Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

My trip reports seem to taking longer to appear here than I might like so here’s a report of a visit that I made to Northumberland at the start of the month. The fine weather coaxed me out this past weekend too but there should be more on those activities to follow, hopefully later this week. Anyway, back to that trip up north…

February was beginning with a very promising outlook for snow and I was very tempted by the prospect. Having the whole weekend free for the first time in a while placed things into a sharper focus. However, the weather warnings that abounded might have tempered those thoughts but for a certain degree of cynicism regarding Met Office weather warnings. I shouldn’t be getting the impression that the slightest suggestion of adverse weather results in the issuing of warnings for areas with even the slightest chance of disruption but that’s what has been happening. I don’t doubt that warnings need to be issued but I’d rather it if the precision was a bit better than what seems to be the case at the moment; then you can treat them with the attention that they should command.

Once I make my mind up that I am going away, I then decide on the destination. Thoughts of snow covered slopes put the idea of heading to Fort William on the the Caledonian Sleeper into my mind. Even with my scepticism of weather warnings, thoughts of marching into the face of a blizzard didn’t appeal to me given my lack of experience of snowy conditions. So the Scottish escapade was placed on hold and I cast my eye over the weather map of the U.K. and that turned up Northumberland as an alternative. In particular, the hills near Wooler sounded an enticing proposition. True, I could have hugged the coast and avoided any difficulties but the prospect of trampling the white stuff wasn’t at all discouraging.

With the destination decided, it was then a matter of getting there. Friday night saw Macclesfield getting a dusting of snow so I crunched my way to the train station for the first departure of the day for Manchester; this was the right kind of snow: crunchy, grippy and not icy and/or slushy. A change in Piccadilly got onto the train that was to take me to York and there plenty of sightings of snowy moorland on the way to Leeds. However, there was rather too much time to enjoy what looking outside since my train got stuck behind a late local stopping service and a lady suffered a loss/theft onboard (hope everything worked out OK for her since, any delay that I suffered was a minor problem in comparison). The result was that I missed my connection in a non too snowy York and arrived in Berwick-upon-Tweed an hour later than planned. There was no snow in Berwick either but I was to be satisfied that I still continued to Wooler by bus anyway: the white stuff was there for all to see on the hills, even if it had retreated from the lower ground.

I had been in Wooler once before, in September 2006, and I put my previous trip to use on arrival and avoided any dawdling before getting to the hills. The road to Wooler Common retained its dusting of snow and even was icy in places so rushing was not a good option. I didn’t and still made my way onto St. Cuthbert’s Way in good time to reach the snow after passing through some woodland. The landscape up high was well blanketed so some navigational confusion could be forgiven. However, the presence of good tracks and my having been hereabouts before served me well as I added to my experience of snowy conditions. Like my previous visit, I could only proceed so far before turning back and the turning point this time was further on than the last time. It was something of wrench to tear myself away from the quality Views west towards the Cheviot but I needed to return to civilisation.

A circular walk was in mind but my plans were changed by that late train. For a time, it looked as if my route was about to be an out and back affair until the idea of taking a diversion around by Humbleton came to mind. It was a choice that I was glad to have made as, for some reason, I started to proceed with childish abandon as my boots sank into several inches of powder dry snow. The snow had been dry and hospitable for all of my walk but this episode seems to linger in the memory. It wasn’t as if I didn’t enjoy the outing and I have thoughts of returning, always a good thing. Maybe, a walk from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm might be in order? Sounds good to me.

Due to a "life event" (as Weird Darren calls them), my attention went away from this blog for a while. Nevertheless, I still got out to do some walking and, now that I’m back, I have two trips to share with you. The most recent of these was a snowy tramp in Northumberland last Saturday and the previous Sunday saw me embark on a muddy hike in Staffordshire’s moorlands. Ground and weather conditions on both walks couldn’t be more different and it only goes to show how huge a period of time that a week can be in weather terms. I’ll write them up separately with the Staffordshire ramble coming first.

Last Saturday, I took my chance after all of the naff weather that we have been having and headed off to the hills when the opportunity presented itself. Northumberland offered the chance of a dry day when showers were afflicting other parts. The railway got me to Hexham and back again, with changes at Manchester and Carlisle along the way. Hexham, with its centrally-located abbey, was a tempting proposition but my plans meant that it had to be left for another day. From Hexham, I took the useful Tyne Valley Coaches 880 to and from Bellingham. Plus Bus ticketing would have covered both rail and road transport but for the fact that I did not realise it: something for the future then.

While there, I took a stroll along a short section of the Pennine Way out as far as Hareshaw House before returning on another public footpath. The ramble took me into and out of the Northumberland National Park, which excludes Bellingham for some reason. Unsurprisingly given the weather that we have been having recently, muddy stretches abounded and extra care was needed when going through any gates: I still retain the memory of having mud up to my left shin after a careless step while following the Dane Valley Way as part of a walk from the Cat and Fiddle Inn in Cheshire to Rushton Spencer in Staffordshire around this time of year in 2004. On my way back to Bellingham, I followed what clearly was an alignment of some sort, almost like the bed of a railway track and raised in places. However, its bridges over streams have not survived so some diversions proved necessary; I still returned to Bellingham with an hour to spare, time that allowed me to savour some walks along the North Tyne (which joins with the South Tyne to give, you’ve guessed it, the same River Tyne that flows through Newcastle-upon-Tyne: they don’t seem to expend much energy naming rivers up here) before the light faded completely.

I only got to savour but a small sample of the countryside that surrounds Bellingham so there is further potential for walking trips. And I think that I need to find out more about the area as well…

On Saturday, I got to revisit Northumberland and expand my knowledge of the county. The start was early but I did get to Newcastle-upon-Tyne by 10:40 and travelled north to Berwick-upon-Tweed aboard a rail replacement coach that very nearly got me there in time to catch the 12:00 bus to Wooler. Along the way, I caught glimpses of Bamburgh castle and Holy Island in the distance. I had plans to catch a bus back to Belford and walk to Bamburgh, and maybe beyond, before catching a bus back to Newcastle.

However, the call of the Cheviots proved too strong and I ended up in Wooler by 13:50 (a bit late, I know) after spending a little time taking in a little of what Berwick has to offer. In the glorious sunshine, everywhere looked fantastic but I had to choose between coast and hill and it was a difficult choice. After spending a few hours of exploring a section of St. Cuthbert’s Way, I continued to Alnwick where I only spent minutes before continuing back to Newcastle on a bus that took me round by Alnmouth (where I had been in January), Warkworth (home to an enticing castle) and Amble before it made its way to Morpeth and its final destination. From there, it was the railway that returned me home after a worthwhile day that had its share of tight transport connections, especially on the way home.

Following my ramble, my ideas and plans for exploring Northumberland have firmed up a little more. For the Northumberland National Park, there are a number of gateways with reasonable public transport options: Haltwhistle, Hexham, Bellingham, Rothbury, Wooler, Kelso and Kirk Yetholm. Now that I have been to Wooler, I can continue my explorations at leisure (all going well). St. Cuthbert’s Way, mentioned earlier, passes through the Cheviots on its way from Melrose in the Scottish Borders, before heading across Northumberland to its destination on Holy Island. The route reflects that taken by St. Cuthbert himself through his life. Alnwick, while home to historic Alnwick castle (home of the Duke of Northumberland), is also sited in hill country of its own and worthy a little more attention. Northumberland’s coast remains an attraction with places like Amble, Warkworth and others worth revisiting. In addition, I have recently learned that a long distance footpath following this coast and there are a good supply of cycle trails as well. With the land near the coast is reasonably flat as well which makes cycling a good option.

Being a large county with a low population and dramatic hilly countryside means that care and planning are required when using public transport in Northumberland. Northumberland County Council does produce a useful leaflet that helps a lot with bus services but Traveline remains the best authority. Train services are provided in the county by GNER, Virgin Trains and Northern Rail but it is the bus network that really allows travel to its many sights. What follows are a series of pointers as regards getting to these.

After experiencing Northumberland’s glorious coastline last January, I fancy the idea of a return. Arriva and Travelsure operate useful services that allow you to get to such sights as Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle and the villages like Alnmouth that dot the coast. Trains serve Berwick-upon-Tweed and Alnmouth to boot. Historic Alnwick, some miles inland, is also well served with buses.

Exploring Northumberland’s national park, one of the least visited of the bunch, remains an aspiration of mine. Given the distance from Macclesfield, a day trip is a tricky proposition but having engineering works on the train line between Edinburgh and Newcastle-upon-Tyne like on next Saturday and Sunday (with journey times doubled as a result) makes it even trickier. Nevertheless, a journey to Hexham via Carlisle remains a viable possibility with a ride on bus service thereafter. Overnight coaches might help but spending a weekend in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Hexham or Newcastle is an altogether more comfortable proposition, allowing for Friday night travel and a long Sunday journey home (a minor perturbation if enough time is allowed). A stay in Berwick would mean that I could then pop over and back from Wooler from there on services 267 and 464 and enjoy a day in the Cheviots. Weather permitting, that remains a possibility for the coming weekend. Otherwise, basing myself in Newcastle could get me to Rothbury, Kielder and Bellingham.