A walk on the Wallington Estate (Northumberland) July 13th.
Another repeat, another gentle stroll in Northumberland. Five of us walking from Greenleighton around Fontburn Reservoir and back. Today's team: Brian, Margaret, Harry, Dave and me.
Head north from Newcastle through Ponteland to Scots Gap and continue in a northerly direction until you spot the signpost on the left for Greenleighton. There is a small car park in a disused quarry  free and gated.
 The map for this walk is OS OL 42 Kielder Water and Forest.
Today's car park in picturesque Northumberland.

                   Such an attractive car park it deserves two pictures.
We left the car park by the small gate to the right of the large gate and walked along the track, keeping to the right at the Greenleighton sign until we reached a gate.

                                          Keep right on to the next gate.
At the gate we turned left and kept to the edge of the field. Turning right at the corner we soon found the gate into a wood and followed the footpath down the edge of it to another gate, marked like most of this walk.
From here we walked across the moor with a few sheep for company and a view of Simonside.

                             Enough wool on that fence where the sheep have rubbed for a small sweater.
We followed the track across the field, got a little disorientated as we approached the wood at Fontburn but soon found the entrance to the reservoir waterside walk turning left through the gate and following a footpath which crossed a couple of streams by means of footbridges. It was a lovely woodland walk, flowers, butterflies and the" flies so numerous they did swarm."

                        Foxglove. In German it's Fingerhut but a lady in Austria told me the local name was Volksglaub

                                      Footbridge or Steg in German.
Eventually the fly ridden walk emerged from the woodland onto fields near Newbiggin Farm. The signpost by a gate that points the way to the waterside walk is not too visible and the footpath goes through thick bracken but eventually arrives close to the water's edge.

                                     First view of the reservoir.
The path, which eventually morphs into a track goes along the edge of the water which was pretty low today, until it reaches the dam.
We crossed the dam. Below are the treatment works and a fine Victorian viaduct on the long dismantled railway.

               Angling is now permitted but the reservoir is still closed. Once on a walk across the dam we watched a tanker pouring hundreds of live fish into the water.

                                Railway viaduct and treatment works.
On the south side of the dam, through a gate is the fishermen's shop, toilets and picnic tables. The amenities were closed but we made use of the tables for a Herbie Spot.

               Civilised Herbie Spot where we shared Titans, flapjacks and savoury tarts.

                       Weigh house and children's play area. Both closed.
Lunch over we continued round the water passing another closed building which is marked as a Visitor Centre on some maps and a Rare Breeds centre on others. We didn't see any visitors or rare breeds.
The path goes through woodland to a gate which we went through. Initially the path goes south and has post on it but somehow we got separated. Brian and Margaret took the correct path south west to the Trig Point on Greenleighton Hill and then followed the track back to the car. Harry, Dave and I continued on another track heading south.

                                Rare visitor centre

                            Looking back at the reservoir

                                   Friendly? Bullocks
At one point Dave climbed a well built dry stone wall and walked down to the road back to the car. Harry and I continued on our way to the road at Rothley Shield and walked back to the car.
This is an easy walk, little climbing but plenty to see. Good short exercise.

              Contains OS Data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2020

AND SOME DISTANCES
                                                                            steps                                miles
NAK1                                                                20352                               8.46
Dave's NAK 1                                                   15994                                7.32
"""""""""""2                                                       15903                                7.27
SM                                                                     16028                                 7.34
OUTDOOR                                                                                                   7.4
Brian                                                                                                              7.3

Three different paths but all pretty much the same distance.

The gadgies of Wooler Common are we. (Northumberland, July 10th)
  Great news, pubs have reopened, with restrictions, but they have opened. As a result at the end of today's walk we may get a pint, or a coffee.
Today's walk starts from Wooler Common, known to gadgies as "Who let the dogs out" simply because on one occasion we were there an ice cream van played this "tune" instead of the usual chimes.
To get there, A1, A697, turn into Wooler and turn up the road signed "WOOLER COMMON". After a couple of miles there is a car park on the right, and a nature trail.
The walk is on OS OL 16 The Cheviot Hills and a map is advisable.
Good team out today: Dave, Brian, Margaret, John L., John H, Harry and me.
The forecast is for a mainly dry day with some showers.

  Today's car park, surrounded by woodland and free!
We left the car park crossing a stream by means of a footbridge and as soon as we got into the wood took the footpath on the left which climbed up to a gate. Like good boys and girl we made sure it was closed once we were all through.

                                            Off we go.
All safely through we followed the footpath across a field before turning almost due north to walk a grassy track, passing an upturned trailer on the right, wheels in the air like a dead animal. I'm sure it used to be the right way up.
Some distance down the track we went through a gate on the left and started to climb Humbleton Hill. A steep climb so early in a walk. On the top are the remains of an Iron Age Hill fort and close by is the site of the Battle of Homildon Hill, fought between the English and the Scots in 1402. On this occasion the English won. (Homildon is the old spelling of Humbleton)

                     Piles of stones now but once they were protective walls, possibly 9 feet high.

            It's a bivallate fort, two sets of walls.

                    Marked on the OS map as a Currick which is a northern word for cairn. The "benches " are fairly new.

                               Looking east
  Having admired the view, and rested, and talked to a chap taking his five year old grandson for a hill walk we moved on.
The path goes initially just north of west before turning north east and also, thankfully, going downhill.
At one point we came to a farm track heading north but we took the footpath alongside walls around the side of Harehope Hill. At one point a fairly fat adder slithered across the grass but before I could get my camera out it disappeared into the bracken. At a gate in the wall we turned right and walked down to the farm at Gleadscleugh.

                                               Gleadscleugh 
At the farm we took the track heading south west, passing a very square enclosure on one side of the valley.

                         Square and bare.
We finally reached a gate, turned right and walked uphill for a few hundred yards before deciding a grassy bank would make an fine Herbie Spot.

                  Hebie Spot and view. We shared Gold bars, Titans, Ringtons brilliant ginger biscuits, biscuits and almond tarts from Mrs A.
Having filled up, and it felt like it after non sharing days in lockdown, we walked a short way to admire Tom Tallon's Crags, although we could only really get a bit of a glimpse of the top of them. We decided it wasn't worth going that extra mile to look at an old tor.

                          Tom Tallon's Crag
From here we headed south on a rough track to Commonburn house which had a number of dogs in the kennels. I think they are used for hunting.

                 Commonburn House and dogs. 
(If you want to shorten the walk follow the tarmac road from the farm, it goes directly to the car park)

 From the south side of the house we took the footpath across fields and crossed the Common Burn using the footbridge. At this point it started to rain, heavily so we sheltered in the wood, hoping there would not be a thunderstorm. When the shower stopped we walked the footpath over the moor to Broadstruther, that well known Herbie Spot on previous walks. The footpath is well posted and easy to follow although Harry and I reminisced about the day we crossed it in deep snow, it was hard going.

               6/7ths of the team at Broadstruther

             Broadstruther looking very tidy. Shooting starts on August 12th and this place is used as a shooting lodge, lunch spot and so on.
From Broadstruther we followed the farm track down to the Hazelly Burn, crossed the stream and followed the footpath down to the familiar Carey Burn.

                   Walking down to the burn and crossing the bridge.
From the bridge we headed east to the point where the path divides. The right fork goes to the famous Carey Burn bridge. The left, which we took climbs steeply on what is called the Hell Path. It levels out, thankfully, crosses fields to a farm and then the footpath crosses a couple of fields and goes down to the car park.
On the way home we stopped at the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Longhorsely. Restrictions apply, give your name and phone number but getting back to a pub after a walk really made the day. Sadly I was driving!

                    Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2020

And a matrix.
                                                                     steps                               miles
NAK 1                                                       29304                              11.1
Dave's NAK 1                                           24424                               10.4
""""""""""""2                                             24455                               10.42
SM                                                             24413                               10.4
OUTDOOR                                                                                        10.3
Brian                                                                                                   10.2
And a few more