To Garrigill from Alston and return

We've done a lot of walking in 2016, but yet it is nearly a year since we reached the pretty little village of Garrigill in the North Pennines. Garrigill is on both the Pennine Way and the South Tyne Trail and in principle either of these could be used to advance our progress northwards; after discovering a nice little link path from Haltwhistle to the Hadrian's Wall Path earlier in the year, we opted to follow the South Tyne Trail, via Alston to Haltwhistle. But it took us some time to work out the logistics; Garrigill isn't on any public transport links, and Alston is on precious few. However, we discovered a twice-daily bus from Haltwhistle to Alston. (Things are further complicated by the fact that the X81 from Hexham turns into the 681 in Alston, and returns to Haltwhistle, and this pattern is reversed in the evening).

Thus it was that yesterday, after leaving home around 8.15 am and walking to Downham Market Station, then travelling by train by way of Ely, Peterborough and Newcastle, we found ourselves at the bus stop by Haltwhistle Station waiting for the 4.20 pm 681 bus to Alston. The journey thus far had gone very smoothly, though the train from Peterborough to Newcastle was very busy, complete with a group of women (perhaps a hen weekend, but I'm not sure) who got louder the more they drank.

There had been a few spots of rain during the day, and we wondered if we would get wet in the hour we had to kill in Haltwhistle before the bus left; we could have travelled an hour later altogether, but the risk of missing the bus was too great. However the sun came out whilst we were sitting on the market place, "The Centre of Britain". We returned to the Station and the bus appeared a few minutes early. The driver and the other two passengers stopped for a cigarette then we were off...and the heavens opened. It was a memorable journey; the other two passengers got off and we had the bus to ourselves all the way to Alston. All for the princely sum of £3.20 each! The North Pennine countryside was delightful, and the torrential rain reminded us of the Lake District!; by the time we reached Alston we were, after all, in Cumbria.

The friendly bus driver dropped us right outside the Alston House Hotel, where we were staying; it had just started to rain here. We had a pleasant meal in the hotel, being entertained but not disturbed by a retirement do that was taking place. The weather improved in the evening, and after dinner we climbed up Alston's cobbled streets from the bottom of the hill (where the hotel is) to the top to get sufficient signal to send and receive email and to check the weather forecast; the hotel was very good in all regards apart from wifi, and the mobile signal at the bottom of the hill was almost non-existent. Then we had a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. We left the hotel a bit before 9 am and bought provisions for lunch from the Co-Op just behind the Market Cross, halfway up Alston's cobbled street.

For all the words I have written on this page, you'll note that I haven't described any walking yet, and we were keen to make progress. We had decided to walk the short distance to Garrigill and back today, along the Pennine Way/South Tyne Trail. Indeed we'd decided to go slightly beyond Garrigill to Ashgill Force, because we discovered after visiting what we thought was the waterfall last year that we'd missed the main falls. The weather forecast was for cloud in the morning, with more chance of sunshine but also more chance of rain in the afternoon.

We headed out of Alston to the south, passing the entrance to the hospital. Just before the road bridge over the River South Tyne, the Pennine Way was signposted from the road in two directions. Counter-intuitively, to go the way we wanted to go, parallel with the river, you first take the path up the steps and then turn right to pass the youth hostel and the cemetery and then through woodland, high about the river.

We emerged into characteristic North Pennine countryside, with lovely open views in all directions. This was the landscape through which we were walking for most of the day and it was delightful. There were frequent stone stiles which caused me some problems; sometimes I struggled to haul myself up onto the first step, sometimes I struggled to lift my legs sufficiently high to get over the top, and sometimes the steps down were too steep and/or too narrow. Also, the ground was occasionally rather muddy. However these are minor complaints, and there were definite positives; in particular rather than the parched ground which is so common at this time of year, everywhere was lovely and green and there were masses of wildflowers - I guess that this, like the mud, is as a result of the wet spring and early summer. The other pleasant surprise was that this was not like the usual Pennine Way 'motorway' of over-walked path and too many people. We met a few other walkers in places, but mostly this was like a very ordinary footpath, quite overgrown in places. Amazing!

We stopped to pass the time of day with a man repairing a wall and, later, we did a dogleg around the farmyard at Bleagate, with open views to the valley carrying the Black Burn. We passed a cottage and an alternative route to Garrigill at the delightfully named Low Sillyhall. From here we descended through fields of wildflowers to a footbridge over the river.

The footpath to the south of the river was particularly muddy in places and at one point we took a diversion into a field of cows (which were being rounded up on our return journey, and one was making a tremendous noise). However the walk was mostly just a delightful wander along by the river, with trees on the bank and low waterfalls in the river. We climbed higher, with views back to a wooded section, passed a tatty smallholding with chickens and goats, and then emerged onto the road to Garrigill.

We walked down into the village, still as pretty as we remembered it, but we were disappointed to see that the George and Dragon Inn, which last year seemed to have such an optimistic future, is closed and for sale. The Post Office was open and advertising tea and coffee to take away, but it was a bit early; by the time we returned, the Post Office was shut!

We continued on the route of the South Tyne trail and the Pennine Way through Garrigill, but just before the Pennine Way left for its ascent of Cross Fell, we turned left onto the route of the cycle C2C; the route is marked as being unsuitable in flood conditions and we almost immediately came to a ford. Richard walked this way last year and he doesn't remember any water on the road; there was this year! Richard just kept walking, so I rolled up my trousers and followed suit.

Having negotiated the ford, the next issue was a very steep climb up the stony track, but we were rewarded by excellent views, including to Great Dun Fell, familiar from our walks last year. We passed Pasture Houses and continued to climb, eventually emerging onto the B6277. We turned right and walked along the verge for about a kilometre. There was very little traffic about, though I think this is a route favoured by motorcyclists, and a few came past at speed just before we reached Ashgill Bridge.

Our route from Ashgill Bridge was not entirely clear from the map, but Richard's memory from when he walked along the road last year was spot on. We crossed the bridge, high above the waterfall, then took a path which descended steeply, but not impossibly so. I'd been slightly worried by a van parked close to the bridge which advertised 'gorge walking' as one of the pursuits that the company supported, and a group of gorge walkers, complete with wet suits and hard hats, were climbing up the path as we descended. However, at the bottom, there was a perfectly ordinary, if muddy, footpath, and we walked a short distance back along it to photograph the spectacular waterfall, with Ashgill Bridge high above it. Some more gorge walkers were just crossing the bridge.

We stopped for lunch at a very well placed bench, and watched the group of gorge walkers, who appeared to be teenagers, descending the way we had come and then having a group photo taken. They passed us and crossed a bridge over Ash GIll and disappeared out of sight. Soon we followed them, passing the smaller waterfalls that we'd seen last year, and catching up with the gorge walkers just before the confluence with the River South Tyne.

In Alston we walked past our hotel and continued to the terminus of to the South Tynedale Railway. The South Tyne Trail runs alongside the railway to Lintley, and we will be coming this way tomorrow, but for now we just watched a train arriving and then had tea and cake in the cafe. Then we climbed the hill to Alston town centre to get internet access before returning to the Alson House Hotel. We ate in the hotel again and had another walk after dinner.

Following leg of South Tyne Trail