A wobbly Coast to Coast path - Rambling Pete's Way 2010
Day Four: 20th June
Weather: Overcast but a spot of blue sky followed me for much of the day...dry again
Route: Thropton (near Rothbury) to Elsdon - 16.8 miles with 2720ft of ascent
Hands up all those who like walking through forestry commission plantation….no I didn’t think there were any takers. Today's route defined what a wobbly path should be, as on the map as the crow flies it was only 7 ½ miles, but I wobbled around a bit for today's total. Another walk of two halves, but generally quite enjoyable in the first half and a real pain in the butt for the second half – a bad workman blaming his tools – route planning. I returned to where I finished yesterday and resisted the temptation to squeeze off a couple of miles by not starting in Thropton . Not as nice a village as Rothbury (despite a mad gunman's attempts to bring it into disrepute), and re-planned my route to take me away from the main road. I took a bridleway away from the main road which took me up a road, onto a track, and on to a path, before turning 90 deg back towards Rothbury. I outpaced the cyclists up the narrow path and then across the pasture towards yet another fort. Coming towards me were a bunch of people walking with Sheppards Walks guided tours, apparently it’s the Rothbury walking festival or something – there were plenty of them as I said hello a lot. I passed by another Iron Age fort with plenty of earthworks to look at, and beyond lay the Simonside Fells across the valley – my route for today.
I returned to Rothbury via Pondicherry Lane, a much better route than the main road, which bought me past the B&B I had left a little earlier on. It was pleasantly clear today, not too hot with a gentle breeze and sunshine, and the amble through town was very pleasant. I crossed over the River Coquet once more and made my way up through sheep pasture, the ground rising steeply beyond the town. Up the other side of the valley I walked past Sharps Folly – apparently the largest of its type, and built by out of work stonemasons to keep their eye in – a fine folly if ever I saw one – tall and dignified. Beyond the lanes I cut out into the open moorland and history beckoned with lots of cairns evident in the landscape. It was a steady ascent, not too taxing, and more cup and ring marks to look at. I could see the way ahead and made tracks for yet another fort and settlement, set amongst many cup and ring marks on the moor. Beyond a car park the ground rose a little more steeply up a set of stepping stones set into the hillside – blue skies beckoned. On my way up to the Simonside Fells I met a lovely lady who was bouncing down the stepped path, and we had a good chat, people up here are so nice – a healthy place to live, probably not many locked doors around here. Up along the ridge there are a series of crags and it’s an easy steady ascent to the end of the ridge. The sandstone is similar to that seen near Wooler – sparkling in the sun and full of mica and fine grained sand - it erodes away to give an almost beach like quality to the paths. I met a cyclist that had come a cropper down over the crags, his bike a mangled mess and some nasty looking grazes on arms and legs – but surprisingly he was still smiling through it all – it was that type of weather. It was fairly busy up along the top, obviously very popular with the locals, and lots of little nooks and crannies to explore.
I passed by The Beacon, Dove Crag and ended up at Simonside itself. The views from the end of the ridge were over endless acres of forestry commission plantation. So I sat down and had lunch and pondered the route ahead – I’m not a great fan of plantations unless they are old Scots pine. I dropped down off Simonside and carefully walked around the forest ride, making sure that I was on the right route. Then it was take the brain out and follow the track. It was ok for several miles and I had some interesting wave clouds to look at, and occasional bigger views where there had been some harvesting going on. I also passed by a house in the middle of nowhere, which must be a commission house, and shortly after that was passed by a cyclist doing about 100mph – no wonder it hurts when they fall off. Apart from him I didn’t meet anyone else until the end of the day. However shortly after I had crossed the border county ride, the forest ride diverged from my planned route and I couldn’t locate the footpath or get back to it through the dense planting. Eventually after an extra 2 miles I managed to get back on track via a few firebreaks, but the going was really tough and I’m so glad it’s been dry. The footpath itself often disappeared into the dense forest and it was up and down the furrows – surprisingly boggy in the dips. The only way ahead was to try and followed where the branches had been cleared, and sight the occasional footpath marker.
Finally I cleared out of the forest, out onto pasture once more, with about 1 ½ miles left to go – to say I was relieved would be an understatement, the only bonus was that I saw quite a few deer flitting in and out of the woods – they were mostly small as the big ones wouldn’t have made it through. It was a gentle drop down through lots of medieval field patterns, bullocks and sheep into Elsdon. As I approached the village I could see lots of lumps and bumps from an old Mott and Bailey, the remains of a Pele tower, and the church steeple. As I rounded the corner there were the tea rooms above the village green where I sat and had some apple pie and ice cream, and a lovely cup of tea…very nice. The landlady proceeded to tel me all about the village green and the Pinfold – apparently it’s 7 acres in size and the biggest something or other – she may have been at the sherry. She also told me that if the local bobby found any stray sheep on the green, they used to put them in the Pinfold and extract a fine from the Sheppard's – hence the saying ‘pin money’…..it could be true, and I have a feeling I won’t loose much weight on this walk.
there were occasional clearings and replanting
looking back to the plantation
and nearly at the tea rooms - phew