Windy Friday…

Veronica writes; The March winds doth blow, so the rhyme goes. Well they blew icy cold and we walked into a hail storm which happily did not last long on Friday 9th. Parking the car at Haltwhistle (the Centre of Britain, so it is claimed) we noticed other ramblers setting off in the direction of Hadrian’s Wall, our own tramping ground. We cut out across the disused Alston railway line for four miles towards Lambley Viaduct, a much painted picturesque part of the Tynedale valley. The ground was drier under foot than previous weeks and as we headed up towards Yont-the-Cleugh caravan park , out of the silence a woodpecker was busy at work. Later the song of the skylarks overhead was heard.

We lunched in the adjoining room of the Coanwood Friends Meeting House. This barn like Quaker establishment was built in 1760 and due to those worshiping from a distance catered for the physical hunger as well as spiritual. Benches and an open fire would welcome them as they unpacked their provisions. The graveyard is covered in snowdrops with all the grave stones dedicated to the large Wigham family and their ancestors. We are grateful to the Hexham Quakers that the place is open to the public.
As the circular walk took us over moorland and streams we caught a wonderful glimpse of a rainbow as we neared the crest of the hill. We had problems tracing a defined pathway over the heather and recently burnt scrub land but eventually found our footing and viewed the old Roman Road (Military road) from a vantage point near Bellister castle. A curlew cried as we returned to the railway line and walked over Alston Arches (restored and opened by H.R.H. Duke of Gloucester in 2006) and on into Haltwhistle ahead of more stormy weather.
Our 14 mile hike took in all sorts of terrain we expect to meet on Coast to Coast.

This entry was posted on 13/03/2007 at 09:06 am and is filed under Progress report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.