an excellent guide.
From the car park we crossed the line down the hill and turned right on the A689, heading south for several hundred yards to Thompson's Well Bridge. This is about the only bit of the Roman Road, Maidens Way, we touched. It ran from Kirby Thorne near Penrith to the fort Carvoran on Hadrian's Wall. Having crossed the South Tyne we came to Williamston, a small settlement with a 17th century farm house.
The path from here crossed fields and went through woodland, to Parson Shields and on to The Bog which was not as bad as we had feared it might be. Passing small waterfalls we came to Eals Bridge.
From the bridge we walked a metalled road through Eals. At a corner, near the river we settled down for a Herbie, making use of a low wall for seating.
After lunch we continued on the road, passing a footbridge that crossed the Tyne, over a few fields and up a steep but narrow footpath that climbed close to Mill House. At Oakleyside Wood the path was on the edge of the fields and we turned up a track towards Ashholme before turning almost back on ourselves, crossing fields to Hag Wood on Castle Hill and walking down to the old railway line just north of Lambley Viaduct.
The viaduct is a public right of way but is blocked at the south end. To continue on the South Tyne Trail it is necessary to take the footpath at the end of the bridge down, almost to the river, and then climb up again.
Another view of the magnificent visduct
Once back on the old railway line we followed the South Tyne Trail for about four fairly flat miles back to Slaggyford. Easy walking but rewarded with fine views over the valley.
Waiting for the railway to open in summer for visitors.
Changed we headed for a favourite watering hole, the Boathouse at Wylam which had its usual selection of about a dozen hand pulled beers, and coffee.
This is a fairly easy walk, beautiful for its views in both winter and summer.
Contains OS data copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2020.
MATRIX FOR THE WALK
steps miles
NAK 24427 10.7
Dave's NAK 1 22426 10.02
""""""""""""""2 23305 10.03
SM 22484 10.65
OUTDOOR GPS 10.3
And a few more pictures of the day
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