HIGH HILLS ROLLERCOASTER
As you stride out on this walk through the wild and
wind swept Cheviot
Hills, high
above Upper Coquet Dale, you will feel history all around you. The reivers, the smugglers, the drovers, the moonshiners, all passed this way before you. This is a
landscape of big skies and empty horizons. You will climb to two of the highest
summits in the Cheviot Hills, visit one of the areas finest waterfalls, pass
along two ancient drovers roads and reflect how life must have been for those
hardy souls from days long gone. So tighten your bootlaces, take a deep breath
and enjoy this rollercoaster of a walk through some of Northumberland`s
finest hill country.
The Cheviot from the slopes of Windy
Gyle
The Walk
1. From Alwinton
follow the single track road through Upper Coquetdale
for just over 6 miles to White Bridge (NT 859114) where there is limited
parking. Here the River Coquet squeezes through the narrow defile between
Barrow Law and Tindale Law and is joined by the delightful
Rowhope Burn. In the 18th century the unappetisingly named inn, Slyme
Foot, stood nearby, whose illicit spirit came from stills hidden in the nearby cleughs. Do not cross over the bridge, instead take the
tarmac road which follows the Rowhope Burn and, in
time, leads to Uswayford farm. Pass the exceptionally
neat farmstead of Rowhope and when you come to the
ford and footbridge (NT 855126) of the Trows Burn
take the track which climbs away from the road to your left on the opposite
side of the burn. You have now begun the ascent of Windy Gyle,
the fourth highest summit in the Cheviot Hills, and you will continue upwards for nearly 2 miles on the broad grass
ridge between the Trows and Wardlaw
Burns. The route heads northwards until just west (NT 859148) of Scotchman`s Ford where it then veers to the north west.
Towards the brow of the hill take the track to the right when the route splits
into two. When the Border fence is reached, cross over the stile and walk
straight ahead to the elevated trig point and Russell`s
Cairn. Near this spot in 1585, at a meeting of the Wardens of the Marches, Lord Francis Russell
was killed and this great Bronze Age burial cairn was so named to commemorate
the event. As you walk around the summit the views are extensive in all
directions.
2. Head back to the fence, cross the stile and
turn to your left heading north eastwards along the Pennine Way. The going, whilst wet at first,
becomes easier when the millstone paved path is reached after half a mile and
within a further half mile you reach the signpost at Hexpethgate,
also known as the Border Gate or Cocklawgate (NT 871160). Here the medieval trade
route of Clennell Street, used by drovers, reivers and smugglers, crosses the border as it makes its
way from Alwinton in Coquet Dale to Cocklawfoot and the Bowmont Valley in Scotland. You now leave the Pennine Way and follow Clennell Street as it begins to descend in a south
easterly direction towards the spruce plantations of Uswayford.
Shortly you will part company with Clennell Street, taking the signposted
` Salters Road` (NT 874157) heading into the forest. Continue down through the
forest, via a very muddy path, crossing a forest track halfway, until the Usway Burn is reached (NT
884157). There are many places in the Cheviot Hills where twinkling burns cascade into
peat brown pools but there are few big waterfalls. However, in this remote
valley, secreted deep in the forest, Davidson`s Linn
is an impressive and welcome sight, particularly after heavy rain. It is also
the ideal place for a spot of lunch. Nearby, on Inner Hare Cleugh,
on the west bank of the burn a few grey boulders mark the site of an illicit
kiln for drying malted barley, known as `Rory`s Still
`.
Davidson`s Linn
3. Cross the burn, just above the waterfall via
a new wooden footbridge, and follow the signposted Salters
Road as it travels eastwards through the forest. Just before this track emerges
out of the forest at the watershed between Lint Lands and Bloodybush Edge be sure to follow the muddy track which
climbs slightly to the left off the firmer main forest track, which bends away
to the right and not the forest track itself. It is time (NT 904157) to bid
farewell to the ancient Salters Road, which, in times
gone by, was a treacherous place for bandits, being described in some old books
as the ` Thieves Way `. Go through the gate and turn right climbing, gradually
at first, up the northern slopes of Bloodybush Edge.
The path becomes increasingly steeper as it cuts its way through peat hags
bringing you eventually to the trig point on the 610 metre
high top (NT 902143). This is the sixth highest summit in the Cheviot Hills. To the north you
will see the head of the Breamish Valley and beyond, Northumberland`s three highest hills, the Cheviot ( 815 metres ), Hedgehope Hill ( 714 metres ) and
Comb Fell ( 652 metres ), whilst to the south the extensive
Kidland Forest stretches below you. For the next mile
and a half you continue across high ground as you head for the summit of Yarnspath Law. Facing north-west, with the trig point
behind you, follow the middle of three fences as it descends easily to the col between Bloodybush Edge and Yarnspath Law. Staying with the fence, continue uphill to
the unspectacular summit at 540metres (NT 884132). Continue to follow the fence
as it drops downhill over an area of mat grass with fine views of the
surrounding hills. These areas of grass are known locally as the ` Whitelands ` because the erect spikes which the grass
produces in June bleach to almost white as autumn approaches.
Windy Gyle
Summit
4. On reaching the track turn left over the stile
and you are again on Clennell Street, heading into
the forest and towards Alwinton. Continue along this
now very rutted path until you reach a forest track turning to your right (NT 882125). Take this track, along
level ground at first, and then steeply downhill, through two hairpin bends, to
the recently refurbished house of Fairhaugh (NT 876122), nestling by the banks of
the Usway Burn. Turn right behind the house and cross
over the small wooden footbridge. On reaching the other side turn left and
follow the track as it climbs away from the burn and up through the forest,
emerging over a ladder stile (NT 873120)
into open countryside. Continue straight ahead and enjoy the excellent
generally downhill walk to the farm of Barrowburn in Upper Coquetdale. Pass through the shallow ford and,
keeping to the right of the farm, follow the track to the tarmac road. Continue
on ahead and this road will, in less than a mile, take you back to White
Bridge.
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Distance
|
18.9 km.
( 11.75 miles )
|
|
Total
Ascent
|
652 metres
|
|
Grading
|
Moderate
|
|
Start
& Key Grid References
|
White Bridge (Slymefoot)
in Upper Coquetdale ( NT 859114 ), (NT 855126), (NT 859148), (NT
871160), (NT 874157), (NT 884157), (NT 904157), (NT 902143), (NT 884132), (NT
882125), (NT876122) & (NT 873120)
|
|
Time
|
5 hours
|
|
Nearest
Town
|
Rothbury
|
|
Terrain
|
Some
steep ascents and descents over mixed terrain, sometimes wet and boggy, with
two tarmac sections.
|
|
Maps
|
OS
Explorer ( 1:25000 ) OL 16. Harveys Superwalker ( 1:40000 ) The Cheviot Hills
|
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Accommodation
|
Caravan
site at Clennell Hall ( Alwinton ). Hotels and guest houses in Rothbury
|
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Transport
|
None
|
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Tourist
Information
|
Rothbury
National Park Centre. Telephone 01669 620887
|
Devised, written & photographed:
Geoff Holland 2005