Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

After having thought of it for a few Saturdays, I finally sorted myself for a walk by Northumberland’s coastline from Alnmouth to Embleton. It had been January 2006 when I last walked from Alnmouth to Craster. Then, the hoped for combination of blue skies and sunshine didn’t materialise so photographic opportunities were limited. While amazed at how long it took for me to follow up on the earlier visit, there was set to be no problem with the weather for February’s visit. In fact, I was playing with the idea of an overnight stay with a less taxing Sunday to follow a coastal on Saturday but returned home that night and went for a short cycle around Macclesfield and Bollington the next day. Limbs may have been tired but both places saw the sunny that didn’t come their way the previous day.

Having not been there for more than six years made for imperfect recollection of the route as I found out more than once. It also made for changes such as extra cycle paths added by SUSTRANS for their Coast and Castles cycling route (NCN 1). This was what I discovered at the other side of a hedge while going from Alnmouth train station to Alnmouth. Also, there was little sign of the Northumberland Coast Path when I came this way last and it’s made an appearance on maps since then as has St. Oswald’s Way, with which it shares some of the same route. Nevertheless, there was little sign of waymarkers for the latter and those for the former had become faded so I really needed a newer map to be sure of the line of my route.

After a road walk took me from Alnmouth railway station, I reached the village of the same name.Prior to entry, I stopped on the bridge over the River Aln to see if could make some photos before continuing on my way. In my haste to set off walking along coastline the last time around, I avoided Alnmouth’s pretty main street on my first visit but this omission was remedied this time around. Everything may have been a little too close together for photos but it good to savour it all the same. At its end, I picked up a coastal path and trotted along it before dropping in on a handy public convenience.

Rather than sticking with rights of way that cut through a golf course, I opted for a well trodden path up by its coastal side before cutting a little inland to pick up the Northumberland Coastal Path again near Marden Rocks. Then, it was onto Foxton Hall, the hub of yet another golf course and one of which I oddly have no recollection from my first passage by there. That may explain my need for establishing my route onward from there before I dropped onto the beach as the right of way dictated. For those occasions when high tide obstructs the route, there is an alternative that goes by public footpath and road.

To get to Seaton Point, I needed neither though walking over loose stones was less pleasant than threading on grassland and reaching wet sand didn’t come a moment too soon. Then, it was a case of rising up off the beach to reach Seaton House and its assorted collection of summer houses, by which the right of way passed. Beyond those, it was straightforward and quiet undisturbed walking to Boulmer. The OS map may make it look as if you are going along a beach for much of this but I was walking on grass turf for the most of it.

At Boulmer, the signed restrictions on the taking of fishing bait from a proscribed area were a curiosity as was that of the local sea rescue service. The first was the business of Alnwick District Council while it surprised that the second wasn’t that of the RNLI. They say that there is an independent spirit in Northumberland so that may be part of the explanation for that state of affairs.

Leaving those curiosities behind, I continued with heading north by using a byway open to all traffic that is an off-road section of NCN 1. At this point, I began to veer away from that around Longhoughton Steel and got in generous views up the coast towards Bamburgh Castle. the perceived distance did spur me along but there was another deviation from the line of the trail before I decided on keeping to its line more rigorously. Twitches in muscles may have helped to convince me of the sense of this but there had been no loss of route completeness since I have been the way before anyway.

Around Iron Scars, I left the byway after me to pick up a footpath. Since I was beyond where the end of a road leading out from Longhoughton, there were more folk about now than was the case earlier and families were among them. Views were shared and I shortened the distance to Rumbling Kern. Beyond there I passed Howick and noted improvements to the path since I last had been the way, particularly the part that shadowed a single track road.

Cullernose Point was growing ever closer now and the proximity of Craster was yet another explanation for how many were going the way along with me. The glorious day must have drawn them too as did the school mid-term break. The weather certainly was a departure from the struggles that the sun had in effecting any light on cliffs when I passed this way before. The result this time around was a feast for the eyes and there remained quiet spaces at which I could stop a while and take it in before the path took me up onto Long Heugh and over by those same cliffs.

The progress into Craster was good and the sight of Bamburgh Castle was luring me along though Craster is a not unpretty spot either. Last time around, it was at this point that I decided to turn around before without passing the nearby castle at all. With time in my favour, I decided to set that piece of unfinished business to rights.

What an English Heritage monument like this wasn’t going to offer was having it to myself so getting photos like what you see above needed some patience. Nevertheless, good things come to those who wait and a few uncluttered photos of the ruin were mine to keep. It was below the castle that I decided to continue to Embleton after making good time from Craster. Unfortunately, there was no time to dawdle around the castle itself but that can be an excuse for another visit, never a bad thing.

Beyond the castle, I noticed a defensive element not apparent from the south: a cliff face. That would have made it difficult to approach from the north so they had cut down on one option for attack. It’s being atop a hummock too must have helped until the age of the cannon finally did for the fortification. The ample views up and down the coast must explain the position of the castle too. Maybe that’s also why so many spend time around there.

The rest of my walk was to carry me across yet another golf course; they seem to be plentiful in these parts, perhaps because of the sandy soil. While the public footpath weaves its way across the course, the coastal path takes a less intrusive line by following its boundary. Nevertheless, there were waymarking posts directing those who fancied using the former though the later would be my personal preference.

Light was declining at this stage and I reckon that time went faster than I’d have liked it to go too. Maybe I dallied as I walked along but a reality check around Dunstan Steads saw an end to any sense of dawdling. From then, it was with a sense of purpose that I reached the end of the road from Embleton and then dealt with the height gain to reach the village itself. Travel contingencies were emerging in my mind but I was in time for a double decker bus to pick me up from the front of the Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel, even if I was unsure of its being an official stop; others with signs were to be seen later so that’s useful information for future excursions.

In the fading light, it was a curious experience to feel the undulations of Northumberland roads on the top deck of the bus. It weaved in and out of Craster (telling me where the main bus stop is to be found) before making for Longhoughton and passed Boulmer RAF Helicopter Station before going though Lesbury on its way to Alnwick. It was along roads like these that I trotted to return to Alnmouth train station on my first visit to the area, with a head torch being needed south of Longhoughton. This time around, I was able to relax, rest my limbs and let the bus do the work while I pondered a return to explore Alnwick itself and other places besides. Northumberland remains a place of unfinished business for me but the same can be said for anywhere that I have visited, if I am to be honest about it.

Travel Arrangements:

Train travel from Macclesfield to Alnmouth with changes at Manchester and York. Bus service 501 from Embleton to Newcastle and train travel home again, changing at Manchester.

My first two major walking outings of this year have been in parts of England and they share one thing in common: they are reminders of past excursions. The second of these happened over the weekend and took me to Northumberland where I walked along the coast from Alnmouth to Embleton and took in  Dunstanburgh Castle along the way. That recalled a trot of a cloudy day over six years ago that also started from Alnmouth but went as far as Craster before I turned towards Alnmouth train station again. Last Saturday had me hiking in far sunnier if more blustery conditions so I could make more of my surroundings in the photographic sense. Having been delighted by what I have revisited, thoughts of continuing north from Embleton as far as Bamburgh are coming to mind along with those proposing a visit to Alnwick Castle.

January’s stroll from the Cat and Fiddle Inn to Buxton reminded me of an earlier outing in November 2004 (not a great year weatherwise so the ground was very unsound in places) that took me from the same starting point but finished at Rushton Spencer in the dark. Again, more cloud abounded on that day it was a release to have gotten out of doors even if a careless step landed me up to my shin in brown Staffordshire clay. It was with very muddy feet that I caught the bus home from Rushton Spencer that evening though there was no comment from driver or passengers.

Those two returns of a kind have me wondering if there might be more of that this year. However, I have unspent ideas from exploring other parts of Staffordshire and Derbyshire that may come in handy yet. After all, lurking on Twitter is revealing more of the delights that lie not so far away from me and that has me asking if this could be a year of Peak District walking trips. Only time will answer that question.

Weatherwise, 2012 started like a lion in some parts with Scotland getting a particular battering. Before that the second day of the year saw me crossing hills to pop over to Buxton. That act planted in my mind the prospect of exploring more of Macclesfield’s hills this year. However, the following weekend was a quiet one for me.

The weather may have been offering in other places but a prior commitment was the cause of my staying close to home and not getting out among hills in parts like Shropshire or even wandering along the streets of somewhere pleasing to the eye like Edinburgh or even Shrewsbury. That’s not to say that I wasn’t doing some more playing with ideas for outdoors outings though.

While adjusting albums in the photo gallery, thoughts were drawn to revisiting places where I haven’t been for a while. The online photo albums that attracted my attention were that for the Pennine Way and the Scottish Southern Uplands and Borders. The refresh involved adding photos were added, removing an old one rewriting a few descriptions. The trip ideas that came to mind while adjusting those photos included a stay in Peebles to explore the surrounding hills as well as getting to walk more of the Pennine Way or even the Southern Upland Way. Old and not so old photos act as reminders for me of past glories and lure me back to where I found them before.

Last weekend’s cold frosty sunny weather was enough to draw out among hills again on Saturday. It was a day when any part of Britain’s hill country would have delighted and I did play with a walk around Sedbergh that involved an out and back yomp into and onto the Howgill Fells. Looking a bus timetables caused me to leave it for later in the year. Remembering how stiff I felt after a trot about Church Stretton’s hills before Christmas was a factor too in not deciding not to set my sights too high. Thus, I opted for a hike from the Cat and Fiddle Inn to Buxton that mainly followed the Dane Valley Way with a deliberate diversion or two. After all, the prospect of seeing the Three Shire Heads bridge in full winter lighting was too good to miss; it may have added to the distance covered but proved to be well worth that. If all goes to plan, more will be said about the walk sooner instead of later.

Though our settled spell of weather is leaving us at the time of writing, there are promising signs for the coming weekend too. While limbs were stiff on Sunday and Monday, I take that as a cue for trying to get out a little more often then last year and January 2012 isn’t over yet. What I am not planning is anything as frenetic as this month last year when I walked successively in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Pacing oneself is no bad thing either and quiet moments are needed for collating more ideas too. A recent catch up with a article from one of last year’s issues of TGO has me wanting to sit with it and pore over maps while ogling the contained photos of splendid Lake District hill country. Wandering needs forethought at times.

Having had a few days to catch up with a few recent issues of TGO, a realisation has popped into my mind: maybe basing myself somewhere on a trip away might allow me to get more from it, especially for those places that take a little longer to get to them. Using Dunoon as a base for exploring Cowal worked very well in 2011 so I need to spend a little time pre-assembling some designs so that they have some hope of becoming reality. Along with the wilder parts of Scotland, Northumberland also comes to mind with the longer travel times needed for getting there and because of my whetting my appetite for its hill country during the summer of 2011. Parts of Wales such as the countryside round about Brecon or the Heart of Wales railway line also come to mind as do the eastern fells of the Lake District in Cumbria and the Cairngorms in Scotland. Methinks that setting aside a little time to think these over might be no bad idea and there others that I could list here too but there are enough mentioned for now.

The end of one year and the beginning of another is as good a time as any to take stock of things. One of these that comes to mind pertains to loose ends outstanding in my hill wandering from the last few years. The biggest of these is the Pennine Way, along which I haven’t walked for a while, and it now looks like multi-day trips are need to add to the mileage already completed. The mention of the Pennine Way also reminds that unused plans exist for walking Derbyshire countryside too, both new and already frequented. Then, there’s the prospect of extending what I have walked of the Rob Roy Way and the perennial desire to savour more of what my home country, Ireland, has to offer the hill wanderer. Those should mean no shortage of trip ideas like what I felt to be the case at the end of 2010, at least until I started to catch up with then unread issues of TGO anyway.

2011 has been a busy year for me and my hope is that 2012 lets me out of doors more often though the future will decide that when it first becomes the present and then the past. After all, there’s hill country near Macclesfield that needs to be revisited and other possibilities may come my way. Unlike the end of 2010 when I felt that I had ran out of ideas, a year later sees me pondering a fair few options as the blog goes into its seventh calendar year although its actual birthday is at the start of May; 2012 will see the sixth one being reached. Any designs that I concoct may not be as grand as those of other folk but having a few of them manage to come to pass will more than do me. Hopefully, 2012 will turn out to be a good outdoors year for you, dear reader, too.

For me, 2011 will have to be seen as one when work very much got in the way of hill wandering. Even if it did, I did get out on quite a few excursions over its course and some of them took me places where I hadn’t been before then. Also, there was a sense of unfinished business with a few of them and that always produces ideas for new trips into the outdoors.

January

January started out well with a few trips away. The first was to Wales when I walked from Roman Bridge station on the Conwy Valley railway line to Pen y Pass. A grey start became a glorious afternoon and repaid the nuisance of going through a forestry plantation where the right of way felt unwanted. Slipping on a branch into the wet didn’t help either but it soon forgotten with the pleasure granted soon afterwards. Sometimes, it is worth overcoming any ardour.

The January trip took me north to Fort William. This time, sunshine was in short supply and Fort William was so foggy that anyone would need to ask themselves why they had travelled overnight to get there as I did. Crewe was very foggy when I left it too so this was a general feature and not just a local Scottish one. Nevertheless, a trot down the banks of Loch Shiel was not fogbound and I was pencilling in plans for a return that have yet to be fulfilled. Glenfinnan saw a little sun too though it didn’t last but thoughts of explorations on a longer evening beguile. There’s thoughts of a shorter stroll around Cow Hill near Fort William that too could act as a lure yet.

The last weekend in January saw me use up a ferry booking that was a contingency for getting to Ireland during the pre-Christmas freeze of 2010 but got deferred so as to allow its cancellation and refund. That latter intention got set aside and  I got to have an enjoyable yomp around Howth Head near Dublin. There again was a quota in operation regarding the amount of sunshine but I got enough for photos of Ireland’s Eye and Lambay Island. It would have been nice to have kept it for rounding the headland itself but there was no detraction from my enjoyment apart from the need to return under cover street lights before it became too dark. Finding such a quiet haven so near Dublin was a pleasure and looking across Dublin drew my eyes to the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. From a previous escapade, I could pick out Great Sugarloaf near Kilmacanogue in County Wicklow. Viewing twinkling street lights from a quiet corner was a contrasting experience too. It’s amazing what Dubliners have on their doorstep.

February & March

The only trip away during these was one that took me to Oxford at the start of February. That certainly wasn’t a waste of a good day and I might be tempted to return again. In fact, it has me wondering about more urban walking destinations now that I recall it. Cambridge certainly has come to mind but there’s more than those with more humble destinations like Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Lancaster and Carlisle all coming to mind briefly once in a while over the last few years.

April, May & June

In another year, the good weather in February and March would have drawn me out in the countryside on a few weekends but 2011 was to see the next chance taken to await the start of April when I walked from Bollington back home while taking in the Kerridge ridge and the White Nancy. It may have been local but became an escape into peace in its own right. It was a reminder that there are places on my doorstep that needed frequenting more often.

It was to take until latter half of the Easter weekend for there to be another trip away from home. Then, it was a return to Llangollen after a gap of a number of years and this was to be my first trip there that involved an overnight stay in the town too. The peace of Easter Sunday evening wasn’t lost on me though it meant leaving the crowds of Llangollen after me and a commotion of bleating to die down once a large party had passed a flock of ewes and lambs. The paths that I was walking were being retraced rather than being trodden anew but that did nothing to detract from the fact that the everyday hurly burly felt a world away. That there was no need to rush home was a blessing too. The next day saw me wandering through countryside where I hadn’t been before and part of the North Berwyn Way for part of my walk. Not planning to cover too much in the way of distance meant that it was an unhurried hike and they always are best. Those who hang around Llangollen without exploring the surrounding countryside really are missing out even if that leaves it quiet for those of us fancying an escape from the frenzy of our working lives.

The Mayday bank holiday weekend immediately followed Easter this year and was extended by a royal wedding too. That encouraged me to head to Cowal for the weekend and it was a worthwhile venture too with three walks on two days. The first took me by the shores of Loch Long and Loch Goil while en route from Ardentinny to Carrick Castle. That was followed by another on the same day: a section of the Cowal Way from the shore of Loch Goil to Strachur. It was all good quiet replenishing fare for the spirit and in a part of the world that must get overlooked a lot as well.

The weather in May wasn’t so encouraging and June was a busy month for me too though it too had its interludes of sunshine. One of those drew me out early one Sunday morning on a cycle from my home around by Pott Shrigley. A January encounter from a few years back had me wondering if some photography when the rhododendron bushes were in flower might be worthwhile. However, I hadn’t bargained on the obscuring power of trees when they are in leaf so I am not so sure about the results evening if the sun was in the right part of the sky. Maybe a trot to the top of nearby Nab Head might end up being more productive.

July

July saw a bumper crop of outings with the first taking me along sections of St. Cuthbert’s Way. That weekend started with a hike from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm whose length left me tired but with a feeling that I have made a real start on exploring the landscape though which I had passed. The next day saw me walk from St. Boswells to Melrose while taking in both Dryburgh Abbey and the Eildon Hills. Lastly, I got to spend a few hours around Melrose Abbey in the summer heat.

The Isle of Man was my next port of call with a walk along Raad ny Foillan from Port Erin to Port St. Mary and then to Castletown. Apart from single shower, I seemed to have managed to pick a single sunny day in the middle of an unsettled spell of weather. It was sunny weather too that drew me to castles and coastline about the Menai Strait. Apart from revisiting Caernarfon and its famous castle, there was Beaumaris Castle and a section of the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path to be savoured too. That weekend finished with a sunny crossing over the Menai Bridge. It was a contrast to the damp weekend spent in Ireland that preceded it. The last weekend in July saw me pass through mid Wales on the way to Gower. Conditions may not have been perfect or photography either along the Heart of Wales railway or in Gower but these first tastes may be followed later with more.

Remainder of the Year

Autumn had its sunnier interludes too but a busy working life limited my use of them to local cycles. One Saturday, I headed to Hare Hill and Alderley Edge and that has put an afternoon walk between the two into my mind as a future possibility. Others were similar and there were midday walks during a stretch when I worked from home too.

A few days booked away from work in December offered their chances too. The possibilities lined up in form of excursions to Church Stretton, Abergavenny and even Edinburgh. In the event, only the first of these happened and it was a pleasurable outing too with sleet showers doing nothing to dispel any sense of reverie. The leftovers can do for other occasions so I need not be annoyed that they didn’t happen. It’s better not to be greedy.

Looking to 2012

Some years can be more predictable than others, especially when it comes to working lives. There were a few for me when they came close but unpredictability is back again for me. 2012 looks to be a largely open book after a busy 2011 and a 2010 of two halves. Life away from work always is unpredictable so there’s no point attempting to see around all the corners.

On the hill wandering front, there aren’t any big plans for me in 2012 although there is a good number of ideas that are available for turning into real escapades. A little is needed for making that happen and that perhaps is one of the main lessons of 2011. If you cannot plan for an excursion and be ready to get away, then it just won’t happen. A ready supply of ideas and a ready rucksack might turn those ideas into outings and confront any desire for torpor on the way out the door.