ECP - High Newton by the Sea to Craster - Northumberland 31 Dec 2014.

English Coastal Path
High Newton by the Sea to Craster and return
Northumberland
Distance 17km
Wednesday 31 December 2014

It had been a number of years since I last did this walk. I parked the car in the car park at the north end of Newton by the Sea, walked to the beach and turned south, along the English Coastal Path (ECP).

It was very cold and I was glad of my Happy New Christmas walking coat.  At the end of the beach I followed up the dunes and continued south.

There were lots of people about, I walked across the edge of the path and reached another beach.  We used the bring the children here when they were little and spent many happy hours just sitting, playing on the sand.  We called it Football Bay. Today there was a dead seal just lying there.  This reminded me of a walk Anne and I had taken in Scotland in November.  Where we saw what I thought was a dead seal, on our return however it was swimming in the sea, it must have been having a rest. I don't think this seal was resting.

At the end of the beach again I walked from the sand back onto the grass path and followed it around the coast.

Along here the path turns a little west as the coast turns towards a small group of houses and holiday homes, Newton by the Sea.

I walked along the path that turns from the road to the back of the Ship Inn down towards the set of two bird hides.  I did not go into the hides today I just walked passed.  I walked round the edge of the bird sanctuary area and took the gentle climb up to the rise to the golf course.

I followed the path by the golf course that twisted and turned by the course, rising and falling along the sand dunes.  Passed various sized summer chalets, on previous walks along here, when the weather was a lot warmer than today, I have only see a few people staying here.  Yet all the chalets were well looked after and maintained.

The path comes to a small rise that looks over part of the golf course, sea, a small deep stream and beach.  Climbing down the path to the stream, I followed this for a few hundred meters and crossed the second foot bridge.  This took me onto the sand.

Instead of following along the sand, I turned right and up a narrow climb onto the tops of the dunes. The path twists and turns again as well as going up and down.

After crossing a couple of streams the path joins the path that comes up from the beach and continues along the coast towards the castle.  I could not resist taking this photo, it shows two bunkers.  It also shows two forms of coastal defence. The old castle and more recent pill box.

The path widens a little due to the numbers of people who walk up here from Craster.  There is a small dip next to a golf tee, that rises to the hole.  This is an area where I used to take the kids treasure hunting, we would always find a golf ball or two.  This is next to a larva bridge, an interesting area if you were into geology.  Through a gate I walked around the track to a small slippery path that took me to the front of Dunstanburgh Castle.

After a quick lunch I continued down the coast to Craster along a wide sweeping grass path.

Craster is a small fishing village, world famous for its smoked kippers.  The path through the village goes passed the smoke house.

I then turned and returned the way I had come.  Dunstanburgh Castle always looks good from the south.

The tide was out as I returned back towards Newton by the Sea.  There were still a few golfers and walkers about.

I crossed up and down back over the high dunes.

Back to the footbridge over the stream.

I then took the path back up the side of a short rise onto the side of the golf course.  Between the huts back to the bird hides.

I then passed the farm heading towards Newton-by-the Sea, and took this photo, I was trying to get a photo of the sun setting on the last day of 2014.

I passed behind the houses and Ship Inn, turning right down the lane.  I then headed back along the coast passed along and over Football Bay.

I could see the light flashing from the light house on Coquet Island, way along the coast.  I reached the long beach and walked by the side, climbing a dune that took me onto a path that took me back to the car park.

I had been out a good few hours and really enjoyed the fresh air.  It was good to walk in a place I had not been for so long.  Although no climb it was always a good place to walk.  I had walked approx 17km.

More to follow


Boz North

Details correct at time of walking.

If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done on The English Coastal Path or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.

Follow link to walk that covers south of this walk Boulmer to Dunstanburgh.

Alwinton to Lamb Hill - Northumberland 24 Dec 2014.

Alwinton to Lamb Hill and return
Northumberland
Distance 13km Climb 520m
Wednesday 24 December 2014

It was very cold and there where little patches of ice on the road as I traveled up to my start, not enough to make it dangerous but enough to make me a little concerned about how conditions would be for my drive back later in the day.

I left the car at the car park at Buckham's Bridge, I walked east back down the road to the path at Blindburn farm. I then turned on and started up the footpath heading east, north east.  It was a steady climb, I was looking forward to this.  As I climbed it was getting colder.

On one of the rises I started following the fence line. I was up this way a few months ago and one of my friends Eggo lost his phone in this area and I was following the route he described.

One of the main features here is Yearning Law. In looking for Eggo's phone I circulated around here on the east side to the north, I had spent some time looking for the phone. I continued around until I rejoined the main footpath north west of Yearning Law.

Once on the footpath I headed north west, it was good to practice a little map reading and map orientation.  It has been a number of years since I was last this far up, I had always enjoyed it here and think it is one of the most beautiful parts of our country.

I continued along the country path and followed it as it turned west to the Mountain Refuge Hut.  Follow link to Day 14 of my Pennine Way when I walked this part of the route in 2011. You can see more details in earlier posts on my blog.

I had a quick rest and lunch in the Mountain Refuge Hut. Someone had wrote that there had been snow on the tops on 2nd December 2014 and another said about the snow on 14th December 2014.  It was all gone today, well for now it had.  It was very cold walking and I had a constant runny nose, two rows of snot running down my face.  No sooner did I wipe my nose then it was back, I was glad no one was about.

After my lunch I crossed the fence and walked north to a small cairn called The Kip.

From The Kip I turned east and followed the fence line to Lamb Hill 511m, back on The Pennine Way.  On the way I passed a herd, or is it a flock of wild goats, just over the rise.  Brilliant seeing wild life like that, happily munching on the grass.

I continued up the fence line and crossed the fence junction to the Lamb Hill trig point.

After crossing the fence onto The Pennine Way I continued eastward.  The Way now becomes a stone path which was very slippery and dangerous due to the cold freezing conditions, making it very icy in places.  I had to be careful, in fact I walked most of it beside the stone flags. At a corner, when The Way turns north I saw a prominent new corner fence line approx 200m to the east.  My intention was to continue up to Beefstand Hill and take the footpath south. Which was what I did.

As I walked down the path, south from Beefstand Hill, it started hail stoning, it came to me that I had been a little premature about the snow, but it did not lie.  Walking down the path I came across the fence I had saw earlier.  There was a gate on the path but it was padlocked, so I followed the fence line west back to the direction I came from.  I was back at the fence corner, 200m east of the bend on The Pennine Way.

At the corner I turned south and continued following the fence line as it moved up and down over the area.  I headed down hill on crossed the stream before climbing up towards the ruin of Yearning Hall.

A short drop to another stream, then I zig zaged up the steep bank on the opposite side.

Once on the level I continued by the fence, as I approached the area Eggo described as where he lost his phone, I started looking again for his phone.

Unfortunately I could not find it.  I did not expect to, but thought I would still try.  I headed back towards Blindburn and turned back to the car park.

It had been a good day walking I had covered 13km with approx 520m of climb.

More to follow


Boz North.

Details correct at time of walking.

If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done in Northumberland or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.

Follow link to another walk in the area up Windy Gyle

Humbleton Hill Fort - Northumberland 1 Nov 2014.

Humbleton Hill Fort and beyond then Return
Near Wooler 
Northumberland
Distance 17km Climb 510m
Saturday 1 November 2014

Following our walk on Thursday, today was the day we were taking our 11 friends on the same route.  As Thursday I still had not had an opportunity to change my camera, unfortunately the camera I had with me has a small scratch on the lens, the scratch sometimes, depending on the light blurs things or comes out as a ghostly light on the photo.

We left the van at the carpark south west of Wooler and followed the path along St Cuthbert's Way.  This took us over a footbridge heading north through a small wood with short sharp climb.  The Way then turned west. 

After approx 300m St Cuthbert's Way continued west, we took the path north on the east side of Humbleton Hill. This took us down hill and was slippery in places.  After another 600m we turned west through a gate and started walking up Humbleton Hill. 

The weather was as good as it was on Thursday, from Humbleton Hill Fort 298m we still had a clear view of all the surrounding area.  My colleague used the leaflets I had obtained from the tourist information to share the information on the hill fort. 

We started down following what would have been the outer wall to the path that headed south west.  There was a slippery part still here, I told my friends to watch their footing.  Over a style where we followed the ground down then a short climb back up to the St Cuthbert's Way. 

We headed up to the junction with the St Cuthbert's Way, as identified the previous walk we turned and walked up the few hundred meters up Gains Hill spot height, following the shooting buts up the hill.  I noticed today unlike Thursday there were no grouse around, I was sure, Thursday they were only over this side of the area as the shooters were over there.

From Gains Law 319m we walked west to re-join the St Cuthbert's Way, which took us south west around a small re-entrant. We moved through a couple of gates following a wall before turning north west across country, still following the Way.  

This took us through a gate by the south west edge of a small dog leg wood. From the top of the wood we continued with a gentle climb north west by a fence until we were south west of Tom Tallon's Crag.  This is where we left the St Cuthbert's Way and took a farmers track west to join a footpath running north to south. Once on this footpath we headed south, passed Wackerage Cairn and height 334m.  

We joined the road just below Commonburn House.  Turning right, south west we walked up the hill to Commonburn House.  Today we walked in front of the farm and through a style that took us south down towards the footbridge, that crossed Common Burn.   

Once we crossed the bridge we followed the track on the eastern side of a small wood, at the top we stopped and had our packed lunch.

After lunch we headed south along the footpath to Broadstruther. The path undulated in places until it dropped to the Broadstruther Burn.  We crossed the footbridge and followed the road to the rise then took the footpath across to Broadstruther.

From Broadstruther we took the bridle path north, that turned east down to another footbridge back over the Broadstruthers Burn.  Followed by a gentle climb to a gate into the edge of a sparsely covered wood.

The path followed the Burn down further into the wood.  It passed close to the Burn, following the Burn the path continued north east up a steep rise out of the wood.  At a gate after a few minutes rest we moved onto a wide path.

The path continued north east and as we crossed a rise we could see the Humbleton Hill fort, where we walked earlier in the day.  

The path took us across Wooler Common before dropping down to the road. As we approached the road we could see the van in the car park.

It had been really good walking with very good friends an excellent day out, loved it.  It was approx 17km with 510m climb.

More to follow


Boz North

Details correct at time of walking.

If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done in Northumberland or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.

Follow link to previous walk up Humbleton Hill Fort.