Walks around Northumberland

 

This is night No.18/2021 living in the caravan. It is also the second night at the River Breamish C&MC near Powburn in Northumberland.

Got up to some lovely sunshine, then it dulled a bit, then got brighter, then dulled a bit, which was to be the pattern all day. It was dry, however, and quite warm.

Before breakfast, took the dogs for a walk around the 'Nature Trail'/Dog Walk which follows the River Breamish which runs through the site. The River looks quite benign, but it is absolutely furious when in spate. It washed away the nearby railway bridge back in 1953 (?) which was to prove the end of the Cornhill to Alnwick line. 

After breakfast, we headed out to Thrunton Wood for a good walk. It's a fine, hilly forest and has many meandering paths, trails, and MTB tracks. We opted for the 5 mile 'Red' route. I've done this before a few years ago. Back then, I left it quite late in the day and was racing against falling daylight to make it back. 

Some great Rhododendron along the way.

It is a long 5 miles. I had forgotten how long and steep some of the ascents are!

Very quiet though, only saw one other walker and that was as I returned to the car park.

Some of the uphill sections were killers!

But the views north over the Cheviots made it partly worth it.

Returned to the van for some soup and a rest!

Later in the afternoon, we walked from the site for a nice circular down to the village, round the nature reserve, retuning via an old field side track.

Passed some timber of various types, looked like Ash and Oak.

The old flooded gravel pit which is now a thriving nature reserve. 

And followed a great right of way back to Powburn.

And stopped to have a look at the Breamish Valley war memorial. Very sad to see related people from the same villages commemorated.

A great days walking, totalling around 24,000 steps! Having a rest this evening for sure.