Day 4/6 Northumberland 151km Circular Walk - Bamburgh to Wooler - 18 Mar 2008

Lack of sleep, but with a determined mind, I crawled out of my tent into the daylight. Unpitched, left the campsite. Then suddenly it started HAILING!! Lol...hoody up, carried out walking.




At one part of the route, I had to cross someone's house back field. There was a horse inside. It came galloping towards me. I was frightened -- "It's going to trample over me!" I stood still and it slowed down, then started nudging me all the way till I left the field through a gate. Phew....


Getting lost happened again. Was stupid to make a wrong early right turn into some woods. It looked thick and dense. I saw a small opening and thought that there was a path down the steep slope. So stupidly, crawled into it, got kind of stuck, detoured, found another opening and tried once again. Was forcing myself through some thick bushes and climbing down a steep slope with a river running beneath it. Got cuts from the branches and twigs. I recall trying for nearly an hour in that area, before I decided to give up totally. Walked straight on a little, and suddenly the idea that I might have turned right too early occurred to me. Hence, I managed to be back on track. Laughed at myself, and scolded myself for the stupid decision I made. Deep in my heart, I started to panic, fearing that I had lost much precious time and might not be able to reach the next destination before nightfall. The anxiety grew when I got lost in the middle of large fields with clueless of my exact location. With no OS map except for my guide book, I was quite helpless. I just headed in one direction till I reached a road fortunately. Decided to take the road route to the next town before I carried on on the actual route again.

The route from Bamburgh followed field paths and quiet country lanes all the way to Warenford, with some short sections through woodland. From Warenford, the walk headed westwards into the heart of Northumberland - through forest (crossing small ford) out onto the open moorland of Chatton Moor to reach the ruined farmhouse of Brownridge. I crossed the brow of the ridge and there they were at last; I felt I deserved this view: Rising and falling against the western sky, the domed grassy hills of the Cheviots stood silently across the horizon. Brooding, wild yet appealing, the anticipation of the following day welled up inside. Couldn't wait for tomorrow when I would be up there - on those untamed border hills.







Old green lanes and tracks led down to reach Chatton. Field paths then led across Till Valley (which was quite boggy) to the edge of Weetwood Moor to eventually to Wooler - the next destination for the night. The view at the top of the Moor was magnificent. Bird's eye view of Wooler below. While walking, blisters and abrasions had developed by then, and hence climbing down the steep slopes to the bottom of the Moor was hurting. However, the thought of reaching Wooler safely pushed me on to complete the last few steps of my walk for the day.



Stayed in Wooler Youth Hostel. Reception was still closed when I arrived, hence had my dinner while waiting for it to be opened in the evening. Checked in, and was thankful to be given a room for 4 with only myself as the occupant. Heex....Washed up, good night sleep. Tomorrow would be the siong-est day out of my intended 6 days' walk. Good luck!