Gadgie Walks

Lunch with Maid Marian. (Northumberland) May 4th

A few hundred yards from his castle of Harry Potter fame, the Duke of Northumberland has a fine park, Hulne Park. It is open to the public most days but if you want to walk in it check opening hours at www.northumberlandestates.co.uk.

I have also been informed that the park was used for filming of the first Blackadder when the Prince of that name was played by Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean

Today four of us, Dave, Margaret, Brian and I are heading for the park, partly because the forecast is poor and there is some shelter in woodland. The forecast was right, it was raining heavily when we reached the entrance.

To get to the park A1 north, turn off for Alnwick and drive through the town, following the one way system. At the castle entrance turn left and turn left again a few hundred yards further on.

Parking is permitted on one side of the road and it is limited, but free.

The map for the walk is OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble but if you go to the estate website mentioned above you can download a map showing the three colour coded routes through the park. I won't print it because it is probably under copyright and I have no intention in being dumped in one of the Duke's darkest and dampest dungeons.

Car park and entrance to Hulne Park.

The three walks, red, blue and yellow, start at the gate and are as one for the first couple of miles.

Fine example of a hemmel, used as shelter for animals and storage of forage.

Just beyond the hemmel the red route turns off to the right towards the park farm but the one we are following, blue, continues on a narrow road. After a short distance we turned left onto the yellow route and headed uphill towards the Brizlee Tower.

Brizlee Tower and info board. There is a large sign imploring visitors to keep off the grass but we misread it and examined the tower from its base. Naughty.

Moving on from the tower we followed the yellow route on a circular woodland stroll passing the nine year old boy's cave and a statue.

Cave and guardian. Dave maintains he charges 50p to enter the cave.

Having completed the circle we turned right and walked back down to the blue trail.

The road goes through fields and woodland before reaching East Brizlee bridge and joining the "Palmstrother Drive".

East Brizlee bridge over the river Aln.

For some distance the road runs alongside woodland on the left, grassland on the right before following the river for a while. At this popint we walked up the grassy slope to the ruins of Hulne Abbey and called a Herbie, sitting on some stones outside the ruin, looking over the valley below.

A quick tour of Hulne Abbey (or Priory) Founded in 1240 by Carmelites, mostly a ruin now but there is a cottage inside the walls. A polite notice asks visitors not to picnic inside which is why we sat outside for our Herbie,(Chocolate, Racers, chocolate and fruit cake and Quiche Leekaine tarts from Mrs A)

The abbey was used as the home of Maid Marian in the film "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves"

Lunch over we walked round the grounds of the Abbey before heading downhill onto the Lady's Well Drive. The drive runs parallel to the river, mostly with grassland on the left. Today there were many lambs running around, carefully watched by their mums.

We crossed the river at Filhert Haugh Bridge and walked first on grassland and then through woodland until we were nearly opposite Alnwick Abbey.

The gatehouse at Alnwick Abbey, all that is left of a Premonstratensian monastery dating back to 1147. No prizes for who caused it to be closed. It is difficult to see through the trees from the blue path.

Turning uphill we were soon back on the drive leading to the gate.

The drive is lined with "Montezuma Cypress " trees, oddly twisted trunks and not yet in leaf, probably because they are evergreen

Changed we went to what has become a favourite lockdown watering hole, the Cook and Barker, but it was closed. We drove on to the Ridley Arms in Stannington which had a large but cold beer garden and, more important was open, offering Anarchy, Pennine or Farne Island ales. Grand.