St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg V: Wooler to St Cuthbert’s Cave

With this year’s expedition number having grown to seven, logistics dictated driving three cars to the car park for (the not very near) St Cuthbert’s cave, depositing two there and returning one with the drivers and navigator (yours truly) to Wooler.

Setting off in murky weather, though not the incessant rain that caused the postponement of yesterday’s plans to today, we head out of town on the B6248 road over the rushing Wooler Water, turning right to follow the signs along a quiet street. A left turn eventually leads to a track heading steadily upwards, into the mist today, and then the route departs left on up through ferns and gorse to a field path along a plateau.

Missing a fork left as we concentrated on avoiding pools of standing water at gates and stiles, we carry straight on and emerge onto the B road further along than intended. Turning left and marching downhill for half a mile gets us back on route at the splendid Weetwood Bridge.

Crossing the bridge, a mile or so of minor road brings us first to West, then East, Horton both with some noticeably nice properties on show, then out beyond. Rising gradually out of the Hortons the route leaves the road for a track to the right and continues to climb over Town Law before dropping down to the Hetton Burn, crossed by a bridge of what appears to be railway sleepers.

From the burn it is a short rise up to a crossroads of sorts where a wooden statue of St Cuthbert (and adjacent bench) demands a stop for refreshments and a selfie.

The minor road over the crossroads is the way on (here we are serenaded by one joker’s phone playing a pre-recorded download of the theme from The Last of the Summer Wine) until at Old Hazeldene a path goes off left across fields before reaching the bottom of a grassy track. The track rises steadily up the hill to a T junction and a left turn brings us to the entrance to a gated wood, looking eerily enchanted in the mist.

A National Trust sign confirms the wood contains our destination so we make our way along the path until, through the trees to our right, a gleaming white rocky outcrop appears further up the hill. A short walk affords a close up view, the cave made by a large overhang supported by a single, and not very thick, pillar. Many visitors have felt the need to indelibly record their visit on the rocks; St Cuthbert’s monks didn’t, and neither do we, satisfied by just taking a few photos.

We return to the path, but only briefly until the wood is exited. The St Cuthbert’s way turns right but that will be for another day; we go straight on and then left at a stile and down a grassy track to find the car park and, mercifully, two parked cars that will get us back to Wooler and the Tankerville Arms.

St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg IV: Hethpool to Wooler

Only one car needed today to get the five of us to Hethpool where there is a convenient car park just through the hamlet (belying yesterday’s misgivings). A short walk back past pretty cottages, apparently built in the Arts & Crafts style, brings us to the St Cuthbert’s Way sign that points onto the moor. Crossing the College Burn the route heads left and wends its way along the valley, rising up the north bank through fairly scrubby terrain.

After flirting with a more minor burn the path turns abruptly southwest and up the side of the moor. To our left is the imposing rusty brown mass of Yeavering Bell, the colour appropriate as atop its thousand foot summit is an iron-age fort. Continuing to rise and curl round to the west the path passes under Tom Tallon’s Crag before flattening out. The views so far have been good, and would have been better on a clearer day, but soon disappear in a sea of grey cloud that then turns into significant precipitation.

In what has become an otherwise featureless landscape, a sizeable cairn looms out of the mist and presents itself as a good a place as any for a lunch stop. An eclectic range of snacks, obtained earlier from the Wooler Co-op, emerges from rucksacks, and they are quickly devoured. Those members of the group so prepared struggle into waterproof trousers and we set off again across the moor.

The path is clear across Black Law and Gains Law, and though elevated is fairly flat That it is grouse moor country is evident from the broad track, the shooting butts and of course the birds themselves that from time to time emerge noisily out of the undergrowth. As the rain slackens and stops the cloud lifts to reveal fine views to the south.

The path is steadily downwards and at some significant height the heather and bracken gives way first to grass and then to trees to give a steep wooded descent that pitches us into the car par at Wooler Common.

The St Cuthbert’s Way goes right to take a winding off-road route to Wooler; the road to the left goes direct. Damp and in need of refreshment we take the road, although that is not without its perils as a carelessly placed walking pole is snagged by a grid causing some delay.

Eventually we enter the town and drop down to the centre where the Terrace Café meets all our requirements – seats, tea and scones. Refreshed, though stiff limbed, we are then able to walk the last half mile back to the Tankerville Arms and prepare for another night in the bar where we will toast our cumulative progress, now two thirds of the way to Holy Island.

St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg III: Kirk Yetholm to Hethpool

Setting off in two cars from our base at the Tankerville Arms in Wooler we deposit one at the small hamlet of Westnewton (having lost confidence that the single track road to Hethpool would yield a parking space) and then pile into the second for the short but winding drive to Kirk Yetholm. Here we park across the road from the Border Hotel, noting its attractions for later.

From Kirk Yetholm the route is unmistakable. From this end point of the Pennine Way we follow the shared path south heading along a winding road that goes steeply up before declining to the Halter Burn. Here we cross the burn and follow the signed and well-trod path up Green Humbleton, curling round the side of the hill rather than straight up, which makes the gradient more manageable.

At a fork we leave the Pennine Way and strike off left, still climbing, to a gate that marks the Scotland / England border. We speculate on how passport control may be needed some years down the line. Once through the gate there is a final climb, passing below Eccles Cairn on our left before the path descends steadily down to reach a small plantation.

Entering the dark and gloomy mini-forest the way is through the left hand edge, way-marked by orange tape blazes on the tree trunks. A stile brings us out into a grassy field and the way is straight ahead, eventually via a stony track until an isolated house is reached at Elsdonburn.

From here a narrow tarmac road leads down the quiet valley bottom of the Elsdon Burn; easy walking with the stream to the right, pine trees to the left and good views up ahead. In a mile or so a right turn into Hethpool is reached, but our way is straight on down the single track road we abandoned earlier. After just twenty minutes walking we stumble over the car parked at Westnewton.

Repeating the short drive to Kirk Yetholm gets us back outside, then inside, the Border Hotel where alcoholic, soft or hot brewed drinks (according to taste and driving responsibility) and snacks are consumed for an hour or so before returning to Wooler.

More substantial fare (and universally consumed alcoholic drink) is partaken back at the Tankerville Arms as we toast our day’s walk and prepare for that of tomorrow.

St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg II: Harestanes to Morebattle – Friday 9 October 2015

Starting where we left off yesterday at Harestanes Visitors Centre we retrace our steps through the local paths to regain St Cuthbert’s Way, soon dropping down to the banks of River Teviot. Turning to the right for a few hundred yards we reach and cross the picturesque Monteviot suspension footbridge, turning left again to return down the opposite bank. Midstream are two pairs of swans, serenely stationary in the current but presumably paddling like billy-oh underneath. The weather is not as bright as yesterday but it is still a fine day for walking.

Soon the Teviot’s junction with the Jedwater Stream is reached, with the route following the smaller tributary upstream to steps that lead up to the A698 at the Jedfoot Bridge. Over the main road the way continues along a track and soon we are rising up another section of Dere Street, straight and steepish. Just before the top of the hill the way goes left into trees following a delightful path, gently downwards with impressive views across fields to the Waterloo Monument in the distance.

Emerging from the wood the way turns right along a minor road climbing up, then steeply down, to a footbridge over Oxnam Water. Beyond here is the main climb of the day; first diagonally up a field then, having levelled off, kicking steeply up a straight tarmacked track. At the top of the track (attained some time later) the path leads left into another wood, revealing a good place to stop for lunch.

We pick a tree each, to sit with our backs against, and munch in quiet contemplation, recovering from the not inconsiderable exertion of the ascent.

Resuming, the wood is soon exited and we follow a road to the right before heading across the fields from Brownrigg Farm. Wending our way between fields and trees we rise up onto Cessford Moor, after a mile or two dropping down into Cessford itself, comprising a few estate cottages, a red phone box, a small ruin, and a grass verge. We sit gratefully on the verge and snack.

The final stretch is along the minor road, past the ruined ‘castle’, up then down, reaching after a mile or so the relatively main B6401 road. A right turn and another half mile of road walking brings us into Morebattle, up the main street, then downhill to our base at the Templehall Inn.

No issues with closing time today – tea readily available to enjoy before a delegation sets off to retrieve the car left at Harestanes several hours ago. On their return, after a sprucing up, it was time for another fine meal and an evening of self-congratulation on the two days’ efforts, with an evident determination to carry on next autumn.

St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg I: Newtown St Boswells to Harestanes

Leaving one car at the Harestanes Visitors Centre we then motored to Newtown St Boswells, using the car park adjacent to the Co-op as our departure point. Respecting our maturity and various dodgy body parts the official start point of Melrose Abbey and the stiff climb up and over the Eildon Hills had been deemed unwise, and so omitted.

Having got the boots on and flexed the joints we exited the car park, turned left and then left again following a helpful sign pointing down through the trees towards the river. At the river, just to the left, an impressive footbridge provided an early stopping point to chat with a local, but the route turned to the right staying on the near bank. Warm, still and sunny it was a perfect October day for a walk, and the turning leaves on the trees gave some lovely views along and across the Tweed.

After couple of miles the route diverted up the bank and into St Boswells, along the main street for a few hundred yards (shops available for the already peckish) before turning left at Braeheads Road (unsigned) down to the golf course. At the course the path leads right, along the edge of a couple of fairways before regaining the river bank (where herons flew) and following a long right hand curve to within sight of the Mertoun Bridge.

Here we stopped for lunch; with the river level low we were able to sit on the concrete weir, well into the flow, and enjoy our packed lunches and idyllic view while our legs stiffened up.

After lunch we rose with a chorus of old man groans and continued along the river bank for a while until we reached steep steps leading up to the imposing Maxton Church. Here a bench cried out for a group selfie, so we obliged. Beyond the church and the few houses that make up Maxton the well signed route led left onto a minor road heading towards the busy A68.

Just before reaching the main road the way is signed left into woods on a track that gradually diverges from the road, following the line of the Roman Dere Street. The gradient is slight but unremittingly upwards, and when eventually we reached a sign for Lilliard’s Stone our curiosity and fatigue combined to persuade us to stop a while. A climb over a stile was well worthwhile to see the stone monument, read the inscription (and put it to music), take in the impressive views to all sides, and top up with remaining refreshments.

Returning over the stile to Dere Street, the way was now generally downwards, weaving among trees, before rising again to cross a minor road and enter some woodland opposite. The well-signed route continues to weave through the trees, but just after crossing the B6400 we abandoned the St Cuthbert’s way route in favour of the signs to the Harestanes Visitors Centre.

It is a good half mile before that goal is reached, and a spurt was needed to get there before the centre (and more importantly the café) was due to close at 5 pm. We made it with just ten minutes to spare and the excellent staff, disregarding the proximity of closure, made us welcome and served up tea and cakes to consume while they locked up around us until we were ready to go at about quarter past five.

We piled into the car left earlier, drove back to Newtown St Boswells to pick up the one left there, then drove in convoy to our digs at The Templehall Inn in Morebattle, where after dusting off and performing necessary ablutions we enjoyed a fine meal and well deserved drinks.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg X: South Bank to Warrenby – Wednesday 24 September 2014

With a train involved both in getting to the start and getting back from the end of the leg, parking at Thornaby station  is a forgivable extravagance  at £2.80; and another £2 gets me a couple of stops down the line to South Bank station. The view from the footbridge is not inspiring and neither is the notice on the Teesdale path waymark, which notifies of closure at a condemned bridge up ahead. The diversion is via the A1085, which will introduce a lot of tarmac into the route.

Undeterred I set off down the familiar path alongside the railway, soon bounded on the right by a couple of large pipelines. Across the railway are the remains of some foundry or other that, despite seeming derelict, seems to still be flaring off some by-product. The day is fresh but here the air is heavy and I feel the need to breathe through a hanky for a few hundred yards.

After just a mile a tangle of road and rail bridges leads me to judge it time to get off the path and seek the diverted route. An exit leads past a Network Rail van, through a service yard to the road, but unfortunately a locked, ten foot high, spiked gate bars the way. It looks from the map that I need to go another half-mile or so down the path to find another way onto the road and return the half mile back to this point. As I turn resignedly, the Network Rail driver emerges from nowhere and happily lets me out.

This is Tees Dock Road, and does what you would expect, with lorries thundering to and from the port. After half a mile, negotiating a couple of roundabouts, the A1085 (known locally just as the trunk road) is reached and it runs dead straight and pan flat for two miles between the steel works (once British Steel, then Corus, and now Tata) and the chemical plants of Wilton (once ICI and now a hotchpotch of successors).

It’s a lonely old walk and the only other creature at large (outside of a vehicle) is, bizarrely, a deer that peers at me from the embankment that separates the road from the steelworks, before making its way back down into the wilderness of what now must be surplus land being re-claimed by nature.

As the dual carriageway starts to rise over the railway, an overgrown slip road to nowhere goes off to the left and this leads, at said railway, back onto the Teesdale way path proper again. Turning right leads up some steep wooden steps, and ironically back onto the dual carriageway and a continuation along the A1085.

Before long, just as the road reverts to a single carriageway, the map indicates a footpath on the left, and a gate (albeit fastened shut) hints at the way. No waymark has been seen since South Bank station so a leap into the unknown is needed and climbing the gate a faint path leads diagonally right up to and along a ridge. Keeping to the right of a square building of indeterminate use, and avoiding being hit by a stray scrambling bike, I look hopefully for a bridge over the railway. Even close to the train tracks the way is not obvious, but heading to the right reveals a gap in the hedgerow and a small iron footbridge that leads up and over to Coatham Marsh nature reserve.

A walk around the pond, where two swans dip and dabble, provides the only period of quiet in the whole day; larks can be heard. Paths diverge but heading towards the buildings brings me out in Warrenby, still short of the coast by the width of a couple of fairways of the links course here. But it is a short walk up the road to Coatham where following a sign to the sea front enables a seat to be found on the promenade, giving a panoramic view of the offshore wind farm and to its left the South Gare breakwater that guards the entry to the Tees.

It’s still not a pleasant place to linger long, so the best plan is to walk the other way, down the sands to reach the more resort-like Redcar, with its new Beacon (a ‘vertical pier’) providing a good café in its interior (other catering establishments are also available).

This to me is a much more satisfying end point for the Teesdale Way. Somewhere to sit awhile and reflect on the 72 miles from Barnard Castle, covered in ten stages, just within a twelve months period. Majestic most of its way, the Tees flows through varied landscapes, quiet and wooded slopes, picturesque villages, rolling farmland, suburban parks, city riverside living, industrial decay and rebirth, to the seaside.

A good walk.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg IX: Stockton to South Bank – Monday 8 September 2014

Parking again near the Tees Barrage at Stockton, the Teesdale Way Path is re-joined over the barrage on the North Bank. Past the impressive white water course, and along the tow path toward Middlesbrough, this first mile or so is between the river on the right and Portrack Marsh on the left, with the barrage behind and the A19 flyover ahead.

Once under the flyover the somewhat older Newport Bridge approaches. It’s currently closed to traffic being repainted, which is a slight worry as it provides the Tees crossing for the Teesdale Way. The path goes under the bridge and loops up to the road, at which point it is clear that it remains passable for cyclists and pedestrians. Once over the river some steps lead down to the tow path which then goes under the bridge and downstream, now on the south bank.

Underfoot the tarmac and concrete gives way to a wide shale path with grassy verges. On this side of the river are the remains of industry, largely flattened; across the water is the back end of Billingham with the remnants of chemical plants hanging on. The old wharves can be seen, rotting gently away, although one ship is moored over there so something is still moving in or out.

After a couple of miles, the path forks at a ‘viewpoint’, marked by an iron bench. My old map says turn inland here, but the continuing towpath indicates the possibility of a newer riverbank route. It turns out to be no more than a spur that stops dead after a couple of hundred yards, so the inland fork remains the only option and some road walking is in prospect.

However before the path hits the road it goes through the weirdly impressive Teesaurus Park where large steel plate dinosaurs peer out of, or over, the trees, and about four miles into the walk it’s a good place to sit for fifteen minutes and have a snack.

From the park the route turns left along Riverside Park Road, through the newish business park, now separated from the river by some industrial units showing welcome signs of industry. Keeping left along first Depot Road, then Vulcan Street, leads eventually to the foot of the iconic Transporter Bridge.

The route continues straight on, past Middlesbrough College on the right, heading for the unmissable double zeros of Tremenos and the Riverside Stadium, home of the Boro. Just past Tremenos are seats by the Middlesbrough Dock from where the contrasts of the new and the old architecture can be pondered, for me over lunch.

At just under six miles, and only one o’clock in the afternoon, the option of Middlesbrough Station is rejected and the slightly risky alternative is adopted of finding a station up the line where trains may or may not stop.

A footbridge crosses the inlet to the dock and the way is then via The Halyard and The Leeway round the front of the stadium (or just across the car park), until the road straightens, separated from the railway on the right by tree and bushes.

Soon a level crossing appears to the right, and once over it a path leads off to the left, now adjacent to the railway line. The railway is a constant companion and the path is the first of the day to feature earth and grass, resembling a real countryside way. The surroundings don’t match though, with the A66 away to the right; the path is a narrow fenced in corridor, often punctuated with scrap, litter and overflowing detritus of adjacent businesses.

A couple of road bridges intervene which are either ducked under or climbed over, and one stretch features a stretch of brambles with blackberries ripe for harvest.

A couple of miles after leaving Middlesbrough Dock the path emerges at South Bank station, a welcome sight made even more welcome by the train timetable that confirms a regular service is in operation. In fact a wait of just three minutes is required before a train rolls up and £2 sees me back at Thornaby station in no time at all.

The short walk back to the Tees Barrage adds a bit to the eight mile stretch that was more interesting than exhilarating, illustrating as it does the Tees’ historic importance in the development of Middlesbrough.