The Cheviot Hills April 29th – May 2nd 2005
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Contributed by Mim Chapman & Clare Gooder
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Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
The Cheviot Hills
April 29th – May 2nd 2005
By Mim Chapman & Clare Gooder
Quality not quantity. Just four of us on a glorious bank holiday weekend in Northumberland.
We stayed at a campsite near Cottonshopeburnfoot right by the swollen
River Rede, just a few yards from Scotland. Miles from any shops we
were glad we took the precaution of stocking up with provisions en
route (Although myself, Tom and Stephen managed to eat everything on
the first night and had to telephone Clare with a shopping list for the
following day!). Although there were a few caravans on the campsite it
was very pleasant right by the river and - ladies - fabulous shower
rooms with radiators …
The Pennine Way passed through the campsite so it was an
easy choice for the Saturday walk. We walked into the Kielder
Forest and out onto the beautiful open land where we could see for
miles. The only person we met all morning was a lady who, we
discovered, was walking on her own from Ullapool to Nice!
We walked on to a Roman fort where we basked in the sun to eat our
lunch. Eventually we decided we ought to make a move and as we gasped
at the view we calculated that the coast we could see in the distance
was about 35 miles away. We also saw what looked like snow
on the Cheviot?
On the Sunday, we drove due north up to Cottonhopehead, thankfully not
meeting any tanks or army vehicles in the hill mist, as the single
track road passed through several artillery ranges. We parked at
Barrowburn and got a bemused look from a passing farmer and his sheep
dog as we donned our boots and waterproofs. The weather looked pretty
grim up on the Pennine Way, the route we were to take up to The Cheviot
at 815 metres, the summit of the Cheviot Hills. A steep climb
upto Windy Gyle on the Pennine Way should have opened up wide vistas,
but not today when the heavens opened and it continued to bucket it
down! A testing time came when we were in the middle of an
electric storm, and lightening seemed to be striking right by us.
Certainly very atmospheric! This part of the Pennine Way is
well defined and stone slabs mark the route. However where the
path-laying comes to abrupt end,with the helicoptered bags of paving
stones waiting to be used, the path becomes a very wet bog!
Cairns are well marked on the map eg. King's Seat, Score Head and
Crookedsike Head. A short detour off the Pennine Way leads up to
the Cheviot summit. We were just pondering about the swirling mists
being suggestive of the Hounds of the Baskervilles when a dog appeared
with his owner who looked very clean and dapper like he'd come out of a
Cotswold Outdoor catalogue! unlike our rain bedraggled group.
For poor Tom this was his third time at the summit, all of them in
terrible weather. The return was back by the same route but thankfully
not with the same weather. The rain stopped, the mists lifted
from the hill tops and the sun came out. When we looked back to where
we'd been, the gently-rounded Cheviots appeared very accessible and
friendly. Big views opened up making us realise that
Northumberland was a well kept secret, loads of undulating hills,
fluffy sheep! a major long distance footpath,the Pennine Way,
inaugurated 40 years ago to the day, and vast open spaces all to
yourself. The trip so far north was well worth it!
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