Two walks in Northumberland
May. 5th, 2009 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustTen days ago, we walked on the moors above Blanchland: we parked at Baybridge, which is just in County Durham, but crossed the county boundary straight away, and set off on a steady climb up the private road. We skirted a patch of woodland on a farm track, and then turned off the track up through the field, through another patch of woodland and out at the top near the shooting hut. It was a bit early for lunch, but this was the only shelter for miles around, so we ate our sandwiches in the hut.
From here our route followed the carriers' way, along the ridge of the moors, a good path with open views off to the left. For some reason, the landscape was dotted with scarecrows, most of them in high visibility jackets, but this one elegant in a pink frock-coat - a Regency dandy. What is this terrain managed for, if not the game birds? Then down, through traces of abandoned mines (a tree growing out of a mine shaft, a glimpse of old mine buildings in the woods) to Pennypie House, and down on the path through the trees into Blanchland. It wasn't a long walk, but by this time we were ready to take the easy route back along the north bank of the Derwent, so it wasn't until the very end of our route that we crossed the river back into County Durham.
Last Sunday, we had errands to do in the morning, but agreed to meet Sue WINOLJ. We lunched at Vallum Farm - on Hadrian's Wall, as the name implies, visited Aydon Castle, a fortified manor house perched high above a burn, the slopes reeking with wild garlic that has finally come into bloom this last week or so, with pink campions and stands of bluebells among the white stars of garlic. There was an abrupt and very cold shower while we were there, and we thought maybe we should abandon the idea of a walk, but the sun came out again, and we decided to risk it.
From the car park at Aydon we could see the start point of our walk, the pele tower of Halton Castle. After we had poked around the little church, and admired the Roman altar in the churchyard, and the topiary pig (or mouse; but it has a very curly tail), we set off around the house, out through the gate and through the meadow onto a tricky little path: narrow, slippery after the shower, perched on the edge of a slope above the burn - carpeted with stichwort, primroses and violets, but offering no encouragement to stop and look. Down to the footbridge, up the other side, and out onto a minor road, with a wide open view back to Aydon Castle, the sun sahining on its distinctive cluster of chimneys.
The road brought us onto open grassland, where sheep wandered about between the gorse bushes, thick with gloden flowers and heavy with scent, which we crossed and then picked our way cautiously across a muddy field, at the far end of which a group of shaggy cattle watched us with mild interest and then returned to their grazing. This was disconcerting enought that we crossed through a gap in the fence which, in hindsight, we should not have done, and were obliged to climb the fence at the far end to bring uos into the yard of Portgate Farm.
From here another minor road brought us to the Portgate itself, the point at which Dere Street crosses the Wall - in modern terms, the big roundabout on the A68. At this point we picked up the Hadrian's Wall footpath, and although I'd been sceptical about this, assuming it would be mainly an exercise in rebranding existing footpaths, I was very impressed by this stretch. Initially it followed the road, but a path had been made at the far side of the verge, screened from the traffic by scrub; a very neatly designed stile carried us over the wall into the fields, and from there to the fort at Onnum, lumps and bumps in the grassland overlaid by the elegant stone gateposts of Halton Castle - where we turned back to our starting point:
We laughed at the warning to look out for ducks, but when we got back to the car, there they were, maybe a dozen of them altogether, half darkly elegant, half lighter coloured with a fluffy white quiff - an aristoctratic eccentricity of dress.
After which Sue took us home and fed us pasta in the shape of Cologne cathedral.
From here our route followed the carriers' way, along the ridge of the moors, a good path with open views off to the left. For some reason, the landscape was dotted with scarecrows, most of them in high visibility jackets, but this one elegant in a pink frock-coat - a Regency dandy. What is this terrain managed for, if not the game birds? Then down, through traces of abandoned mines (a tree growing out of a mine shaft, a glimpse of old mine buildings in the woods) to Pennypie House, and down on the path through the trees into Blanchland. It wasn't a long walk, but by this time we were ready to take the easy route back along the north bank of the Derwent, so it wasn't until the very end of our route that we crossed the river back into County Durham.
Last Sunday, we had errands to do in the morning, but agreed to meet Sue WINOLJ. We lunched at Vallum Farm - on Hadrian's Wall, as the name implies, visited Aydon Castle, a fortified manor house perched high above a burn, the slopes reeking with wild garlic that has finally come into bloom this last week or so, with pink campions and stands of bluebells among the white stars of garlic. There was an abrupt and very cold shower while we were there, and we thought maybe we should abandon the idea of a walk, but the sun came out again, and we decided to risk it.
From the car park at Aydon we could see the start point of our walk, the pele tower of Halton Castle. After we had poked around the little church, and admired the Roman altar in the churchyard, and the topiary pig (or mouse; but it has a very curly tail), we set off around the house, out through the gate and through the meadow onto a tricky little path: narrow, slippery after the shower, perched on the edge of a slope above the burn - carpeted with stichwort, primroses and violets, but offering no encouragement to stop and look. Down to the footbridge, up the other side, and out onto a minor road, with a wide open view back to Aydon Castle, the sun sahining on its distinctive cluster of chimneys.
The road brought us onto open grassland, where sheep wandered about between the gorse bushes, thick with gloden flowers and heavy with scent, which we crossed and then picked our way cautiously across a muddy field, at the far end of which a group of shaggy cattle watched us with mild interest and then returned to their grazing. This was disconcerting enought that we crossed through a gap in the fence which, in hindsight, we should not have done, and were obliged to climb the fence at the far end to bring uos into the yard of Portgate Farm.
From here another minor road brought us to the Portgate itself, the point at which Dere Street crosses the Wall - in modern terms, the big roundabout on the A68. At this point we picked up the Hadrian's Wall footpath, and although I'd been sceptical about this, assuming it would be mainly an exercise in rebranding existing footpaths, I was very impressed by this stretch. Initially it followed the road, but a path had been made at the far side of the verge, screened from the traffic by scrub; a very neatly designed stile carried us over the wall into the fields, and from there to the fort at Onnum, lumps and bumps in the grassland overlaid by the elegant stone gateposts of Halton Castle - where we turned back to our starting point:
We laughed at the warning to look out for ducks, but when we got back to the car, there they were, maybe a dozen of them altogether, half darkly elegant, half lighter coloured with a fluffy white quiff - an aristoctratic eccentricity of dress.
After which Sue took us home and fed us pasta in the shape of Cologne cathedral.
