Friday 5th April 2002 4309 – 4321, 12 miles
An afternoon off work to take a train up to Alnmouth in Northumbria. Left work at 1.00pm, leaving clothes in locker after changing into cycling togs then went for the 13.16 to Derby, Central Trains, arriving at 14.29. Waited for the 15.25 Edinburgh train that was 10 minutes late, arriving in Alnmouth at 19.00. Used the time at Derby to fit my new speedo on the Geoff Longstaff bike as the other one had frozen. Even though the battery was working there was no action from the wheel magnet, even after replacement. So I reached 4321 on that speedo and now have to count from zero as there’s no facility to input figures into the running total on the new speedo.
Read a lot of Willie’s book on the train (Nicolae) and arrived in Alnmouth and cycled along the cycle track a little way so I could see the estuary and take in the view of the small town from a distance. Back down and into the town and booked in at the Saddle Hotel on Northumberland Street with plenty of time to have a look around the place just as it was getting dark. The room cost £31 for the night with breakfast at but that’s acceptable as a one off. Alnmouth was a thriving port in centuries gone by. It traded with Newcastle and even as far as London. The town hall and post office /gift shop, both tall old buildings, housed the grain for shipment. There’s a town walk with information boards along the way on the Aln estuary and on the North Sea front. The small town is mainly terrace buildings built in the local grey drab stone. Back to the hotel I enjoyed a huge mixed grill followed by an equally huge strawberry pavlova that was so big I finished it in my room later, all for £11. I watched a documentary with Trevor Macdonald interviewing President George W Bush and the war on terror, a quick look at the map to plan tomorrow’s trip then to sleep at 11.30
Saturday 6th April Alnmouth to Byrness over Thirl Moor and Carter Bar, 0 to 72
72 miles, 09.30 to 17.30, 8 hours, average speed 9 m.p.h.
Up at 7.50, bags ready and down for breakfast at 8.20. This was equally as big as last night’s meal! I was so full it kept me going for the first 50 miles – until Chew Green and even then only chewed a banana. I stopped on Carter Bar a while later and demolished the sandwiches I bought from work yesterday – still fresh as the weather was cold. Other than a cup of tea and Mars bar from a roadside van at the top of Carter Bar that was the sum total of my eating until a pub meal tonight. It says a lot about Northumbrian hospitality!
I started off this morning at 9.30 after pumping up my tyres with a brand new pump that won’t damage my valves. This one has a flexible extension on it unlike the cheaper power pumps that push straight on the valve. Too many times the presta valve screws have bent when easing off the pump so the valve nut doesn’t seat properly on the head of the valve, the result is escaping air when road pressure is on the valve. Rode out of Alnmouth and away from the coast and hoped to see the opposite coast at the Solway Firth tomorrow afternoon. The route is mainly uphill to Alnwick 4 miles away. Alnwick has an 11th century castle that was once a formidable defence against the Scots. I bought a new camera battery (£6.99), had a look round a huge second hand bookshop just before the town, and took a few photos around the town itself. One picture was of the large stone gate into the town where the road squeezes through it – with a picture of the squash club sign in the foreground. The town itself is all of local stone and cobbles. The road to Rothbury does a diversion in front of the gate to the left, goes up a bank then down again the other side of the town then a long climb up on to the Rothbury Forest Road, past the ruins of Edlingham Castle seen in the deep valley below descending from Alnwick Moor. This is a remote moorland village with three big monuments. There’s a 5-arched bridge that carried the old Alnwick to Coldstream railway, the 13th century castle and a 12th century barrel vaulted church with a square tower and slit windows. Over the Coldstream / Morpeth main road, past a runner along the B6341. Lots of up and downs along here and I’m sure that running is hard work on this long, open road – and no pleasure of a long downhill to enjoy. It was a perfectly straight road at this point and later steeply down to Cragside just before Rothbury. An old industrialist, Lord William Armstrong, built this and it was probably the first house in the country to be lit by electricity. The grounds form a park with a 6-mile scenic drive. From Alnmouth to Rothbury it’s 20 miles. Rothbury is an elegant market town on a steep bank over the river Coquet. This can really be appreciated just south of the town. The Union Jack was at half-mast on the small town’s main street in respect of the death of the Queen Mother on Easter Saturday. I took some photos of the old stone houses along the main street. From there I continued on along an easy quiet lane to Thropton then Flatterton where there’s a turning to the right signposted Sharperton, Harbottle and Alwinton. The distance from Alwinton to Thirl Moor is roughly half the distance from Alnmouth to Alwinton and this next section is radically different countryside as I entered the broad sweeps of the Northumberland National Park. Just before Sharperton there is a steep hill down to the new river bridge. Harbottle is an interesting little community. It’s got a castle. The inscription on the standing stone in the field at the foot of the hill reads:
“The Sad Castle
Who made me into a ruin like an old city?
Was it the soldiers who rode out on horseback?
Was it my old enemy, the Scots?
Or was it those border reivers?
Perhaps it was just the centuries passing”
Felicity Lance, Harbottle C.E. First School MCMXCVIII
I enjoyed the sedate ride to Alwinton after which there is a dramatic change in the scenery from rural to moorland. Alwinton is a beautiful little place. The proud locals have planted flowers in various places around the small village. One place is by the Alwinton sign approaching the village from the south where there’s a display and in the background is the gentle rippling cascade of the River Alwin coming down from Kidland Forest just south of the border. There’s an interesting simple pub here on the left, a hole in the wall basic variety and that’s the last chance of buying anything until Byrness is reached. There’s an indication at the end of the village that this is a cul-de-sac after 14 miles ahead. I was hoping that wasn’t the case and that I could continue on over Cottonshope and down to the A68 road just south of Byrness. Alwinton (13.50) to Barrowburn is fairly easy to bike, just a long continuous uphill. I made the mistake of going straight on at this point having asked the wrong question of some locals who were fishing. I asked if there was another way back to Alwinton as I thought there was no way through to the A68. They directed me along a track to Uswayford that would peter out into a much narrower track after that. I met two girls that were pouring over a 2.½” map at a path crossing. I was just below Windy Gyle right on the border. They told me that I was well out of my way, as I would find it increasingly difficult across here on a bike. I doubled back, down the gravel again and back over wooden bridges that would never support cars to rejoin the lane and follow the River Coquet that was now narrower and being left behind in the valley as the road climbs up to Thirl Moor and the Roman camps at Chew Green. The climb up is for about 5 miles and in 3 stages before Chew Green is reached in a hollow, a sharp bend to the left and just before a steep rise up onto Thirl Moor there’s an information board on the Roman history of the area. From here it’s a vicious uphill to the top of Thirl Moor for about ½ a mile. I toyed with reaching short distances before me rather like a mountain climber would bash in his pegs to get up a cliff. It wasn’t quite that bad but it was steep enough, approx a 1 in 3 or 33%. The climb is 113 metres in 500 metres along, reaching a height of 509 metres or 1670 feet. Looking back from the top (I didn’t dare get off part way up!) I could see the very clear outline of the walls of the Roman forts on the facing hill. This was built in AD80 when Agricola was governing Britain and laying into the tribes north of the border. When at the top it was time to take a breather because shortly there was another slight rise then the A68 and Readesdale sign appears like a godsend offering the escape down from the moors to the main road a long way down through bush land then woods to emerge on the A68. Before then I took a 200 yard diversion in the opposite direction above Ridleeshope to see the view from here and a Roman camp outline by the road a couple of hundred yards away. The view over Ridleeshope is a panoramic view of all that’s gone before stretching over the moor toward Alwinton and Upper Coquetdale in the distance. On a good day like today the Cheviot itself was clearly in view with its long top and steepness on one side. The road to Readesdale and the A68 is undulating and I had to be wary of cows on the road between cattle grids. They ran in front of me, disturbed because I made no engine noise on approach and this were not used too! It’s a steep descent at this point too. There are plenty of switchbacks between the pines either side of the road then the A68 appears abruptly, emerging on the main road opposite a caravan site. If going up the other way the point to leave the road is signposted off as Cottonshope Ranges on the north side. On the south side of the road the indication is MOD ranges (Cottons Hope AND OP 11) and just by Border Forest Caravan Park facing the way up to Carter Bar. Turning north on the main road I went past Byrness where I’m staying for the night for the 6-mile gentle rise from here and past Catcleugh Reservoir. The final 2.½ miles from here to the Scottish border rises a bit steeper but nothing really difficult to reach Carter Bar. There’s no view on the way up of the border point until the final bend to the right 200 yards from the top to reach that elusive row of pines on the left that can be seen from about 2 miles down the hill. From the hill contour it’s obvious where the top is even though it can’t be seen until that final bend – then suddenly the black border stones, the larger one on the left, that indicates ‘Scotland’ in bold white letters, appear. On the reverse of the stones of course is ‘England’. There are drive-ins on both sides of the road at the top and information boards on both sides that show the history and physical and natural geography of the area. The height is 418 metres or 1370 feet. Italians would be pleased to know that their forebears reached this area 2000 years ago and subjugated it. The only wins they have over the English now are there better summers. The ferocity of the Picts stopped them from advancing further and they had to retreat and consolidate at a safer point south and protect themselves and their conquest by building Hadrian’s Wall. The tea / coffee stalls on either side of the road get pulled away down the hill somewhere into bonny Scotland at 5.00 pm and I was just fortunate to catch one open before they did so. I enjoyed my only Scottish hospitality except for the sham on the Glasgow – London ‘express’ the following day.
Parted with £1.05 for a tea and Mars bar, on with the cagoule after the obligatory photos of the summit markers then down to Byrness passing Keilderhead Moor to the south where I would explore tomorrow and Redesdale Forest to the north, behind which is Thirl Moor. It was a very windy ride down to my digs for the night. I booked in at the hostel at 5.00pm; it was £7.00 for bed only. Breakfast I had to hunt for. I had the luxury one of the six dormitories to myself. I cycled a few hundred yards of the Pennine Way to Byrness Hotel on the other side of the road and enjoyed sirloin steak and chips and caught up with this diary while supping their ale, Newcastle Brown and McEwans and payed £16.00 for my night on the village. Back to the hostel, 200 yards in the pitch darkness and a wonderful view of millions of stars with no obstruction from street light or haze. Saw the warden for the bike shed key, locked Mr Longstaff away for the night and settled in to a sound sleep at 11.30pm. Bike safely tucked away and so was I.
Sunday 7th April Byrness to Carlisle via Kielder Forest, 73 to 151 miles
78 miles, 08.00 to 16.30, 8 ½ hours, average speed 9.2 m.p.h.
Woke up at 7.00 to no alarm, I think it was just a glint of sun through the curtains. The warden was up and handed me the bike shed key and wished me a good ride. I wished him a good day and set off at 7.30 to a very crisp and dewy morning. Set off along those 200 yards of the Pennine Way track. I was hoping to get some breakfast at Byrness garage that advertised themselves as the first and last café in England. In actual fact Byrness Hotel on the other side of the road and up hill slightly is about 10 yards further north… ah well, just splitting hairs. The garage was closed. Now what? I needed something even though I ate well last night. A cup of coffee would be greatly appreciated. There was nowhere. Half a mile further south and just beyond the Cottonshope turnoff there was the brown indication for Kielder Forest Drive. This is what I wanted. The first ½ mile of tarmac led down to the visitor centre then there was a toll marker in the middle of the road then the tarmac became embedded soil and stone, good enough for cycling on with a thick tread. My feet were cold in my new orange ‘real’ cycling shoes (Diadora) that I bought for £15 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, last Monday when Ruth and I and the children were enjoying an Easter break in Sandown and walking the cliff paths. We had a day’s shopping in Cowes and these were my proud holiday bargain – but I was cold and these were summer shoes! The way was up from the toll marker and eventually it became steeper. It wasn’t too bad. I reached the halfway point and the top of the road at 1500 feet and 427 metres marker at Blakehope Nick on Kielderhead. It took me 1.½ hours to reach here then ½ hour down, rejoining a tarmac road 2 miles from Kielder Castle; this helped get my speed up a little. I was glad to see the castle, being cold and increasingly hungry. I devoured a good breakfast at the castle for £4.00, stayed an hour then set off again at 10.30.The castle was built as a battlemented hunting lodge for the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. After breakfast the sun was up and from now on it was a warm day. I cycled along the lake. This was an area I have wanted to see for a long time because here is the largest man made lake in Europe surrounded by the largest man made forest in Europe (125,000 acres). OK. it’s artificial but it looks natural enough! The lake covers 2684 acres and has 27.½ miles of shoreline. It was created in 1976 by damming the North Tyne. A few photos along the way, coffee and toast at a café at Tower Knowe on the lakeside at the end of the lake, watching the ferry come in, then a gentle climb up to the dam and down the other side. A picture of the dam completed my roll of film and I had no replacement. After a few miles of lake it was strange to see villages along the Upper Tyne river, behind the wall of the dam. From here along to Bellingham. Newcastle’s famous Tyne Bridge was built in the iron industry area here. There are grey stone buildings along the wide main street. The stone slab roof of St Cuthbert’s church protected the locals from Scottish border raiders 400 years ago. I took a right turn after a few miles off the Otterburn road, uphill between Bellingham and Wark. There’s a massive Norman Castle on the bank of the North Tyne here. Further up to the B6318 Hadrian’s Wall road after a short mistake backtracking from a cul-de-sac at Simonburn where my ‘short cut’ ended up at a 5 barred gate. I joined Wade’s Road (built in the 1750’s) here where the indication was Hexham a few miles to the east and Carlisle the opposite direction along the dead straight road, 35 miles away. The first sight of Hadrian’s Wall was at Grindon. Stopped along the way for an ice cream, tuna sandwich and orange juice at a National Trust shop and café housed in a Roman Fort at Housesteads. Past Twice Brewed and Once Brewed YHA and National Trust visitor’s centre to the south of the road. The history of the region since the retreat of the ice age is displayed in the visitor centre. It stands on Vallum, a broad earthwork that defined the military zone south of Hadrian’s Wall. Twice Brewed is a viewpoint on the Wall, 3 miles from Housesteads Roman Fort. Brocolitia along here was a Roman wall fort with a temple dedicated to Mithras, the Persian god of light. The road continues dead straight to Greenhead with Hadrian’s Wall and natural hill defence to the north and views towards South Tyne and Alston to the south where I climbed up Hartside Cross last year in much warmer weather but equally as sunny as today. Past Haltwhistle, advertised along the way as ‘the centre of Britain’ At Greenhead there was a sudden downhill and an equally steep uphill and a kink in the straightness of the road as the minor road veers north to join the very busy A69. It was a drag uphill for a couple of miles with lorries thundering by. After the peace of Wade’s Road I was on the main Newcastle to Carlisle road to reach the brow of the hill at Gilsland then a steady downhill and a quickening speed against the clock to catch the 16.22 train at Carlisle to arrive in Crewe at 18.30 today and tea at home. Through Brampton I took the road for Carlisle south and was pleased to find that most of the heavy traffic followed the road for Carlisle north. I was in with a chance to get that train and I made it with a couple of minutes to spare, averaging 20 m.p.h down from Hadrian’s Wall. Well, I thought I was in luck; I boarded the right train after bundling my bike in the guards van, and was told by the guard I wouldn’t find a seat on the train. He was right; it was standing room only in first class. There was no way I was going to check out second class… I settled down to sitting in the aisle with the bags consoling myself that it was only for a couple of hours. I was on it 5.½ hours. The train left 44 minutes late from Carlisle, and was stuck at Tebay for 124 minutes, there was a further 45 minutes delay at Preston waiting a platform slot and finally arrived in Crewe 3 hours 47 minutes late. The start of the problems was at Carlisle when a train from Edinburgh to Birmingham was cancelled and passengers joined this train. This made it severely overcrowded. Then there was a problem with the overhead lines being switched off between Tebay and Oxenholme. At least it was a pleasant place to break down and the views of the setting sun over the Lake District hills were stunning. The result of the problem was a line congestion of trains all the way down the track waiting at each signal to enter the next signal section. This was a very slow process. Another positive aspect of this is that I caught up with this diary and the train and read a lot of Will’s book! I was still in Tebay and should be home by now. Many others were busy looking at the countryside that wasn’t passing their window, counting the same sheep several times and nodding off. I finally arrived in Crewe at 22.00, waited until the 22.33 was showing on the overhead screen as a previous train heading for Manchester had been cancelled. When I knew for certain I phoned Ruth. Arrived home at 22.50, a good hot bath, supper and sleep and a workday tomorrow!